"First glance" map of site 13

This is the hand drawn map of site 13 after only one day of being there.  It is difficult to map a place that you barely know.

Interpretive Analysis and Methods Used

Interpretive:

Our plot in Niquette Bay state park was number 13 which is located directly off the Burns trail. Site 13 is roughly 1 hectare in size and consists of a moderately dense hilly forested area on the western side of the plot tapering down to a stream bed on the east side. Coming in off of the Burns trail you enter the western corner of our plot.

This area is at the top of the east facing hillside where all you can see is snags and downed wood across the forest floor and stream moving down the hill. This area comprises about 60% of our site and is dominated by white pine, birch and maple. This part of the site shows evidence of a blow down as there is an extensive amount of both snags and dead woody debris across the landscape that make it a little challenging to navigate.

Two smaller streams, one from the north corner and one from the northwest, converge at the bottom of the hilly area to form a marshy area dominated by ferns and other riparian species. This riparian zone extends the whole length of the plot from near the north corner where the two streams meet, to the south east where the stream flows out.

The eastern corner of our plot is on the other side of the riparian zone halfway up a west facing hillside that runs along the length of the stream. Although this hillside predominantly had the same species that we found everywhere else in our plot there were some large white ash that we only found there.

Finally our southern corner is marked by a very large white pine that sits on the side of the hill and measures 53inches in diameter and is roughly 85 feet tall. The large amount of downed wood and both low and high snags in our site in combination with the fertile riparian area where the streams converge lead us to believe that this is very good habitat for small forest animals like fishers as well as a variety of different bird species such as the barred owl and the scarlet tanager.

Methods:

In order to collect the necessary information to perform our assessment of our plot there were several methods that we had to use. First we had to analyze the substrate of our site by testing the ph of our soil and evaluate the soil layer horizons based on our auger holes. Next we did an inventory of the vegetation on our site noting the different species found. We then did a natural community analysis which consisted of creating plots and determining which species of trees were located there. Additionally we measured the DBH of the trees in our plot as well as height of those trees. The final appraisal that we did was to record the number of high and low snags on our site as well as recording the amount and diameter of down wood across out site noting the level of decay.

Favorite Characteristics

Andy:

John: The best part about our plot was the different components of the plot. From the wide differences in tree types to the stream and ridges that made up our hectare. As well, the windblown area of our plot lead for an interesting change in forest structure. Although, I would have to say that my favorite part about our plot was the ridge that ran along the north east part of the plot leading down into the stream.

Matt: After being on the site for four weeks straight, I knew our square hectare like the back of my hand. Of course the fact that our site was extremely hilly, and that it had multiple streams running through it, was an appealing characteristic. But, my favorite part were the pine and birch trees that grew into each other. It is something that I have never seen before, and it really stood out to me when I saw it.

BIGGEST TREE

We used DBH tape, and the stick method to come to the conclusion that this tree was the largest on our site

Species: White Pine

Height: 85 feet

DBH: 53 inches

NEWILD Potential Species List

    The species listed below were generated by a program called NEWILD.  The list is of species that have the potential to reside in our site.
                 Yellow: Amphibians and Reptiles













Blue: Birds


















































 Green: Mammals

Screen Shot of our site on Google Maps

Density and Composition

During our third visit to our site, we measured 5 plots, each with an area of about 78.5 m^2.  Each plot had different characteristics, and will be described in more detail below.

1.

Species	DBH (inches)	Height (feet)
White Pine	20.5	60
White Pine	14	50
Paper Birch	13.5	40
Paper Birch	13.5	25

South facing slope, maple saplings, fern ground cover, dead standing and dead downed wood.

2. 

Species	DBH (inches)	Height (feet)
White ash	16.5	30
Norway Maple	8.5	16
American Beech	13.5	20
Norway Maple	10	20

Northwest facing slope, hickory, maple, and beech saplings, fern and small bamboo ground cover

3. 

Species	DBH (inches)	Height (feet)
White Pine	27.5	65
White Pine	18	50
Paper Birch	17	20
White Pine	11.5	30
White Pine	18	50
White Pine	10	25

Butternut and maple saplings, dead leaf ground cover.

4. 

Species	DBH (inches)	Height (feet)
Black Cherry	15	20
White Pine	20	35
Paper Birch	13.5	30

Ironwood, musclewood, maple, and beech saplings, fern ground cover.

5. 

Species	DBH (inches)	Height (feet)
Black Cherry	14	20
Butternut	7	16
Red Maple	10.5	16
Basswood	9.5	20

Maple, hemlock, and butternut saplings, fern ground cover.

The 5 plots effectively represent the diversity of our site.  Listed below are the different species found, and the total volume in board feet between the plots.

White Pine: 464,654.01 (8 trees)

Paper Birch: 24,855.34 (4 trees)

American Beech: 238.44 (1 tree)

Norway Maple: 94.53 (2 trees)

Red Maple: 115.4 (1 tree)

White Ash: 534.29 (1 tree)

Black Cherry: 2,200.62 (2 trees)

Butternut: 51.29 (1 tree)

Basswood: 118.08 (1 tree)

Density of our most common species (stems/ha):
1. White Pine: 251.08
2. Paper Birch: 42.78

Total estimated biomass on our plot:
To estimate biomass, we estimated the density of the trees to be 50 lb/ft^3.  We arrived at this value by using an internet site (http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/weigt-wood-d_821.html).  We multiplied this value by the estimated volume of wood on our site.

Biomass: 26160 tons.  We understand that this only includes merchantable lumber.  The actually number is most likely MUCH higher because of the saplings and ground cover, along with the leaves/needles from the trees, that were not included.