Visualizing Ecology

Here is the site visit handout from fall quarter for new students that are selecting a site. New students should complete the site selection component in Week 5, but do not need to complete the assignments fort the other weeks.

Visualizing Ecology (Fall 2006)

Site Selection and Mapping General Assignment

Choose a place that you would like to observe once per week for approximately 20 weeks. Each week you will record your observations in a way that incorporates writing, drawing, and mapping. We will give you specific guidance for what to accomplish at your site during one visit each week, but you are encouraged to visit your site at other times to observe and sketch. You should keep all observations about this site in your nature journal. If the weather is conducive you may record directly into your nature journal; if not, you may record observations in a small notebook and transfer them to your nature journal. You may pick a site on or off campus.

Week 5: Site selection

Visit three potential natural sites for your observations. Each site should be completely or partially forested.  Choose a place where you feel comfortable being alone.  It should be a place where you can observe plants and animals and how they change seasonally.  For each place, draw a map that describes how to get to the place.  Record the date, time of day, weather conditions and any other relevant factors (moonrise, sunrise, level of the tide etc.). Write a brief description of the place and describe why you think this would or would not be a good place for a 20-week series of observations.  From these initial comparisons, choose one site and explain your reasoning in a paragraph.

The site selection is due Oct. 31 in lecture.

 Week 6: Site map, site tour, and plant inventory

Work in groups of three for this activity. Between Wednesday, Nov. 1 and Friday, Nov. 3 you will need to visit each person’s selected site. Plan to spend 2-3 hours at each site. Each group should check out a field tape for measuring ground distance, a field tape for measuring tree circumference, four flags per site, and a compass from lab stores (Lab I, 2059). You might also check out a clinometer if one is available. Complete the following steps at each site.

1. Select a 20 meter x 20 meter plot and flag the corners. Make sure the plot is square by using the field tape and compass. Make a note of the directions that each side of the square point toward so that you can include an arrow indicating the cardinal directions (e.g. a square might have two sides that point toward 0 and 180 degrees, and two sides that point toward 90 and 270 degrees).

2. Working with your group, identify all trees on the site with a DBH (diameter at breast height) greater than 10 cm. Measure the DBH and height of these trees. Write down this information for the purpose of creating a vegetation map of your 20 meter x 20 meter plot. Also identify major shrub and understory species.

3. Note any significant environmental or vegetation gradients that you observe in your site (e.g. slope, moisture, canopy closure, shoreline, etc.—edge sites are often the most interesting!) A complete map of the site showing all trees is due Nov. 7 in lecture.

 Week 7: Drawing site from four different viewsA place will often look different when viewed from different perspectives—something that off-trail hikers learn when they try to follow their route back to a starting point and that boaters learn when they forget to look back as they leave a launching pad. Your task this week is to visit the site alone and draw it from four different views. These do not have to be the four cardinal points (north, south, east, west) or the four sides of your site. Walk around the perimeter of the site and consider how the trees or other landmarks in your site look from different directions. Pick four views and draw your site from each of them. As you draw from these views, observe changes. Do trees look different when viewed from different directions? Is there a difference in the amount of moss on different sides of the tree? Does the light look different from the different directions? Complete these views in your nature journal by the end of week 7. 

Week 8: Succession

What is the successional stage of your site? Is the vegetation in the process of transition or is it in a relatively stable climax stage? Begin by noting all signs of past disturbance—fire, timber harvest, windfall, etc.—in the area and estimate the length of time that has passed since this disturbance. Describe in images or narrative what you think the site looked like 500 years ago and 50 years ago. Then describe in images or narrative what you think the site will look like in 50 years and 500 years if there are no major disturbances in the area. For each time period, consider what plant species are likely to dominate and what animal species are likely to live in the area. Complete this exercise in your nature journal by the end of week 8.

 Week 9: Botanical Illustration 

By this point in the quarter, you have completed many botanical sketches. Your task this week is to complete one detailed drawing of a plant specimen that you collect from your site. If the weather is nice, you might want to complete the assignment at your site. If the weather is typical for late November, you might want to bring the plant specimen indoors to complete the assignment. Complete this exercise in your nature journal or on high quality paper by the end of week 9.