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geo field study:

Jason Birring

IB Geo 12

Dec 08/2006

Hypothesis: With an increase in altitude, we will find a change in the type and size in trees. As the elevation increases, trees tend to cluster into small groups in order to retain warmer temperatures as air thins and cools. This seems logical, as the elevation increases, temperature, rain fall (as opposed to snow fall), air pressure all decrease, and all play a part in a seed beating the odds and growing into a tree.

Introduction: Mount Garibaldi is a dormant composite cone volcano that is located 64 km north of Vancouver (Mount Garibaldi). It was formed due to the subduction of the Juan de Fuca oceanic plate under the North American continental plate.(Juan de Fuca Plate). The last eruption of Mount Garibaldi was over 10 000 years ago, and it considered dormant so it is not currently erupting, but there is still the possibility that it may erupt in the future. (Mount Garibaldi) The three sites that were used in this field study are along the trail that we climbed. The sites are located at 1.5 km, 3.5 km and 7.5 km along the trail respectively.

Materials:

• Tape measure
• Paper
• Pencil
• Booklet to help identify different indicator plants

Methods of data collection:

1. At each of the three sites, our teacher identified a 15m by 15m square (225m²), then selected and numbered 15 trees to be used for data collection.
2. The students were split up into six groups, and each group was assigned a different task
3. We measured the circumference of the trees and the distance to the nearest neighbor using a measuring tape, and also noted the type of tree using a booklet provided by our teacher.
4. A group of students was assigned to take detailed notes on a 2m by 2m box (225m²) at each site, the purpose was to compare the ground cover and note any indicator plants that were present.
5. All students sketched what an overhead view of each site would look like, labeling each tree on their sketch.
6. The maximum and minimum temperatures were also recorded, based on information over a 3 day period.
7. Soil samples are taken to be analyzed at the school, and the A horizon is measured.
8. The teacher will obtain values for the slope, and provide details pertaining to the orientation, the distance along trail, the elevation and where the slope is facing.
9. Back at the school one of the students attempted to measure the amount of nitrogen in the soil using a capsule that change the color of the solution according to how much nitrogen is present. The reading consistently showed that there was no nitrogen present, which contradicts the nitrogen estimates using indicator plants. The reason the nitrogen read 0 was that it escaped into the atmosphere as the beaker in which it was put was not sealed.
10. We also performed a nearest neighbor analysis (Nearest Neighbour Analysis)

Data Collection:

Data Processing:

Rn = D(Obs)

0.5 x (A/N)

(Nearest Neighbour Analysis)

Rn = nearest neighbor value

D(Obs) = mean observed nearest neighbour distance

A = area surveryed

N = number of trees in study

Rn = (226+226+325+351+221+197+102+107+587+229+229+229+229+498) / (14)

0.5 x (15² / 14)

15m = 100 cm / 1 m = 1500 cm

Rn = 268.2857

0.5 x 1500² / 14

Rn = 1.338

Analysis:

SITE 1

In the first site that we reached, the elevation was 695m, with a south facing slope of 12°. The trees here were not clustered, and they were significantly larger than at the other sites. There is a limited amount of light that can reach the smaller trees because of the dense canopy, the branches of the large trees that prevent sunlight from reaching the ground. This also slows down rainfall and helps prevent heavy rainfall from washing away seeds necessary for plant growth. The overall drainage is good, because of the relatively steep slope, so water runs down. Unfortunately the rainfall causes leaching of nutrients from rotting material (humus) into the soil. The soil is classified as podzol, and it has a 3 cm A horizon. The A horizon is composed of decomposing materials and is very rich in nutrients. This is also where plant roots and seeds start growing, so it is very important to the growth of a forest. (Soil Horizon)

The trees are very large, and include Mountain and Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar, which are the climax vegetation of this area. Climax vegetation means that they would exist in an area if growth was undisturbed for a long period of time. This seems to be the case because the trees are of varying ages, so they were probably not planted. Also, there was only one Noble Fir in this site, and it seems to be an anomaly as the Noble Fir requires much more sunlight than site 1 receives. (Noble Fir) For this same reason there are no Douglas firs in the studied area at the first site. We calculated the average circumference to be 171.4 cm; this is similar to the average circumference of trees at site 2, which is 161.6 cm. However, this is nearly three times as large as the average circumference at site 3, which was only 67.7 cm. This indicates a longer growing season, which is when temperatures are above approximately 6°Celsius. The temperature maximum reaches an expected 26° Celsius, as it is still summer in the temperate climate of southwestern BC. The minimum was 5° Celsius which is a huge difference over only 2 days. This is typical of a temperate climate. An interesting point is that even though site 1 is at a lower elevation than site 2, it has a lower minimum temperate. The minimum temperature would occur at night, where the sun has negligible effect on warming the area. There is no obvious answer to why site 1 has a lower minimum temperature than site 3, except perhaps that it … The temperature is also important because warmer temperatures speed up decomposition of organic matter which contributes to the A horizon.

After performing a nearest neighbor analysis (Nearest Neighbor Analysis) we calculated an Rn value of 1.338, which indicates a tendency to regular spacing. This is expected as the temperatures do not drop as much as at site 3, where it is much colder in the winter. Also, there will be less snow on the ground at site 1, which means that seeds have a greater chance to start blooming, because the snow prevents them from starting to grow. The elevation is 695m above sea level, which is the lowest of the three sites, therefore this site should have had the highest temperature of the three sites. Firstly, because the temperature should decrease 1° Celsius for every 150m increase in elevation under normal conditions. Secondly, the temperature here was taken at noon, when the sun is at its highest point and consequently the area should be the warmest for that day.

To help determine if the soil had adequate nitrogen, which is critical for plant growth, we noted which indicator plants were inside of the 4m² area. At site 1 we found Devil’s Club, Sword Fern, Slide Alder, Foam Flower. The Devil’s Club grows in moisture rich site, (Devil’s Club) this fits our analysis of site 1. The Sword Fern is found mostly in a “well-drained acidic soil of rich humus” (Polystichum munitum), which is what composes site 1. It is not found in site 2 because it is suited to low elevations where “consistent moisture and light sunlight” (Polystichum munitum) are part of the micro climate.

SITE 2

The second site had a slope of 22° and faced south west. Here the trees once again did not show any clustering, and were still very large, almost as large as the trees at site 1. The canopy is not as dense as site 1, so more sunlight can reach the smaller trees. The drainage was very good at site 2, as indicated by the steep slope, and the indicator plants. The presence of indicator plants that require high levels of nitrogen support the fact that there was good drainage, because with poor drainage, the fallen pine needles would not leach into the soil and make it more acidic. This is the case, as the pH tests showed that the soil was not as acidic as site 1 where there is a lot of precipitation and adequate drainage, but more acidic than site 3 where there is poor drainage and less rain. Once again, the soil is podzol, and the thickness of the A horizon was 3 cm. There was a significant number of fallen trees on the ground, but due to the lower temperatures, the trees do not decompose as fast as they would at site 1. (Soil Horizon)

The trees at site 2 are mainly Mountain Hemlock, of which there 10 out of 15. Site 2 is the only site where a Douglas Fir was found, there were in fact 2 in the area studied. There was one Western Red Cedar and one Noble Fir. The tree’s ages vary greatly, as indicated by their circumference; the Western Red Cedar was an astonishing 385 cm in circumference, second only to tree # 7 at site 1, also a Western Red Cedar. Conversely, there was a Mountain Hemlock with a circumference of only 8 cm, which means that it must be a very young tree. An important detail to point out is that the distance between trees # 2 and # 14 is reported as 43cm by one group and 20 cm by another group. This is unfortunate, but it does not seem to affect our calculations greatly, as the discrepancy is a mere 23 cm out of a combined circumference of 2263 cm, which is approximately 1%. The Rn value from the nearest neighbor analysis (Nearest Neighbour Analysis) is 0.504, which indicates a strong tendency towards clustering. This supports part 2 of our hypothesis, that as elevation increases, the trees will tend to cluster. The reason for this is that as previously mentioned, the elevation increase will lead to a drop in temperature, so by clustering with larger trees, a smaller tree will not have to deal with as much snow. Also the smaller tree is shielded from wind. Unfortunately, the larger trees have established roots that will tend to take most of the nutrients in the soil. The growing season is shorter than at site 1, so if temperature was the only variable changed, the trees would be significantly smaller at site 2. This is not what has happened because at site 2, more sunlight reaches smaller trees, so the temperature difference between the first two sites will not be very large. Also, another beneficial aspect of site 2 is that there seemed to be much more fallen debris on the ground which decomposes into nutrient rich humus.

As previously mentioned, the temperature maximums and minimums were fairly similar for sites 1 and 2. However, the minimum temperature at site 2 was higher than site 1, this contradicts our hypothesis that temperature will decrease with an increase in elevation. The temperature does decrease if all other variables are unchanged, but since the site is at higher elevation, it will get significantly more sunshine. To help determine if the soil had adequate nitrogen, which is critical for plant growth, we noted which indicator plants were inside of the 4m² area. At site 2 we found False Azalea, Bunch Berry, Queen’s Cup and a lot of moss. This indicates that there are medium nitrogen levels, and this is supported by the lack of ferns which require more nitrogen than at site 2.

SITE 3

The third and final site was situated very close to the Taylor Meadows campground where we spent our nights on the mountain. The southeast facing slope was very gentle; only 2°. This site was chosen because most of the area around our campground was off limits, because of fears of soil erosion. Unfortunately, this site was not the best representative of the area, as it did not contain the tight clusters of trees that we saw on hike through the meadows. Therefore, the Rn value of 0.522 was much higher than it would have been at the majority of other sites, in fact it indicates that the trees at site 2 were more clustered than site 3. This contradicts our hypothesis, but as previously mentioned, this site was not an ideal example. Still, the trees at site 3 were much thinner, and therefore generally shorter than at the first two sites. The average circumference was only 65.3 cm, which is much thinner than the 171.4 cm average at site 1. There are several possible reasons for this; firstly, there is a decrease in temperature with an increase in elevation, as stated in our hypothesis. This leads to a shorter growing season, and also the decomposition of organic material will be slower at lower temperature, which leads to nitrogen poor soil. We know that the soil is nitrogen poor because of the presence of Mountain Heather, Rhododendron, blueberries and Old man’s beard. The presence of rhododendrons indicates a nitrogen poor environment. The pH tests indicate that site 3 has the most alkaline soil in the three sites. The A horizon is the largest at site 3, this is due to 2 main reasons, firstly, the slope is only 2° so the decomposing matter tends not to be washed away because not much rainwater will run off the slope. Secondly, as mentioned in the hypothesis, the temperature should be much lower at site 3 compared to site 1, and this is true. Because the temperature is so much lower, the organic material will not decompose very quickly and the A horizon will take much longer to break down and join the B horizon. The canopy is not a very important factor at site 3, as the trees were not tall enough to affect the amount of sunlight that the smaller trees receive.

The trees at site 2 were composed of 10 Subalpine Fir, and 5 Mountain Hemlock, which supports the hypothesis that with an increase in altitude we will find a change in the type of trees. The Subalpine Fir was not found at any other sites, because “Cool summers, cold winters and a deep snowpack” (Tree Book – Subalpine Fir) are all important characteristics of the habitat of the Subalpine Fir. Site 3 has all of these, the deep snowpack is apparent because the outhouse was placed over 8 feet above the ground, and so the snow must reach levels near 8 feet, otherwise the outhouse would not have been built so high up. The temperature maximum was only 8° Celsius, with a minimum of 3° Celsius, this supports the hypothesis that the temperature will decrease with an increase in elevation. Also, the trees at site 3 had short branches at the top, with much longer branches towards the bottom; this is further evidence that there is a lot of snowfall near site 3. With shorter branches on top, there is less snow that can accumulate, and if too much snow accumulated the tree could be damaged.

Conclusion: Our hypothesis proved correct, with an increase in altitude, we found a change in the type and size in trees, the higher up, the smaller the trees. As the elevation increases, trees tend to cluster into small groups. The elevation, temperature, rain fall (as opposed to snow fall), and air pressure are all important in predicting whether trees will be larger at one site or another. Sites 1 and 2 had the largest and most diverse selection of trees. While at site 3 the trees were much shorter and clustered more, even though the site was not the best representative for that elevation, there were significant differences in nitrogen presence, temperature and ground cover.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/treebook/subalpinefir.htm

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