First Day in Field

Grace Kellner

Date: Friday, January 24, 2014,

Location: White Oak Bayou three sample sites

Time spent on project: 2:00-4:30

Team members: Entire class was present for this field day.

Details: We went out into the field yesterday for the first time. Actually being out there made the semester’s project more tangible and real to me. It was a beautiful day, although pretty chilly. Scott came down from Montana and gave us a tour and overview of what we’d be doing, what we should look for, and some interesting information. He showed us the difference between upland soil and wetland soil. Upland soil is a brown-red color and the wetland soil is gray because of inundation and the formation of an anaerobic environment. Without oxygen, iron is reduced and the soil becomes hydric and turns gray. When we opened up a chunk of soil we saw the inside was an orangish color indicating the presence of oxygen by oxidized iron. Using the soil we were able to determine more clearly the boundaries of the wetland.

            For my portion of the project, classifying canopy cover, I realized the extent to which I will have a difficulty identifying trees without leaves. I realized the extent to which Allyn Fuell’s master’s thesis will come in handy when we collect our data. This project will build on her research and previous Environmental Practicum class research, increasing the value of our future data collection.