Environmental Gradients; Poinsett State Park ATBI

Friday couldn't have been a better day for a lab! The weather was perfect, and I suspected that we may get lucky and see a herp or two. I was not disappointed. Our first goal for the day was to measure some environmental gradients, but before I could do that I had to take my students to check the old mill ruins on the downstream side of the lake. It's usually pretty snakey down there and I wanted to try my luck early. This is what we found:

My students tried to ID this as a copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), but I told them that it is actually a close relative...the cottonmouth (A. piscivorus). Some people call this snake a water moccasin, but the correct common name is cottonmouth. While we we observing this individual another (probably a sibling of this one) snuck out from a crevice near my students. After the ensuing mayhem-students scattered in every direction- we managed to find two more cottonmouths in that same area. As much fun as I was having I knew we had work to do...so it was off to Coquina Trail. For some reason after the cottonmouth surprise my students were VERY focused on where they placed their feet. When we got to half way point I sent my students down into the gulley to start measuring their gradients

They started at the base of the gulley, which has a small stram running through the middle of it. I am not 100% certain as to the origin of this stream, but I suspect that it is an artesian well due to the unique terrain of Poinsett. Then they ran transects up the hill. For each square meter they determined the plant species present, the number of each species, and the diameter of any trees. Basic ecology states that abiotic factors (such as climate, soil type, moisture, and available minerals) will determine the flora types in an area. The flora types will determine fauna (of course this is a gross oversimplication, but I don't have enough space here for that lesson).

While my students busied themselves with their transects, I did a little survey for Poinsett's All Taxon Biodiversity Inventory. This is basically just a list of all species that have ever been found at Poinsett. It is a useful tool for writing management plans. I found sever species...but these were my favorite:

I found this little Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) near the peaks of one of the hills framing the half way point of Coquina Trail. She was very inquizitive.

This little cricket frog (Acris crepitans) was down in the drainage basin, happily hiding among the leaf litter.

This Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) is probably not the largest example of this species that I have ever seen, but with a 11.5 foot circumferece it was very impressive.

After a quick break for lunch we went back out to run a few more transects. At the shelter on Coquina Trail some of my truly devoted students found out the hard way that some environmental gradients are more sudden than others. This particular transect ran at better than a 45 degree slope from the lake

After all of our data was gathered we sat in the adirondack chairs at the ranger station and talked about the lab reports that I would, of course, expect from them. I hope that this was a genuine learning experience for my students. I have just one more picture that I want to leave you with. I found these to cottonmouths in the Beidler Impound during a brief exploratory journey that I took after lunch while I waited for my students return.

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

While some of you went all out to show your valentines that you care with the traditional chocolate and roses I gave my wife the gift that keeps on giving - BIODIVERSITY!! Several years ago a late icestorm killed this pine. My wife wanted me to cut it down, but it was far enough away from the house and the dog pens that I convinced her to let me leave it. Lucky her - she got the opportunity to photograph this beautiful pileated woodpecker!

We need to recognize that in order to sustain biodiversity we need to have a variety of habitats and microhabitats - and that includes old dead pines. I can't recall where - but I certainly recall reading that in terms of biomass dead logs are some of the most productive microhabitats. So next year when you're shopping for that perfect valentines gift, give the gift of biodiversity. And maybe instead of roses and chocolate you can get your significant other organic chocolate and live native plants for the yard :).

Ripples in a pond

Whenever I begin to lose hope about the future of the world SOMETHING always happens to restore it. This Saturday was my most recent moment. I traveled to Clemson's Sandhill REC to a coaches workshop for the SC Envirothon. This is the first year that I've helped out with it, and I am very impressed thus far. The teacher/coaches that showed up gave up a precious Saturday so that they could get their students enthused about the environment. Now THAT is dedication. I promised those teachers that I would have some information for them here to take to their students...so here we go:

They should know what ecosystem services are http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf
They should know where most of our medicine comes from.
http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/ftc_MYarticle.pdf

They should be familiar with some of the major threatened and endangered species in South Carolina (Species of Concern) – Examples: shortnose sturgeon, flatwoods salamander, bog turtle, Schweinitz’s sunflower, Carolina heelsplitter, wood stork, red-cockaded woodpecker, mountain sweet pitcher plant, manatee, longleaf pine
a. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/scwildlifearticle.pdf
b. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/plan/Chapter2.pdf
c. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/index.html


Biodiversity
· ESA Biodiversity Fact Sheet - http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/factsheets.php
· ESA Issues in Ecology, Number 4, 1999. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Maintaining Natural Life Support Processes. http://www.esa.org/science_resources/issues/FileEnglish/issue4.pdf
·

Ecosystem Services
· ESA Ecosystem Services Fact Sheet - http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/factsheets.php
· ESA Issues in Ecology, Number 4, 1999. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Maintaining Natural Life Support Processes. Ecosystem Services: Benetifts Supplied to Human Societies by Natural Ecosystems. http://www.esa.org/science_resources/issues/FileEnglish/issue2.pdf
·

Medicinal Plants
· New Scientist article - http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126903.200-medicinal-plants-on-verge-of-extinction.html
· World Health Organization - http://www.who.int/topics/plants_medicinal/en/index.html
· List of drugs derived from plants from about.com - http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa061403a.htm

Endangered Species Act
· Fish and Wildlife Service- main page- http://www.fws.gov/endangered/whatwedo.html
· Fish and Wildlife Service – brief overview - http://www.fws.gov/endangered/factsheets/ESA_basics.pdf

Biodiversity and Climate Change
· United Nations Environmental Program - http://www.unep-wcmc.org/climate/default.aspx

Well, there's a beginning for you. The camcorder died, so I won't be able to get the actual presentation to you all, but I am working on alternative means. Keep your eyes on this space, and as I gather more information I will get it out to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. Thank you all for being ripples in the pond.

Bream Buster Ecology; my name is dirt

Well, anytime I run a lab for my students something has to go wrong. It's one of those laws of nature. This Ecology Lab was no different. After Meeting at the South Carolina Environmental Training Center for some last minute instructions we caravaned Manchester State Forest's Toumey Tract.

This Area was purchased by the state of South Carolina fairly recently, and converted from agriculture to silviculture. The Forestry Comission had a few difficulties with this Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) stand, so we came to check it out. Our job was to determine if the soil pH was proper for this species (longleaf pines prefer acidic soils).

After a very informative talk from our local soil experts (from the USDA/NRCS) we set out to collect some data. After hours of grueling sampling we ran into the major glitch for this lab. Our pH probe had lost its calibration while bumping down the dirt roads of Wedgefield SC. In the words of Homer Simpson "D'oh" No worries. Luckily our sampling methodology was such that I can sample the pH Monday. Yeah for me!

When we broke for lunch the 'old folks' hung around Toumey for some bologna sandwiches, boiled p-nuts, chips, and pretzels (anything tastes like gourmet when you're out in the field). The younger crowd jumped in their trucks and headed to Batens for lunch. To my knowledge none of them was brave enough to try fried 'gator tail. It's pretty tasty, but probably not a good idea when you're in the field, far away from modern conveniences.

After lunch we investigated seedling survivorship in some other tracts around Toumey. Our experts from the SC Forestry Commission taught us how to use their secret weapon, a bream buster, to calculate survivorship (hey, nobody ever said that science had to be super technical). By extending the bream buster 11.8' and counting the surviving seedlings within that area you can figure out how many seedlings have survived in 1/100th of an acre. After you take a representative sample you can then extrapolate to the entire area.

All in all, it was an excellent day. I would like to extend a special thanks to Jackie and Caleb from the USDA/NRCS and Scott and Mike from the South Carolina Forestry Commission for their time and expertise. Thanks guys!