Gott Fen

Herrick Fen

A seep, found the discharge zone where groundwater reaches the surface

Fens in Ohio were created from the remnants of glaciers that scraped through the landscape, forming vast gravel deposits, which filled with ground water. Fens are wetlands that obtain their water from ground water or drainage from nearby elevated land. The water depth in a fen is usually maintained at a constant depth and cooler temperature during the year, because of the continuous water flow through the system. Northern Ohio fens are prime examples of fens because of the water chemistry and cool temperatures similar to those found in northern latitudes.

Potentilla fruticosa is common in fens because it can live in the calcium carbonate rich soil

Fens are characterized by their neutral to alkaline pH, contrary to their counterpart, bogs, which have acidic water. Because of this, they have more nutrients available which makes them home to many plant species. Plants that flourish in a calcium and magnesium rich environment are most abundant, such as Potentilla fruticosa. The different plant communities grow in three zones: discharge zone, sedge mat zone and border zone. Although typically fens have three zones, they do not always have clear distinctions between each zone.

Drosera rotundifolia (round-leaved sundew)

Because of destruction of wetlands for agriculture and building, it is important to note that
these habitat types are very threatened and suffer from human impact. Beyond habitat destruction, human impact has also brought many invasive species in the wetlands. Invasive species are nonnative species that threaten to wipe out or at least suppress native plant communities. The sign for the first site that we visited, Gott Fen State Nature Preserve, was almost completely unreadable as a thicket of invasive buckthorn had grown up right in front of it. Rhamnas fragula or “glossy buckthorn” is an invasive species that is typically seen in bogs and fens. However, in Gott Fen State Nature Preserve the managers of the land have taken an active management approach to the buckthorn problem. There are many ways to control invasive populations and the method used at Gott Fen State Nature Preserve is often referred to as cutting.  This involves snipping off the top part of the plant which deprives the rest of the living plant of any source of energy and eventually causes it to die. After some time of using this cutting approach on several areas within the nature preserve, a few rare specimens of sundew were observed in areas that had previously been choked off by buckthorn growth. Also observed in the newly cleared areas was a single example of the rare Grass-of-Parnassus. The sighting of these two rare species in a previously infested area demonstrates the remarkable ability of active management to encourage the growth of native species.

Parnassia glauca - Grass of Parnassus

Wildflowers in bloom at Herrick Fen

More information on visiting Herrick Fen can be found at:

Herrick Fen Nature Preserve (ODNR)

Herrick Fen Nature Preserve (Nature Conservancy)

Permits are required to visit Gott Fen. More information on obtaining a permit can be found at:

ODNR State Nature Preserves / Permit Information

Triangle Lake and Kent Bog: Places Out of Time

On a dreary overcast morning of Thursday September 19^th, the John Carroll Plant Ecology class ventured just south of Kent Ohio to investigate two bogs. Though the landscape surrounding these bogs was teeming with vegetation, a trip here 10,000 years ago would reveal a landscape blanketed by glaciers nearly a mile thick. As these glaciers began to melt and recede, large blocks of ice remained forming deep depressions in the earth, which eventually filled with meltwater. These lakes were of interest to us because they exhibit the rare characteristic of being highly acidic (pH of 4.5) and low in nutrients (mainly nitrogen and phosphorous, crucial for plant growth).

Triangle Lake

From the previous day’s lecture, we all knew that bogs tend to be nutrient-deficient for a few reasons. First, there is little inflow or outflow from bogs as new water enters the system only in the form of precipitation. This lack of flow reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, making it an unsuitable environment for decomposers. Their absence leads to a buildup of dead organic matter, causing the water to be acidic. Acidic water cannot hold nutrients at levels needed for normal plant growth.

The contrast between the bog vegetation and surrounding trees was clear

As soon as we set foot on the boardwalk of Triangle Lake, we noticed how unique the environment truly was. There was stillness in the air and the foliage was yellow-green with hints of red. The ground was carpeted with soft, spongy, sphagnum moss ( sphagnum sp.), which varied in color from blue-green to pink. As demonstrated by Dr. Drenovsky, the moss possesses considerable water holding capacity as it released a large puddle when she wrung it. The moss is also a large source of the bog's acidity, as it releases lots of organic acid into the environment.

An abundance of sphagnum moss covering the ground

The next specimen we observed, the Pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), was by far our favorite. This plant, which commonly dwells in National Geographic documentaries, is also found in stagnant water-logged environments. Because the environment is nutrient-poor, this plant has become carnivorous to satisfy its nitrogenous needs, using its red and green flower-like appearance to lure unsuspecting insects near enough to its pitcher in hopes they fall within, where they are slowly digested.

A cluster of pitcher plants

Adding to the list of amazing plants, we also saw an abundance of bladderwort, an endangered species in Ohio. Bladderwort looks like an innocent lake weed, but it's actually another carnivorous plant. It floats its bladders (pictured below) in the water to catch unsuspecting Daphnia (a microscopic organism) and nematodes (flat worms).

Bladderwort. The bladders are the little bulbs hanging off the strand

A characteristic shared by many bog organisms is their toughness and ability to conserve resources. The leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) and the Virginia Chain fern (Woodwardia virginica) both possess leathery leaves whose thick cuticle, or waxy covering, reduces water loss. There are also species of blueberries and cranberries that grow in bogs, although these are the varieties that typically make blueberry cobbler.

A bog cranberry

The tallest plant we saw was one rarely found outside of Canada, as it normally grows in colder, harsher climates. It is a coniferous deciduous tree called the Tamarack. It is coniferous because it produces pine cones, but it is deciduous because it sheds its needles in the fall. The Tamarack trees are more graceful than their pine cousins, and their needles are soft. They can be seen framing Triangle Lake in the photo at the top of the page, and single Tamarack can be seen below.

A Tamarack

We stopped last at Kent Bog, located only about six miles from Triangle Lake. Kent Bog was formed through the same process as Triangle Lake, and in many ways represents the future of Triangle Lake. Because bogs have very little inflow of water, over time the vegetation creeps over the lake, eventually covering it completely. The habitat slowly becomes more suitable for non-bog vegetation, and eventually the bog environment disappears entirely. Indeed, Kent Bog had much less unique vegetation than Triangle Lake, although it had many plants in common, such as sphagnum moss and Tamarack trees. We observed many more "common" plants at Kent Bog, such as the Gray Birch pictured below. We also saw more animals at Kent Bog, such as frogs and a praying mantis.

Gray Birch at Kent Bog

Wild blueberries at Kent Bog

Triangle Lake and Kent Bog are unique but impermanent habitats. Not only are they the imprints of long-dead glaciers, they are home to rare and ancient plants, more often found in far away places. These reserves should be treasured as they are the crown jewels of the Ohio wilderness.

Until next time!

2013 Plant Ecology class at Triangle Lake

To read more or visit the locations, please follow these links:

Triangle Lake

Kent Bog

The Trade-off of Salting Winter Roads: Human Safety vs. Plant Survival

The Trade-off of Salting Winter Roads: Human Safety vs. Plant Survival

A Practical Experiment of Determining Anthropogenic Salting Impacts on Local Plant Species

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

When it comes to salting icy, dangerous winter roads, most people would not consider any other effects of salt, other than its extremely useful ability to melt ice, break bonds of ice to paved roads, and lower the freezing temperature of water to prevent re-freezing.  Some studies have even shown that the sooner salt can be applied to winter roads after a snow storm, the lower the number of vehicular fatalities that would occur, which is of course a paramount concern ("Mobility and Safety Impacts of Winter Storm Events in a Freeway Environment " by Keith Knapp from February 2000).  However, an article sponsored by the Salt Institute itself flatly states that “all materials used in winter maintenance have the potential to harm the natural environment,” which especially includes many local species of roadside plant-life that play a specific function in helping to structure natural ecosystems (http://www.saltinstitute.org/content/download/480/2980).  This statement may invoke questions like: Are there alternatives to salt? Is too much salt being used on roads? Why should we care about roadside plants in winter when human safety or normal economic trade may be at risk?  These big picture questions were the primary motivators for our Plant Ecology class (BL 435/535) at John Carroll University to perform an experiment on four local roadside plant species (the Black-Eyed Susan, the Mexican Aster, the Shasta Daisy, and the Purple Coneflower, arranged in order below) in relation to their tolerance to differing salt concentrations that may arise from the casual build-up of salt (NaCl) in soils over time, a direct consequence of winter road management.

 

Black-Eyed Susan
commons.wikimedia.org

Mexican Aster
www.discoverlife.org

Shasta Daisy
www.riverssourcebotanicals.com

Purple Coneflower
www.missouribotanicalgarden.org

               Why care about roadside plants? Generally speaking, plants provide a number of functions such as producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing organic matter in soils that biota can consume for cycling nutrients through soil, providing habitats for invertebrates and bacteria, and locking soil molecules together in roots to prevent erosion, not to mention the aesthetic value of a beautiful landscape.  Roadside plants play a particularly unique role because they create a barrier between a less disturbed, natural habitat for other flora and fauna to reside and the highly disturbed, human altered terrain that may cause increasing levels of tension or risk to natural systems.  But, as a result of being this barrier, unwanted mineralization from salting roads can flow right into roadside soils and plants, causing adverse effects like blocking other mineral acquisition, burning plant tissues with high concentrations, slowing physiological growth by impeding water uptake or causing too much water accumulation, etc (Parida and Das, 2005).  While the Salt Institute and the Ohio Department of Transportation both indicate that alternative methods of melting ice on winter roads do exist and are being further studied, there has been little work done to investigate harmful effects of salt on roadside plants in the recent capacity of salt use(http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Services/Documents/ODOT_Road_Salt_Market_and_Price_Analysis_12-15-08.pdf).  For more information regarding salt as it affects natural environments of plants and rivers, visit the Cleveland blog (http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/road_salt_on_highways_saves_li.html).

For the purpose of our class experiment, we wanted to examine the effects of salt concentrations (0, 50, 100 mM) on plant biomass accumulation and physiological growth of the four species of plants previously mentioned, the Mexican Aster (Cosmos bipinnatus), the Shasta Daisy (Chrysantheum maximum), the Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), and the Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta).

The Experiment:

           The first step in setting up the experiment included transferring the soil and plants to empty pots.  First, we lined the pots with a piece of plastic mesh that allowed for proper filtration of water in the soil.

 

Angelica and Alex are implanting the plastic mesh in their pots before adding the soil mixture.

 

The soil composition was an equal mix of sand and clay. 

These buckets are filled with sand and fritted clay used to put in the pots for transplanting.

We then planted three individual plants of each of the four species into separate pots designed for one of each of the salt concentrated mixtures, which were color coded (0 mM: white; 50 mM: green; 100 mM: red).  Next, the pots were labeled by group and organized in a completely random placement of both salt concentration and species.

 

Maria and Jay are in the process of transplanting plants into pots and labeling the pots for correct salt concentration treatment.

Katie and Jared are also transplanting their plants into pots. Every group in the class provided one block of plants to be treated in the experiment.

 

Dr. Drenovsky is overseeing that the plastic mesh in the bottom of the pots is holding the soil, while helping Maria transplant.

 

 

This picture represents one of the five blocks of the experiment (one block done by each lab group), where colors clearly indicate which plants get which salt concentration.

After planting was completed, all species from all salt treatment groups were watered with 0 mM salt, as a control.  The concentration of 0 mM lacked salt and contained only water and 1/10th Hoagland’s fertilizer solution, which is a solution that contains all macro- and micro- nutrients needed for plant growth cycles. 

 

Jaylan is watering the completed block of planted plants with 0 mM concentrated solution.

The second step of the experiment was then to produce the higher salt concentrations to be used in the experiment after the initial fertilizing of the newly transplanted plants.  Higher salt concentrations of 50 mM and 100 mM will gradually be given to those treatment groups of plants over time in varying amounts until 50 mM and 100 mM is reached.  For example, for the concentration of 50 mM, plants will receive 12.5 mM NaCl, then 25 mM NaCl, and then 37.5 mM NaCl for two weeks, before reaching the full amount for the duration of the experiment. (For 100 mM NaCl, amounts of 25 mM NaCl, 50 mM NaCl, and 75 mM NaCl will be applied for two weeks before reaching 100 mM NaCl).

For the making of solutions, each of the sodium chloride concentrations were mixed with 1/10^th Hoagland’s solution and the appropriate volume of water.

 

Step 1: Natalie is filling the container with water to mix the solution.

 

Step 2: Meghan is adding the chemical components of Hoagland’s solution to the container with a micropipette.

 

Step 3: Lindsay and Alex are weighing NaCl, so that the correct amount can be added to each container.

Step 4: Although not depicted, this step involves the final filling of the containers with water to the appropriate volume, allowing the avoidance of crystal formation.

                When transplanting and solution mixing were completed, the five experimental blocks were assembled together to facilitate ease of water for the coming weeks.

 

Angelica, Natalie, Josh, and Alex are displaying all of the five blocks compiled together on a table in the greenhouse at John Carroll University.

Finally, insulation was applied to the plant blocks in order to keep the temperature constant for all experimental plants for the duration of our trial.  Without the insulation, the plants on the outside of the arranged pots would have a higher temperature than the plants that were more centralized.

Josh and Jaylan are placing the pieces of insulation around the plant beds.

 

Alex, Jaylan, Meghan, and Natalie are fitting the final pieces of insulation together.

In completing the experimental set up, a group effort was needed to clean the greenhouse for other student work.

 

Danny is washing tools that were used for transferring soil and plants into pots.

 

           Over eight weeks, the salt solutions will be applied to the treatment groups, and the plants will be measured for growth, as well as examined for relative health.  For example, discoloration, dying leaves, spots, etc. may be indications that the plant is struggling to survive in the relative salt concentration used. At the end of this data collection, the plants will also be weighed. Stay tuned for results!

  Jay and Jared are making notations in their field notes about personal observations made in setting up the experiment.

 

Works Cited

Parida, A. K. and A. B. Das. 2005. Salt tolerance and salinity effects on plants: a review. Ectotoxicology and Environmental Safety 60: 324-349.

 

 

 

 



Community Ecology at Blanche Novak Sanctuary

On the 5 of September, 2013, the John Carroll University BL 435/535 class embarked on a surveying field trip at Blanche Novak Sanctuary.  The preserve is part of the Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland and is located in Portage County, Ohio, near the city of Aurora.  As a former farm, much of the preserve is in various stages of succession.  Along the trail from the parking lot to our study site, the spread of exotic invasive plant species was evident.  Multiflora rose, (Rosa multiflora) and buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula), two of the most problematic weeds in Ohio, were both found throughout open fields and forests.  The Rhamnus was particularly problematic, creating a dense thicket of undergrowth in large sections of forest, making it nearly impossible for recruitment of other forest species.

Study Site

The sampling location for our study was located in an open field near the bird blind and wetland at the end of the main trail.  Most of the vegetation is herbaceous with occasional examples of sparse woody vegetation likely kept in check by occasional mowing.  

The quadrat method was used for vegetative sampling.  This method uses a one square meter quadrat constructed from PVC pipe.  When the quadrat is randomly placed in locations along a straight transect, area vegetation can be quantified in a relatively short amount of time.  For this study, we used a recording method in which only presence or absence of a species was noted for each quadrat.

Quadrat

For each species found in our survey areas, we prepared a voucher specimen.  A voucher specimen is often used by botanists to confirm (or to make) their plant identifications from the field.  Voucher specimens are then deposited in local herbaria to serve as a record of species found during the study.  In order to prepare a voucher specimen, a representative of the species is removed from the soil and placed on a plant press in between newspaper, blotter paper, and cardboard.  This allows the plant to maintain its floral and vegetative features for an indefinite amount of time when proper care is given.  Among the most common species surveyed were the bird’s foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculata) and Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota).  Data will later be analyzed for diversity and evenness.  

Daucus carota

 For map and park directions/information: http://clevelandaudubon.org/sanct_Novak.htm

For more information on preparing voucher specimens: http://www.ipaw.org/mapping/voucherhandout.pdf



Written by: Jaylan Craig
                  Danny Dlugos