A Little Reflection

Research sites were essential for this project.  Virtual data can be extremely helpful in understanding the big picture of an ecosystem or more specific processes.  This helps to prepare a researcher for their field experience and familiarize it.  Virtual data can even be finding past projects and research on the area that have already been done.  Some virtual resources I personally used were Michigan Flora to learn about specific species, the MNFI website for a well rounded report on everything I needed to know about rich conifer swamps, and lastly the Michigan Invasive Species Information Network site to learn about invasives I could possibly see in the field.

I found a lot of value in doing this project.  I learned how to identify species in the field because an herbarium specimen is only a representation of that species and does not completely portray the differentiation of a wetland species from phenotypic plasticity for an area you are visiting.  I also was able to piece together what I had researched about a rich conifer swamp like the hydrology, soil, and vegetation and understand how they influenced one another.  Lastly, I got a lot of value from this field experience because I was able to see firsthand and identify problems with an ecosystem and understand why they were happening.  Things like this cannot be learned from a textbook.

Lastly I learned a lot about the value of archived museum specimens.  They could help me in my future career and research by showing me variations of a species over time.  These specimens would be able to help me make decisions and predict the future by looking at the past.  And finally archived museum specimens can also help me to archive my own findings and research for others to view in the future.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my recap of my experience and learned something new : )

 

Until the next adventure,

-Nicole

CMU Herbarium

For those of you who don’t know what an herbarium is, it is an archive for plant biodiversity.  They provide voucher specimen and information about them, some can be 50+ years old.  The Central Michigan University herbarium includes more than 26,000 plant specimens.  Their website even teaches proper technique and what materials to use to press and preserve a specimen.  They are even working on digitizing the collection into a Great Lakes species on-line resources.

The information in the CMU herbarium helped enhance my experience in the field because I able to look at voucher specimens of typical rich conifer swamps so that I will be able to identify them in the field.  This also helped me understand and see adaptations and characteristics of plant species for a conifer swamp.

The labels on the herbarium specimens are very important.  Proper labels not only include the latin and common name but also information about where the plant was found, what it looked like in the field before it was collected and pressed, and what the surrounding environment looked like.  This is very helpful because I could know where the specimen was taken from and how long ago.  Looking at herbarium specimens from different years can help to build a timeline of how a species changed over time and can give you an idea of how long a species has been seen in a location or when it was seen before it went extinct from that location.  I noticed that some specimens I looked at were actually collected from my location.  The herbarium specimens could be important to researching how composition could change from hardwoods taking over the rich conifer swamp.  This could be by understanding past transitions of rich conifer swamps to hardwood swamps so that the future of the focus area could be predicted.

Research Question

What I really noticed at the site was how the rich conifer swamp was going to change.  There were maple saplings everywhere and lots of their leaf litter.  They will slowly move in closer and closer.  Reasons for this happening are the lack of natural fires and/or manmade fires to eliminate the hardwoods.  Northern white cedar cannot keep up as they regenerate extremely slow even though they are long living if they survive deer browsing.

In these photos you can see how newer hardwood trees are beginning to move into the rich conifer swamp.  They have a faster regeneration time than the northern white cedar who takes 20+ years to even reach a height where deer cannot browse them.  If this rich conifer swamp converted into a hardwood conifer swamp and then to a hardwood swamp, this would completely change the ecosystem and the species composition.  That would be devastating when conifer swamps hold such a great amount of diversity.

This is why it would be great thing to research the effects of hardwood encroachment of rich conifer swamps and how this affects the species composition.  This could show that there is a need for better and more effective methods of conservation.  The next steps would be to make an action plan depending on what would be deemed an appropriate solution.  One could be to have prescribed burning if it would be safe.  Another could be to physically remove hardwoods from the targeted area.  Planting northern white cedar and putting a barrier around them to protect them from herbivory would help to give them a chance at regenerating.

Not So Perfect After All

While I was there I saw a few conservation concerns.  Rich conifer swamp need to be preserved because they are diverse communities and provide habitat for more than 25% of northern Michigan’s wildlife species and house over 50 rare species.  This shows just how crucial it is to have rich conifer swamps and prevent ecosystems from simplifying from losing species diversity.

One big concern was the encroachment of hardwood trees since there are no longer natural fires in the community.  Northern white cedar are a low canopy tree and will be cowered over by hardwoods.  While I was walking through I noticed that there were a large amount of hardwood tree saplings peeking out from the foliage.

Lastly there is a large concern that deer are preventing natural regeneration of northern white cedar.  This may be true as I did not see many saplings growing on the floor.  The northern white cedars that were mature also did not have low branches, suggesting that deer had foraged and the trees no longer grew leaves there.  This was one of the small ones I did spot-

I almost forgot about human disturbance and management of this rich conifer swamp.  There happens to be a railroad track right through the forest.  I found some pieces of coal and wood track debris next to the edge of the forest.  The vegetation close to the rocks grew very short.  There also would be noise pollution from trains passing by.  The only active management of the area would be keeping the rocks piled by the track which would help create a small barrier and maybe even help with pollution, maybe.

Active Management-

What I Saw Part 2

In this post I’m going to get more in depth about what species of plants I saw.  I saw quite a few of the indicator species and here they are-

Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) is one of the biggest tip offs that you are in a rich conifer swamp.

Creeping Snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula) is seen below weaving across the conifer swamp floor.

This next species, Goldenthread (Coptis trifolia), gets its name from the yellow/orange rhizome.

Another species I saw that was everywhere among the floor was Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis).

I can’t skip the fact that my entire time spent in the rich conifer swamp consisted of stepping on sphagnum mosses.

Lastly Balsam fir (Albies balsamea) were abundant as well.

Some other pretty cool species I saw are as follows-

Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis).

Fragrant Bedstraw  (Galium triflorum).

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata).

 

There were many types of ferns I saw along the way as well.

I kept an eye out for invasive species as I believed I had seen Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) when I went with my class the first time but I was not able to spot it.  I was able to find a thistle residing on the edge of the swamp, which could be the invasive Cirsium although I was not able to identify it to the exact species.

What I Saw Part 1

I had a beautiful view while walking down the train tracks-

Unfortunately I was a bit distracted by the gnawing sounds coming from the forest as I was walking down the tracks.. very eerie.  When I got to the entrance to the rich conifer swamp I immediately was stepping on a bed of sphagnum moss-

Since the rich conifer swamp is groundwater fed, the forest floor was extremely saturated and with small pools of water scattered around.  I actually found one pretty large pool of water and could see the water flowing up and filling it.

The soil was extremely mucky and sometimes my boots sank down into it and I would almost lose them!  It was a nice deep layer. There was a lot of organic matter mixed in as you can tell by my pictures.  Trees were fallen and soil would be still clinging to the roots.

While a conifer swamp is messy business, the overall vegetation was enchanting.  Everything was green and lively despite the fallen leaves from some hardwood trees.  I saw a landscape of ferns, sphagnum, vines, and sedges under a canopy of lots of northern white cedar trees along with pines.  Many of the northern white cedars were leaning over but were still growing upward despite being almost tipped over.

Next I’ll get more specific and post some pictures of all the cool plant species I found in a Part 2.  I was able to spot a lot of indicator species and other mentionable species that let me know I was for sure in a rich conifer swamp.

On the Road to Brandy Creek

It was an absolutely beautiful drive from Mt. Pleasant to Cadillac so that I could visit the rich conifer swamp.  It was an also pretty long drive too, a bit over 2 hours.  Let me show you what I mean-

When I arrived at the end of the directions I still needed to travel down a seasonal road for about 2 miles.  It was super bumpy while I tried my best to avoid the potholes.  Popping a tire out there would be a disaster.  When I came to the railroad tracks I parked my car and headed along the tracks on foot.  I knew where to enter the forest because I had been there once before with my class.  Here’s an aerial map of what I was getting myself into-

I took a lot of photos of everything I saw on my little journey, hope you enjoy my next posts!

Background Information

Alright so here’s 4-1-1 on rich conifer swamps brought to you by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI) website.

Distribution: Throughout the upper Midwest and northeast U.S. and connected Canadian provinces.  In Michigan they primarily occur north of the climatic tension zone (northern Lower Michigan and Upper Peninsula).

Hydrology:  They occur in association with lakes and cold, groundwater-fed streams.  They are common in outwash channels of drumlin fields and where groundwater seeps occur at the bases of moraines.  Seasonal water fluctuations are common with highest levels in spring and lowest in the fall.  There is also a great amount of nocturnal moisture.

Soils: Composed of peat and muck that is saturated, coarse, and woody.  The organic matter varies in depth and are neutral to moderately alkaline, sometimes acidic near the surface.

Vegetation: Dominated by northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and tamarack they often have roots that form mats that stand elevated due to the water level fluctuations.  Sphagnum moss is heavily present.  Shrubs are common as well as vines, sedges, ferns, orchids, and liverworts.  They have great diversity and abundance of mosses, lichens, and liverworts from the nocturnal moisture and alkaline groundwater.

Indicator Plant Species: Northern white cedar, sphagnum moss, alder, goldthread, starflower, twin-flower, creeping snowberry, sedge, and lady’s slipper.

Noteworthy Species: The 16 rare plant and 15 rare animal species.  Plant species include round-leaved orchis, great northern aster, butterwort, and Michigan monkey-flower.  Animal species include lynx, northern goshawk, moose, long-eared owl, and the wolf.

Invasive species: Marsh thistle (Cirsium palustre) and bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) occur in many rich conifer swamps.  Glossy buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula) as it poses the greatest potential to alter the community structure and function.   It is very labor intensive to control.

Conservation Concerns: Need to be conserved and managed because they are incredibly floristically diverse communities and provide habitat for more than 25% of northern Michigan’s wildlife species and critical winter yards for deer.  They are habitat for over 50 rare species.  They are also economically important.

Research Needed: Effects of deer on northern white cedar regeneration, overall floristic diversity, and their secondary impacts on other animal species.  Also the effects of fire suppression on tree species as fire sensitive species spread and colonize converting the swamp into hardwood.

 

Whew… Now we can get on to the fun stuff aka my field trip to visit a real Michigan rich conifer swamp!

 

My Assignment

WOHOOOO I MADE MY FIRST BLOG!

Here goes nothing.

I’ll start off with a little bit about me.  I am a student at Central Michigan University studying biology, the natural resources option.  I’ve always loved being outdoors and had an appreciation for the environment and been a HUGE animal lover.  So naturally my choice in major was a pretty easy decision.

DISCLAIMER: This blog is actually not meant for me to be in the spotlight.  Bummer I know.

I thought about blogging for my digital journal project in my wetland plants class.  Everyone in class picked a specific wetland type to study and learn about.  I picked a conifer swamp thinking it would be pretty interesting, and turns out I was right.  I grew an immense appreciation stomping around, climbing over fallen trees, and getting stuck in the muck.  It was very serene and calming.  Maybe after all my entries ya’ll will appreciate it as much as I have.  Here we go!