We began our project by noticing that there were three distinct zones in our upstream area. They were Site 1, the marsh, Site 2, the dolomite ridge forest, and Site 3, the riparian forest. Within each separate site, we noticed a distinct difference in the number of different types of plants. After noting this, we decided to compare the number of species belonging in each plant growth form (trees, shrubs, tall forbs, ferns, grasses and groundcover forbs). We also wanted to compare the percent groundcover of each plant growth form. Once we completed our data collection of each site, we found that there was an abundant amount of tree life in both the dolomite ridge forest and the riparian forest (there were no trees in the marshland, as that is the definition of a marsh). However, despite the fact that there were lots of trees in the riparian forest, there were only four different species of trees, the dominant trees being elm and cottonwood. In the dolomite ridge forest, there were nine types of trees, with elm and white pine being most dominant, but not nearly as dominant as the elm and cottonwood in the riparian forest. We theorize that this discrepancy is due to the fact the dolomite ridge was elevated enough that it was sheltered from the yearly floods that plague the riparian forest.
Ryan and Kurt coring trees with George. |
Kurt posing with hip-high forb. |
Ryan extracting a core from the increment borer. |
