A UVM blog NR9 Nick Graceffa Wonder Blog

 Introduction

June 24^th, 2021, at 5:30 the sky was clear, and a cool breeze was blowing, it was 69 degrees out. My site is a reservoir near the site of an old sawmill surrounded by dense woods with a stream running out of it controlled by a small dam. The reservoir has dead trees sticking out of it that are white with age and seam to shrink every time I see them. Lily pads with withered white flowers cover half of the water and cattails and tall reeds surround the reservoir with only an opening for the dam amongst the foliage. The water flows through the reservoir relatively fast making it seam like the end of a much larger body of water that cannot be seen, the water ripples in a current threw the center leaving extremely calm water around it, it is almost strange as there fast current sounded by flats. The dam lies along a path with thick and untamed bush on the edges and trees poking out into the path. A large tree recently fell and lies just beyond the thickest of the foliage on the path leaving a large hole where its roots once were. In the woods just down the path, witch uses the dam as a bridge, a clearing in the woods lies with an old brick arced tunnel that backs into the root system of a large tree, open on the other end to the woods. There is evidence of partying here as there a cigarette butts, plastic bags, beer cans, and senseless spray paint on trees. Other than this opening the surrounding woods are too dense to see very far into. The area is very flat except for the small hill that contains the tree and old brick arch.

Question Marathon 

1. How long will it take for the dead trees to disappear into the water?
2. Why is the water so dark here?
3. What kind of trees would grow in the water?
4. There are many pine trees around, is that normal for wetlands?
5. There are small birds flying but the lone Heron has left, are there no fish here?
6. What causes the water to ripple and flow the path it has chosen, which leaves extremely calm water around it?
7. Few flowers seam to grow here it is mostly small green plants, is there a reason for this, is there a lack of bees in this area?
8. Why is this brick structure here, what was it?
9. Why are there so many little different plants here?
10. There appears to be evidence of teens partying here, has that effected the wildlife?
11. There are few flowers here and the ones that are here are white, is there a reason for only white flowers growing here?
12. This is conservation land, but it looks over grown, when was the last time it was maintained?
13. Would constant maintenance effect the ecology? 
14. Does the lack of slope in the land effect the ecology?
15. How far back does this water way go?
16. Why do the trees along the edge of the water look so dead?
17. Does constant water around a tree cause it to die?
18. If water around the base of a tree kill it then, is this body of water new?
19. Why are there no animal tracks here?
20. Why is there an open area in the middle of such dense woods?
21. Why is there so much spray paint?
22. Where the sunlight breaks threw the canopy there is a path of moss, does this only happen around this time of day or is the moss here as it is the only place with sufficient sun light? 
23. What is causing this trees vine like scar?
24. Why is the ground right next to trees exceptionally soft?
25. Why are there so many boulders peaking out of the ground?
26. What kind of erosion has happened here?
27. What kind of rocks are these boulders?

Why do the trees along the edge of the water look so dead?

In researching this question I found something I never knew had a name, ghost forest. I was searching for an answer about if trees can live in tall water, I found that most trees can not survive with standing water above their roots as they get over watered all day long. Having to much water around a tree doesn’t allow it to breath oxygen giving it to much water¹. I initially thought trees did not need oxygen, but to convert sugar into energy oxygen is needed², but trees get oxygen from the ground so too much water would interfere with this. In my searching I came across ghost forest which are forest that have been covered by new salt-water and results in a forest of dead trees with tall water at the base³ like the tree observed in my local reservoir. This area seamed to have once been all forest but something happened that caused a water way to form here as a reservoir for a river running threw my town. While my reservoir is not salt-water it still stands to reason that this is new water as a tree wouldn’t grow right out of the reservoir. Even if it is not the exact same thing researching this has brought Ghost forest to my attention, just one more thing global warming is doing to the environment. 

Conclusion 

On future visits I would like to monitor the trash in the area to see how often it is disturbed as well as watching the dead trees in the water to see if they get any smaller. The lack of evidence of wildlife in the area is something that concerns me, as I didn’t even see as much as a squirrel. I want to know if the use of this area by people to party has effected the wildlife’s relationship with the area. I would also like to know if the reason for this clearing in dense woods is due to people, as the foot traffic might have not allowed the dense foliage to grow back. Human interference seams to be prevalent in this location as there is a new body of water that has killed the trees that once use to be there and an apparent lack of evidence of wildlife like tracks or scat. I wonder if this is just because of it being my first time here in years or if this location is severely lacking large animals and interference has actually damaged this areas eco system.

Citation

1. Presley, Beth Hyatt. “Over and Underwatering Warning Signs with Trees.” Total Landscape Care, 28 July 2017, www.totallandscapecare.com/business/article/15040947/over-and-underwatering-warning-signs-with-trees.

2. Root, Tik. “Ghost Forests Are Visceral Examples of the Advance of Climate Change.” Time, 8 Oct. 2019, time.com/5694648/ghost-forests-climate-change.

3. “Tree Physiology Primer – All About Roots!” Portland.Gov, 30 Mar. 2021, www.portland.gov/trees/get-involved/news/2021/3/30/tree-physiology-primer-all-about-roots.