Christine Johansen

Cliff Stephens Park

9/9/16

            Visiting Cliff Stephens park, we got a lot of hands on experience with the use of different tools. By breaking up into small groups, we visited different locations of the park to do some research. My group started out in a site under the canopy, where we ran a 30m transect line in a straight line under the trees. In the center of our transect line, we used a cruz-all to categorize the different tree sizes around us. We observed the soil texture and found it was loamy sand. The densiometer tool helped us get an estimate of the percentage of canopy coverage in this area. Both times we used the densiometer in this area, we came up with 80% coverage. Next, we moved to another area with tree coverage. Here, we used a transect line once again to record information at different distances in the site. We recorded the DBH (diameter at breast height) of the nearest tree a meter apart in distance. I found there were significant differences in DBH within the trees. Once again, we recorded canopy coverage using the densiometers and came up with 90% coverage; a little more than the last site. Then we used the clinometer to determine the hight of the tallest tree near us, which we found to be 35m tall. The next project was to help us learn how to monitor species that don’t stay in place, such as animals. We used beans to help us practice with this. Our instructor gave us an equation to use in determining an estimate of species total. We got  a number of 86 beans when there were in fact 100, so not the worst estimate I suppose! It was good practice. Next, we moved on to the water site, where we used a drift net to collect samples. Salinity percentage was at 0%, meaning this water is completely fresh. Turbidity was recorded at 10.7 NTU (nephlometric turbidity units). You could visibly see cloudiness in the water, with small particles floating around. The temperature of the water was 31.3c which makes sense with the hot Florida weather. The pH was at 7, making it livable for plant and animal species. We even saw a school of tiny fish near the surface of the water. Lastly, we went to a sunny spot in a field to record our findings of the ground species and soil texture. The quadrat was used to give an estimated percentage of what the coverage was like on the ground. The highest percentages were found to be perennial forb and sedges. I actually noticed, the forb is the same species I find all over my yard during summer and fall time. There were small percentages of litter in the area. When we added water to the earth sample we took, it stuck together a little, but crumbled shortly after. We concluded it to be loamy sand. It was funny watching my partner Ashley play with mud for her first time :) Using pin flags, we recorded what was landed on when the flags were dropped every 10m of a transect line. The results were found to be mainly of sedge, forb and litter.

            Overall, the visit to this park was a good chance for us to learn the use of different tools. The tools used give an estimate of richness, diversity, frequency, cover, and density of different species. Having been to this park many times before, I was able to see it in a different light. It seemed to be a healthy ecosystem and that it was kept pretty well.