Forestry 301 - Natural Resource Ecology and Management



NREM 301

Reading Guide

Chapter 1

Reading guides will be provided for each of the assigned chapters in the textbook. The important material in the chapters and the parts of the chapter for which you are not responsible will be identified.

NOTE: You will not be asked to hand answers to most of the reading guides – however, reading guides will have activities in them that will help you process the information. At the end of the assigned time for reading the chapter and using the reading guide we will have a quiz, in class covering the material covered in the reading guide. The quiz will cover both specifics in the guide and/or provide situations from lab or other discussions for you to process using the information in the guide. (The answers to the questions on page 6-8 will be handed in for this guide on Thursday, September 4, 2008)

Be prepared for an in-class quiz over material in the Chapter 1 reading guide on Thursday, September 4, 2008.

WHILE THE TEXT BOOK COVERS MAINLY FOREST ECOSYSTEMS WE WILL ALSO BE DISCUSSING PRAIRIE, SAVANNA, WETLAND AND STREAM ECOSYSTEMS BOTH IN THEIR NATURAL AND DISTURBED (AGRICULTURE) STATES DURING THE SEMESTER. WE ARE TAKING A BROADER LANDSCAPE LOOK AT ECOLOGY SO INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ALL OF THESE ECOSYSTEMS IS AS OR MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE FUNCTIONS WITHIN ANY ONE OF THEM ALONE. WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO THINK OF DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES FOR THE FOLLOWING TERMS. AS WE VISIT EACH OF THE DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS DURING THE SEMESTER BE SURE THAT YOU CAN APPLY THESE TERMS TO EACH OF THEM.

Ecology

Ecosystem

Abiotic factors

Biotic factors

Population

Community

Biome

Forest ecosystem & community

Prairie ecosystem & community

Wetland ecosystem & community

Stream ecosystem & community

Forest types

Forest stand

Landscape ecosystems

Vertical Stratification

Horizontal Stratification

Edge

Ecotone

Cover Type

Phenotype/Genotype

Site

Physiography

Silviculture

Ecosystems can be studied at several levels and scales. We can begin by studying the interactions of the individual organism with the abiotic (non-living) factors of the site. Next we can study the interactions between the organisms in the ecosystem - the organisms composing the biotic community can be broken down into the plant and animal communities. We can then study the interactions between the biotic and abiotic components of the local ecosystem. Finally, we can focus on the larger chunks of earth space - landscape ecosystems (include combinations of ecosystems – think of mountains with alpine, forest, plain and embedded rivers and lakes) or of prairies which can consist of wet and mesic prairies, various kinds of wetlands, etc.. Be prepared to distinguish and provide examples for these various levels of organization. If shown a slide of a portion of a landscape you should be able to identify each of the levels of scale.

PLEASE PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE ITALICIZED DEFINITION OF ECOLOGY PROPOSED BY ROWE (1989) AND PRESENTED ON PAGE 2. NOTE THE KEY PHRASES IN THIS DEFINITION - ESPECIALLY THE LOCATION OF THE ORGANISMS AND THE THREE DIMENSIONAL NATURE OF ECOSYSTEMS. THE CONCEPT OF ORGANISMS BEING LOCATED AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE SOIL OR WATER IS VERY IMPORTANT. IT IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE ATMOSPHERE/SURFACE INTERFACE IS THE SOLAR ENERGIZED SURFACE – AIR ABSORBS LITTLE INCOMING RADIATION – IT IS THE SURFACE (WATER, SOIL, PLANT CANOPIES) THAT ABSORBS AND DISSIPATES MOST OF THAT INCOMING ENERGY. IT IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT TO THINK OF ECOSYSTEMS AS A VOLUME OF SPACE WITH AIR, WATER OR SOIL/PLANTS IN IT.

WE WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF THE ECOSPHERE PAYING SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE DISCUSSION IN PARAGRAPH 4 ON PAGE 3. NOTE THE NESTED NATURE OF ECOSYSTEMS THAT ARE MAINLY A MATTER OF SCALE. AGAIN, USE OUR VISIT TO THE DOOLITTLE PRAIRIE, BEAR CREEK AND SOPPER’S MILL TO DEVELOP EXAMPLES OF THIS CONCEPT.

BE PREPARED TO DEVELOP AN EXAMPLE OF A PLANT OR ANIMAL WITHIN A NATURAL ECOSYSTEM (FOREST, PRAIRIE, WETLAND, RIVER, ETC.) THAT WOULD SHOW YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE HIERARCHY OF ORGANIZATION FROM THE INDIVIDUAL TO THE ECOSYSTEM (FIGURE 1.1). IN YOUR EXAMPLE BE PREPARED TO IDENTIFY THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ECOSYSTEM AS WELL AS THE BASIC MECHANISMS, RAW MATERIALS AND ENERGY THAT MAKE THE ECOSYSTEM VIABLE.

FIGURES 1.2, 1.3 AND 1.4 ARE VERY IMPORTANT. WHILE I DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO REPRODUCE THEM VERBATIM, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SIMILAR DIAGRAMS OF YOUR OWN, ESPECIALLY FIGURE 1.4. FIGURE 1.2 IS SIMPLY A VERTICAL STRATUM DIAGRAM. IT IS MEANT TO MAKE YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THE LAYERS THAT ARE IMPORTANT IN THE FUNCTIONING OF AN ECOSYSTEM. LAYERING IS IMPORTANT IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY AND DIFFERS BETWEEN PRAIRIE, FOREST AND AQUATIC SYSTEMS (THINK ABOUT THE PENETRATION OF SUNLIGHT INTO THESE THREE DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS). FIGURE 1.3 GRAPHICALLY PROVIDES THE BASICS OF THE ECOSYSTEM DEFINITION (THE MOST STRAIGHT FORWARD ONE IS THAT OF LINCOLN ET AL., 1982 PROVIDED IN ( ) ON PAGE 4. YOU SHOULD COMPARE THAT DEFINITION WITH THAT OF ROWE, (1961) ONE LINE ABOVE IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH AND THAT OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA STARTING ON PAGE 5. FIGURE 1.4 MODELS THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE ABIOTIC AND BIOTIC FACTORS OF AN ECOSYSTEM.

BE AWARE OF THE AUTHORS' CONCERNS THAT ECOSYSTEMS ARE MORE THAN BIOTIC COMMUNITIES OR POPULATIONS, THEY ARE SPATIAL IN NATURE AND CONSIST OF INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ORGANISMS AND THEIR ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENT (PAGE 6 – LANDSCAPE ECOSYSTEM AND COMMUNITY). THE BIOTIC COMMUNITIES CONNECT THE SOIL-WATER SYSTEM TO THE ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM AND MODERATE THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THESE TWO LAYERS. AGAIN, THE AUTHORS STRESS THEIR USE OF LANDSCAPE ECOSYSTEMS TO GET US TO THINK OF ECOSYSTEMS AS MORE THAN JUST A COMMUNITY OF WOODY AND HERBACEOUS PLANTS AND ANIMALS. WE WILL ADDRESS THE CONCEPT OF LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY IN DETAIL LATER IN THE SEMESTER.

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE AUTHORS' PRESENTATION ON THE "ROOTING" OF PLANT COMMUNITIES (BOTTOM OF PAGE 7) IN BOTH THE SOIL AND THE ATMOSPHERE. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES IN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE TWO LAYERS IN TERMS OF THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH PLANTS? NOTE THAT THESE DIFFERENCES CAN BE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF VERTICAL STRUCTURE OF AN ECOSYSTEM (FIGURE 1.2) BUT NOTE THAT THE AUTHORS ALSO ELUDE TO THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE OF ECOSYSTEMS. BE PREPARED TO DESCRIBE THE DIFFERENCES IN THE DENSITY, STRATIFICATION , TURBIDITY, CHEMISTRY, ETC OF THE THREE POTENTIAL STRATA – ATMOSPHERE, SOIL AND/OR WATER.

NOTE THE DISCUSSION ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION ON PAGE 8. NOTE THE DISCUSSION OF WHAT PROCESSES ARE CLEARLY ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES AND WHICH ARE MORE DIRECTLY RELATED TO POPULATIONS AND COMMUNITIES. YET THESE LATER PROCESSES ARE ALSO ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES BECAUSE THEY ARE INFLUENCED BY ECOSYSTEM ABIOTIC FACTORS SUCH AS TEMPERATURE, NUTRIENTS, AND DISTURBANCE REGIMES (NOTE THE FREQUENT REFERENCE TO DISTURBANCE AS AN IMPORTANT PROCESS OF RESETTING SUCCESSION IN ECOSYSTEMS). BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS WHY IOWA IS PRIMARILY A PRAIRIE STATE AND YET WHEN WE ABANDON CROPLAND WOODY PLANTS ULTIMATELY INVADE AND GROW VERY WELL (WHAT ABOUT THE SITE CONDITIONS AND SITE HISTORY EXPLAINS THESE CONTRASTS?)

NOTE AT THE END OF THE SECTION ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION THAT THE AUTHORS MAKE THE POINT THAT LOCAL LANDSCAPE ECOSYSTEMS ARE FUNCTIONAL PARTS OF REGIONAL ECOSYSTEMS. WE CAN EXTEND THAT EVEN FURTHER TO SAY THAT REGIONAL ECOSYSTEMS ARE FUNCTIONAL PARTS OF THE ECO- OR BIOSPHERE THUS SHOWING THE LINKAGE BETWEEN CHANGES IN PRAIRIE ECOSYSTEMS THAT NOW ARE AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEMS AND THE HYPOXIA PROBLEM OF THE GULF. WHAT IS HYPOXIA AND WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? THINK ABOUT THIS CONCEPT OF LINKAGES IN TERMS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. WHAT CHANGES IN LOCAL AND REGIONAL ECOSYSTEM HAS BROUGHT ABOUT THE CONCERNS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL STRATIFICATION ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION AND ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS. FIGURE 1.5 DEMONSTRATES THE GROSS DIFFERENCES IN TWO HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY STRATIFIED ECOSYSTEMS. BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS THE DIFFERENCES IN FIGURE 1.5 AND APPLY THEM TO ECOSYSTEMS THAT WILL BE SHOWN ON SLIDES IN CLASS AND IN THE ECOSYSTEMS. NOTE THAT THEY TALK ABOUT THE GRAVITY CONTROLLED PROCESSES OF VERTICAL TRANSFER SUGGESTING THAT HORIZONTAL TRANSFER IS LESS INFLUENCED BY GRAVITY (DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT?). WE ARE GOING TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN THE FIELD SENSITIZING YOU TO DIFFERENCES IN VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL STRATIFICATION AND DISCUSSING THE IMPLICATIONS THIS HAS ON MANAGEMENT. THIS WEEK IN LAB PLEASE THING OF THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL STRATIFICATION THAT YOU HAVE SEEN IN THE DOOLITTLE PRAIRIE POTHOLE PRESERVE.

NOTE THAT IN THE SECOND LAST PARAGRAPH OF THIS SECTION (PAGE 10) THE AUTHORS SAY THAT THE LARGER THE ECOSYSTEM THE LESS IMPORTANT IS HORIZONTAL TRANSFER BETWEEN LOCAL ECOSYSTEMS. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU SEE THIS INFERENCE TO THE IMPORTANCE OF "EDGE" AND "ECOTONES". WHAT IS MEANT BY THESE TERMS AND WHAT IS THEIR FUNCTION IN TERMS OF HORIZONTALLY STRATIFIED ECOSYSTEMS.

TWO EXAMPLES OF LANDSCAPE ECOSYSTEMS ARE GIVEN IN FIGURES 1.6 AND 1.7. I DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO BE ABLE TO REPRODUCE THESE OR TO REMEMBER ALL OF THE SPECIES MENTIONED BUT THERE ARE GENERALIZATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE POSITIONS THAT YOU SHOULD BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND AND BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN. FOR EXAMPLE, DIFFERENCES IN SOIL AND MICROCLIMATIC MOISTURE MAKE ONE SITE MORE FIRE PRONE THAN ANOTHER; SLOPE POSITION MAY CREATE SITE OF POOR DRAINAGE WHERE SOILS ARE SATURATED AND THE MICRO-CLIMATE IS COLDER. PLEASE BEGIN TO TRY TO ORGANIZE THESE DIFFERENCES IN YOUR MIND. WE WILL REFER TO THEM MANY TIMES IN THE FIELD AND TRY TO SHOW YOU REAL - WORLD EXAMPLES.

IN FIGURE 1.7 NOTE THAT THE AUTHORS DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING THE DIFFERENCES IN SOIL AND TOPOGRAPHIC POSITION AND NOT RELYING SIMPLY ON "COVER TYPE" AS COVER TYPE MAY BE DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON DISTURBANCE ON THE SAME TOPOGRAPHIC POSITION. NOTE THAT THEY SUGGEST THAT MAPPING COVER TYPE MAY NOT BE THE BEST WAY TO GET A PICTURE OF SITE POTENTIAL FOR LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT BUT COVER TYPES CAN BE USED TO GIVE THE MANAGER A GOOD IDEA OF PRESENT WILDLIFE HABITAT, TIMBER AND RECREATIONAL POTENTIAL.

NOTE THE VERY IMPORTANT DISCUSSION IN THE LAST SECTION OF THE CHAPTER ON THE CHANGING ROLE OF FORESTRY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE FOREST ECOSYSTEM. NOTE THE DIFFERENCES IN THE APPROACH TO FOREST MANAGEMENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND THE EXPECTED APPROACH OF THE 21ST CENTURY.

WHILE NOT PRESENTED IN CHAPTER 1, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE THE 4 DISTINGUISHING ATTRIBUTES OF AN ECOSYSTEM (SEE BELOW) AND WHAT BASIC MECHANISMS, MATERIALS AND ENERGY ARE NEEDED FOR AN ECOSYSTEM TO BE VIABLE. BE PREPARED TO GIVE EXAMPLES.

ECOSYSTEMS HAVE THE FOLLOWING ATTRIBUTES:

1. A WEB OF INTERACTIONS AND INTERDEPENDENCIES AMONG THE PARTS – INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC COMPONENTS AND BETWEEN BIOTIC COMPONENTS. MATERIALS AND ENERGY MOVE THROUGH THE SYSTEM. FUNCTION IS IMPLIED BY INTERACTIONS – MOVEMENT OF ENERGY AND MATERIALS (NUTRIENTS AND WATER).

When more than one species carries out a specific function there is redundancy. When only one species carries out a specific function – species are called keystone species (unique species – beaver provide one of a kind habitat that moose on Isle Royal depend on – wolves who regulate the beaver and moose. Nitrogen-fixing plants.)

2. Synergy – interdependence from the interactions – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – if one species is lost from the system the system changes. Synergy leads to dynamic stability and complexity and is difficult to predict because of that complexity.

3. Stability – does not mean “no change”. Disturbance, growth and decay result in continuous change. Stability means – changes are maintained within certain boundaries and key processes and potentials are protected and maintained (nutrient cycling). Within a stable system materials like nutrients are conserved while an instable system is open and leaks materials to other ecosystems.

Exercise – compare the stability of the agricultural ecosystem with that of a native forest or prairie.

4. Diffuse boundaries – hard to identify where one stops and another starts – ecosystems are connected through space and time with other local ecosystems – making up a larger landscape – region – biosphere. Connectedness is hierarchal – meaning each ecosystem is comprised of smaller ecosystems and in turn is part of larger ones.

Forests provide: (Be prepared to make a similar list for prairie, wetland & aquatic ecosystem)

• Occupy 15% of the earth’s surface (including oceans) but capture 50% of the total solar energy caught by plants.

• Low albedo (reflection) helps maintain energy balance.

• Forests contain large amounts of sequestered carbon that control global warming.

• Forests are a major source of evaporation from land that helps distribute precipitation globally.

• Major droughts and desserts around the world may result from deforestatiton.

• Most of the worlds major rivers start in forests or what where once forests.

• Provide medicinal plants (anticancer properties of western yew and the Madagascar periwinkle).

• Forests are one of the truly wild places on earth and an important spiritual tie for humans.

NREM 301

Chapter 1 Reading Quide Exercises

Additional Exercises to help you process the information

Due September 4, 2008

1. Define:

Prairie (wet, mesic, & dry)–

Wetland Ecosystem (Type I & II, III, IV) –

Horizontal stratification –

Ecotone -

2. Consider a tree or prairie grass plant. Most terrestrial plants live in two distinct environments, those being the air and the soil. Compare the major differences between the air and soil that the plant has to deal with and then mention briefly how the plant adapts to these differences in the two environments. (Please use single descriptive words or phrases – no long sentences)

|Parameter |Air |Soil |Plant adaptations |

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|Temperature range & | | | |

|Variability | | | |

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|Moisture (kind, delivery, | | | |

|variability) | | | |

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|Density/mass of media | | | |

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|Movement of media | | | |

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|Other organisms | | | |

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4. In the picture below describe the differences in vertical and horizontal stratification that you would expect to see as you moved from left to right along the line that is drawn. What kinds of strata do you see in a vertical direction (remember to consider down into the water & to mineral soil) and what kinds in a horizontal direction?

[pic]

5. In the table below list the major ecosystem-level functional processes (text - page 8). These are the processes that we are going to be studying for most of the semester. Provide a simple comparison (more vs less; faster vs slower) & a brief reason why, for the each of the processes between: 1) the dry grasslands of eastern Colorado or Wyoming and, 2) the lush mixed hardwood forests of the Southern Appalachians. Be prepared to explain why you think they are faster or slower, etc.

|Ecosystem Functions |Great Plains Grassland |Smokey Mtn National Park Mixed Hardwood Forest |

|Mineral weathering | | |

| | | |

|2. | | |

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|3. | | |

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|4. | | |

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|5. | | |

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6. Describe the differences in movement of water between concave and convex slopes. How would these two slope positions influence soil depth? How about night-time air temperatures?

7. Start with a plant of Indian grass on the Doolittle Prairie show how that plant is nested within the various levels of spatial organization within the ecosphere (refer to paragraph 4 on page 3 in the text). Provide specific names for the various spatial scale.

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