This week I got to learn some new skills and tools! I went to Bruce Vento Nature Preserve (also known as Wakan Tipi) with some other members of my lab. Katie Hoffman, the Laboratory Manager, taught me how to use a Hach Portable Dissolved Oxygen and Conductivity probe meter for taking water quality data. I also learned how to filter water samples for carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, chlorophyll a, and particulate phosphorus in the lab. I think these skills will be useful when trying to measure the health of aquatic ecosystems!
Measuring seedling growth and survival in a transition plot on June 16th at Crosby Farms.
This week was the first week in the field for Team Stream down at Crosby Farms. We are part of the Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project and are currently monitoring seedling growth and survival rate of trees planted last year. The ASCC project focuses on implementing three tactics to better propose new forest management techniques for the future under a changing climate: resistance, resilience, and transition. Resistance refers to keeping current forest conditions the same but helping the forest defend itself against a warming climate. This entails planting more native vegetation. Resilience refers to creating an “elastic” environment where forests gain the potential of rebounding back from changes. For example, introduce more flood or drought tolerant species. Transition refers to changing the vegetation to promote growth. This also entails introducing more flood or drought tolerant species but from climates slightly warmer than those introduced in the resilience plots.
We are also working on building individual research projects. Cully plans on analyzing water movement through trees and I, Claire, plan on researching the impact of the microtopography on soil moisture and soil organic carbon contents.
REU on Sustainable Land and Water Resources 