GROUP 1 - 'THE KOLD KETTLE GROUP'

February 12, 2003

Amy Byer and Jessica Lamont made up this group, which staked out a plot in a glacial kettle. We begin this story by showing you some of our pictures in what seemed like -50 million degree weather, which could have been in Antarctica for all we knew. Oh wait, there were trees, nevermind...

This is our first picture. It found us still retaining some body heat as we pondered possible names for this tree in our fieldguide book. This double Oak was the northwestern corner boundary of our plot. It can be distinguished by its blue tainted staining which is visible from the path. The snow depth in this picture was 15.2 cms.

This Black Birch tree marks our Northeastern boundary. The snow depth in this picture was approximatly 18 cms.By the time we reached this tree, we were becoming greatly hungry, and began to become dellusional. This bark is starting to look appetizing...mmmmm...bark...

Look at this baby!!! This dead tree is supported by an also deceased oak. The snow depth in this picture was about 15.2 cms. An odd formation, don't you think?!?

This was our tour guide Glenn Richard explaining to us all about this spectacular red maple. We snapped this shot when he wasn't looking hee-hee-hee!!!! This tree was distinguished by its red buds and smooth gray bark.We're glad that it was him who had to treck through the woods and 18 cms of snow to examine this species. Also, note the advancing grape vine. Perhaps by the summer it will have grown farther outward...dun dun dun...

This was Jessica, a member of our group. She is very cold and smelling the acute frangrance given off by a nearby Sassafras (Sassafras albidum). Her other group member, Amy, was also very cold while taking this picture. While shivering with coldness, this determined group managed to take a reading of the snow depth, which turned out to be 17.8 cm. And as the sun began to set in the West, this 'kold kettle' group skipped off into the sunset, while whispering the names of newly learned trees and shrubs. The end.

Species List:
*Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
*Sassafrass (Sassafras albidum)
*Black Birch (Betula populifolia)
*Oak (Quercus sp.)

March 18, 2003

Today we were able to find and recognise various changes in our plot. The major one was the absence of massive amounts of snow, which therefore enabled us to look for and find numerous bugs, low-lying shrubs and plants that just began to sprout up. The lesser winds also let us stay out longer and do a more in-depth examination of our plot. In todays warmer temperatures we discovered moss, fallen acorn shells, little bugs, Poison Ivy, Pyrola, Sedge and Cinquefoil.

Mrs. Johanson and Jessica Lamont try to figure out the name the plant shown in detail below, which turned out to be the wildflower, Pyrola.
It was just beginning to sprout up amidst the layers of compressed leaves that inhibit the forest floor year round.


In the below picture, you can see the extreme difference in the Preserve this month as oppossed to last month. As the year progresses on, more species should become identifyable as trees begin to sprout buds and the forest becomes more lively.


In the below picture, a millipede is shown. It was found under a log but curled into a ball when we tried to take its picture. We also found a centipede under an adjacent log.

Species List:
*Poison Ivy (Rhus radicans)
*Pyrola
*Cinquefoil (Potentilla sp.)
*Millipede (Class Diplopoda)
*Centipede (Class Chilopoda)

April 9, 2003

On this cold and rainy Spring day, we were able to make even more astute observations. Even though there was a new batch of snow on the ground we bundled up our coats and went out on a great journey in the forest. With the help of our brilliant instuctors Glenn Richard, Jessica Nienstedt and Mrs. Johansen, we were able to increase our knowledge of the flora and shrubbery.

On this day we were unfortunate not to receive any pictures of our plot (The Kold Kettle). However, we will now explain what we saw.

Lets start off with what we saw first.....the trail! The ground underneath the leaves was super-saturated. We believe this is due to the vast amount of precipitation that accumulated during this past season. While making an observation, team member Amy Byer discovered a common house fly (Musca domestica) located on the left sleeve of her mint green winter jacket.

Now on to the living portion of our plot. We noticed that the bark on the large tree located in the Northeast corner looked like it was ripped. This we discovered, was caused by the faster growth-rate of the tree itself compared to the growth of the bark.

We were able to identify 6 different types of trees, shrubs, and bushes.They are:

Multi flora Rose (Rosa multiflora)

Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) - smelled like rotton pumpkin when the bark was stripped

Maple leaved Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) - bracnches are located on the opposite sides of each other

Black Birch (Betula lenta) - when the bark is stripped, it smells like wintergreen

Blackberry (Rubus sp.) - there were thorns located on the branches

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) - smelled like Lysol when the bark was stripped

Along with these amazing observations, we also saw animal tracks in the snow on the ground. We believe they were made by a bunny rabbit. There were also two unknown tracks which we feel within the depths of our soul were made by a dog or a fox.

But alas, like all good things, this must also come to an end. So with sad faces and moist bodies we say a temporary farewell to our beloved Kold Kettle plot.

If you have been enjoying our project so far and you are interested in finding out more about our final project, information about autumn can be found in these sites:

http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/fallcolr/fallcolr.html

http://www.accuweather.com/iwxpage/paws/fallfaq.htm

http://www.uni-stuttgart.de/bio/tierphys/englisch/wollnik/seasonal_rhythms.htm

4/30/03

This here plant is False Solomons Seal (Smilacina racemosa). It should not be confused with Solomons Seal, which differs from this plant because of it's berries and hairy stem and the color of the flower.

This bug was crawling on my pants, as you can see by the denim background. More specifically, it is a stinkbug, and gives off a pungent aroma. And it was clearly a fine day for bugs, look at this young earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) pictured below:

It was warm and gooey, and we had to get it back into the moist earth before it died. It is composed of segments, each with 4 bristles for locomotion. It's pinkish brown and produces mucus for its cocoon. It is clearly beneficial to soil quality.We also saw a centipede (Class Chilopoda) and a pillbug (Armadillium vulgare) a.k.a. 'wood lice', which is omnivourous on carrion, decaying vegetables and fungi. We also saw a small beautiful lilac colored butterfly too fast to fully examine.We also saw a black ant with a red abdomen and red legs. Oh, and we also saw a really cool bee-fly. It had a stinger-like mouth, that is used to pollinate flowers. It was quite scary! I thought that it would sting me, but then our instructor told me that the "stinger" was not harmful.

Although not seen in our plot, there was definately a whole ton of this Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) visible from our plot. It is usually found in dense colonies, spreading by rhizomes which are runners sent out by the roots. The leaves tend to be shiny, with parallel veins, ovate and appear to clasp to the stem. The flowers are small, white and star-shaped. It is also called wild Lily of the Valley.

This is a Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia), don't be fooled by its likeness to wild strawberries.It is a wildflower that is delicate in nature.

Latitude: 40.90861° North

Longitude: 73.12114° West

That's where our plot is located. Thanks for viewing our little website, have a grand day.