Niquette Bay State Park

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Our site is located off of the Ledges trail, which is aptly named because there are tons of ledges in our hectare! We tested the rock with an HCl concentration and it didn't fizz. This indicates that the rock is Monkton Quartzite.

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ReeseSeptember 27, 2011 at 1:40 AM
As my FNEP pal, Rachel said, last fall: "Hey — we're doing SCIENCE!"
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About Group 1's Hectare

A lot can happen in a hectare, and our site is the perfect example of this. Located directly off the Ledges Trail, it is extremely diverse in the vegetation, trees, and wildlife that inhabit the hectare. The trees of the forest are mostly deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves. There is also a stand of Hemlocks, however, that add even more diversity to the area. Our site is a typical Northern Hardwood forest at first glance, but if you take a closer look, it is evident that there is a lot going on beyond what meets the eye. The most prominent feature of our site is definitely the plethora of ledges that are present. These ledges are full of moss and life. There are also a lot of wet areas in our hectare, called seeps and vernal pools. It is nearly impossible to walk without getting at least a little wet! Dead and downed trees are very apparent, as is herbaceous cover. We have also seen plenty of wildlife on our site, mainly squirrels and chipmunks that scurry through. The most important thing to note about all of these features is that they are working together to form the whole landscape. We, as humans, are a part of this process, too. The end result is a piece of land that is truly unique, with many different parts coming together. Hopefully, the content in this blog will inform readers about this particular hectare and encourage them to go out and explore the plot on their own!

Methods

Week 1 - Navigated to our spot, explored the area, mapped out our hectare using flagging and paces

Week 2 - Tested the bedrock geology of our site using HCl, tested the soil pH using a soil kit, explored the hectare more to collect data for a base map

Week 3 - Assigned stand boundaries, established nine plots, sampled each of the plots and measured basal area, DBH, height, and species of trees, determined the natural communities

Week 4 - Surveyed snags (standing dead trees), surveyed coarse woody debris (CWD), determined wildlife habitats appropriate for our site

Niquette Bay State Park - Group 1

The hectare!

Map Key

Sunday, September 25, 2011

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