Week 13 &14- 2013

Week 13 &14- 2013

• Objective– SWBAT identify forestry equipment and

techniques used to measure a riparian forest buffer zone on our campus IOT determine if the buffer will adequately protect a body of water.

Tree Identification Review

• Think about it before you answer:– Is it deciduous or coniferous?– Are there lobes and sinuses?– Are there needles? How many are there in a

cluster?– Is a fruit or nut present?– What are some special features of each leaf?– Which term most accurately depicts the leaf?

Forest Buffer Calculations

Field Biology

CCTI

Mrs. Conway

What is a Forest Buffer?• Definition: A riparian forest buffer is an area of

trees and shrubs located adjacent to streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands.

• Purpose: – Intercept sediment, nutrients, pesticides, and other

materials in surface runoff and reduce nutrients and other pollutants in water flow.

– Woody vegetation provides food and cover for wildlife, helps lower water temperatures by shading water body, and slows out-of-bank flood flows

– The vegetation provides litter fall and large woody debris important to aquatic organisms.

Examples of Flooding

Pennsylvania Land Cover

Canopy Cover and Shade

• Shade: is the amount of solar energy that is obscured or reflected by vegetation or topography.

• Canopy cover: is the percent of the sky covered by vegetation or topography.

• Of the measurement devices described in this chapter, the densiometer and clinometer both measure canopy cover while solar pathfinder and hemispherical photography measure both shade and canopy cover. Stream aspect can be combined with clinometer measurements to calculate streamshade.

Significance for habitat:

• Riparian vegetation is a key component of fish habitat. A healthy riparian canopy shades the stream channel, in many cases preventing or reducing high summer water temperatures.

• Healthy riparian vegetation stabilizes stream banks with the reinforcing action of interconnecting root systems. Stabilized stream banks are more likely to develop bank undercut, which provides important cover for fish.

• Stabilized stream banks are less likely to provide fine sediments, which can embed spawning gravels and, in extreme cases, fill in pools.

• Riparian trees also provide the majority of large woody debris (LWD) recruitment into the stream.

Forestry ToolsIncrement Borer Measuring Tape

Biltmore Stick

Prism

DBH Tape

Clinometer

Video

Angle Gauge

• A mechanical or optical device for measuring the basal area of trees in a variable plot sampling– Variable plot: a plot

that contains tress of different sizes

• Most common is a wedge prism

Clinometer

• An instrument used to determine tree height based on slopes, elevation angles, and distance measurements.

• Has a slighting hole and a suspended circular scale that can measure ground slope as well as tree height

• hand-held

DBH Tape

• Measurement of the diameter of a tree stem, outside the bark, taken 4½ feet above the ground on the uphill side of the tree.

• The recommended tape has tree diameter in inches on one side, the other side measures length in feet and inches

• 100 foot tape is best

Increment Borer

• Used to determine the age of a tree, an increment borer includes an extractor tray within a long skinny tube.

• Once augured into the trunk, a sample of tree tissue is extracted and the rings are counted to determine age.

• For some species, additional years are added to the number of rings; – example, for loblolly pine 3

years are added, and for longleaf 7 years are added.

Examples of How to Take Measurements

• We will learn how to use these tools at a later time.

• The following 3 steps are a preview to how this happens

• This information is not an immediate concern.

STEP 1

• Determine the buffer zone slope—Clinometer– Place pole at edge of water– Measure 100 feet from the first pole, then

place second pole– Use the left reading to identify the slope % on

the clinometer and RECORD

STEP 2

• Tree Density-# of Trees per Acre– Place a pole in the center of your assigned

area– Measure out 26 feet in four directions– Count the # of trees over 2 inches in diameter

at DBH (4.5 feet) and RECORD

STEP 3

• Find Basal Area--Prism– Use the same pole from

step 2– Find the DBH (4.5) feet – Use the prism to count

the number of trees without moving your hand from the 4.5 feet position and RECORD

Tally, Do Not Tally, or Borderline??A B C

Importance of Stocking the Forest

• Stocking Level – The proportion of existing street trees to the total number of potential street trees (number of trees plus the number of available planting spaces).

• A basic measure of forest sustainability is the comparison of the volume of wood removed versus the volume accumulated through net tree growth. If net growth exceeds the amount of wood removed, then theoretically, the timber supply is sustainable.

Stocking in Pennsylvania• Forests normally change very slowly, but

during disturbance they can quickly and dramatically change structure and composition.

• Pennsylvania, 2009: Percent of forest land by stocking class, Stocking Class Area of forest land (percent)

– Poorly stocked 10– Medium stocking 38– Fully stocked 48– Overstocked 4

• Most of PA’s forests originated between 90-120 years ago.

– Most of the harvesting occurred to fuel the industrial revolution. composition..