1. MOUNT ST. HELENS DATA AP Biology Fall 2011

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Meta Lake Clear CutMeta Lake ForestedGhost Lake Forested Blow down zone Standing dead zone Logged previous to the blast, not replanted Not logged or replanted Under snow cover Open field, running water 400 ft. away, signs of elk grazing Dense shrub cover, running water 30 ft. away, no signs of grazing Dense forest, high bushes, downed trees All of the plots were: Under snow cover Near the same elevation And many understory plants survived.

3. ZONES OF THE BLAST Direct blast-tree removal zone Channelized blast zone- blow down zone Seared zone- standing dead trees

4. AQUATIC RESEARCH Ashley W., Darrell S., Kathryn A., and Taylor N..

5. DATA POINTS We used a locator point for each lake; Meta lake – The middle of the wooden dock Ghost Lake – The point straight out from where the trail opened onto the lake We took a sample from 3 points on each lake; 10 paces into the lake from the locator point 10 paces into the lake and 15 paces to the left from the locator point 10 paces into the lake and 15 paces to the right from the locator point

6. MEANS OF MEASURING We waded into the water and waited for the sediments to settle to keep the sediments in our water samples to a minimum. We used test tubes to collect most of the water, and used a special collection system for dissolved oxygen. We used the Lamotte Water Monitoring kit to test for Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, and Phosphates.

7. TURBIDITY Turbidity is the transparency, or clarity, of the water being measured. Turbidity is measured in NTU’s We measured turbidity using a turbidity tube by looking through a clear test tube to see how easily we could see a painted disk at the bottom. Turbidity can increase when we stir up the sediment in the water or when there are more particles suspended in the water due to many human activities and natural events.

8. TURBIDITY

9. Turbidity is important to the environment because: High amounts of sediment in the water can smother fish eggs and other environments. Particles can make it difficult for fish and other organisms to breathe and obtain the nutrients they need. The murkiness of the water can keep plants from getting the optimal amount of sunlight and photosynthesizing and well as they could.

10. TURBIDITY For turbidity to begin to affect the environment greatly, it must be relatively high. The turbidity measured at our lakes is quite low compared to many other water sources.

11. DISSOLVED OXYGEN Dissolved Oxygen : The measure of the amount of gaseous oxygen (O2) dissolved in water solution. Oxygen gets into water by diffusion from the surrounding air, by rapid movement, and as a waste product of photosynthesis.

12. DISSOLVED OXYGEN TEST POINTSMETAGHOST West (PPM)8N/A Central (PPM)84 East (PPM)84 Average (PPM)84

13. DISSOLVED OXYGEN There is 100% more dissolved oxygen in Meta lake than Ghost T here are more plants, photosynthesis and rapid movement at Meta than at Ghost.

14. BIO-DIVERSITY Biodiversity - The degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or entire planet. There was a large array of biodiversity between Meta and Ghost Lake. Even thought the two lakes are not very far apart there was a big differences between the biodiversity of the two lakes.

15. BIO-DIVERSITY: PLANT LIFE While Meta Lake had a larger amount of aquatic plant life, Ghost lake had only a few aquatic plants. Meta Large variety of mosses, trees have fallen in water, a form of seaweed. Ghost No other plant life, very little moss. Moss

16. BIO-DIVERSITY: ANIMAL LIFE The animal life between the two areas had many similarities and differences. Meta and Ghost – crawdads, fish, and blue dragonflies. The crawdads at Meta lake were an average of 4.2 cm larger than at Ghost Lake. Meta – brown frogs in all stages of development. Ghost –three Northwestern Salamanders 3-5 cm in length.

17. BIO-DIVERSITY: ANIMAL LIFE Meta Frogs (in all stages) Ghost NW Salam -anders Crawd- ads, Fish, Blue Drago- nflies.

18. CONCLUSION The dissolved oxygen levels and turbidity were more suitable for aquatic biodiversity at Meta Lake than Ghost Lake. We found more aquatic biodiversity at Meta Lake than Ghost Lake.

19. VALIDITY We were rushed and didn’t take the most accurate measurements. We also did not have a plan for record keeping so data was incomplete.

20. TERRESTRIAL RESEARCH Lana F., Greg S., Jacob L., Elaina G., and Jason M.

21. PLANT DIVERSITY: MATERIALS Fence Stake Hammer String Pin Flags Measuring Tape Plant ID guide Pencil and clip board GPS

22. PLANT DIVERSITY: PROCEDURE 1.Choose location off the side of the trail that is representative of the general area. 2.Randomly throw the fence stake off the side of the trail. 3.Pound stake in where it landed. 4.Use the GPS to find the coordinates of the fence post and record. 5.Measure out a circle with a radius of 8.92 meters centered at the fence post 6.Mark the perimeter with 16 pin flags.

23. PLANT DIVERSITY: PROCEDURE (CONT.) 7. Use the string to divide the circle into four quadrants. 8. Begin gathering data in quadrant 1 and proceed through quadrant 4. 9. Walk through quad 1 and identify and record all of the species of shrubs using the plant ID guide. 10. Walk through quad 1 again and identify and record all of the tree species using the plant ID guide. 11. Proceed to quad 2 and repeat steps 9-10.

24. PLANT DIVERSITY: SHRUB SPECIES Meta Lake Black Huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata Oval-leaf Huckleberry Vaccinium ovalifolium Ghost Lake Black Huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata Oval-leaf Huckleberry Vaccinium ovalifolium Fool’s Huckleberry Menziesia ferruginea Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis Red Elderberry Sambucus racemosa Pacific Ninebark Physocarpus capitatus Service Berry Amelanchier arborea Sitka Willow Salix sitchensis

25. PLANT DIVERSITY: TREE SPECIES Meta Lake Noble Fir Abies procera Western White Pine Pinus monticola Ghost Lake Pacific Silver Fir Abies amabilis Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii Noble Fir Abies procera Mountain Hemlock Tsuga mertensiana Western Hemlock Tsuga heterophylla

26. PLANT DIVERSITY: TREE SPECIES COMPARISON Noble Fir Meta Lake Ghost Lake Western White Pine Pacific Silver Fir Douglas Fir Western Hemlock Mountain Hemlock Graph 1

27. PLANT DIVERSITY: SHRUB SPECIES COMPARISON Black Huckleberry Oval Leaf Huckleberry Meta Lake Ghost Lake Fool’s Huckleberry Salmonberry Red Elder berry Pacific Nine bark Service Berry Sitka Willow Graph 2

28. PLANT DIVERSITY: META LAKE VS. GHOST LAKE Graph 3

29. PLANT DIVERSITY: ANALYSIS As shown in graph 3 Ghost Lake had a total of 8 shrub species and 5 tree species. Meta Lake only had 2 shrub species and 2 tree species. Black Huckleberry, Oval-leaf huckleberry, and Noble fir were present in both plots, as shown in graphs 1 and 2. The only unique plant at Meta Lake was the Western White Pine. Ghost lake had 10 unique species.

30. PLANT DIVERSITY: CONCLUSION The Ghost Lake plot was more diverse than the Meta Lake forested plot. Ghost lake had a less intense disturbance. Meta Lake was in the blow-down zone. Ghost Lake was in standing-dead. Less disturbance would mean a quicker and more complete recovery.

31. TREE SIZE: HEIGHT METHOD Small Trees: Used ruler with 0 centimeters at the ground and measured to the top of the tree Measured in centimeters Converted centimeters to meters Medium Height Trees: Used measuring tape with 0 meters at the ground and measured to the top of the tree Measured in meters

32. TREE SIZE: HEIGHT METHOD Tall Trees: Stood a distance away from tree that was recorded for later use Used a measuring tape starting at our mid-section to the tree to find distance. Then, used clinometer to find degree from our eye to the top of the tree Used tangent to calculate the height of the tree Added height of our eyes for total height of the tree

33. TREE SIZE: CIRCUMFERENCE We measured the circumference at chest height. Recorded circumference of tree in meters. To find the diameter, divide the cir. by 2 x pi.

34. TREE SIZE: SPECIES Ghost Lake – Main Species: Silver Fir – Douglas Fir – Mountain Hemlock – Western Hemlock Meta Lake – Main Species: Western White Pine – Noble Fir – Western Hemlock

35. TREE SIZE: HEIGHT AVERAGE Ghost Lake – Total Average: 8.6 m – Silver Fir: 9.8 m – Douglas Fir: 1.4 m – Mountain Hemlock: 3.4 m – Western Hemlock: 2.2 m Meta Lake – Total Average: 7.1 m – Western White Pine: 1.0 m – Noble Fir: 12.9 m

36. TREE SIZE: DIAMETERS AVERAGE Ghost Lake Forested: 9.5 m Meta Lake Forested: 11.9 m Meta Lake Clear Cut:.9 m Meta Lake Clear Cut and Forested: 9.9 m

37. TREE SIZE: ANALYSIS The averages suggest that there are more favorable growing conditions around Ghost Lake, allowing for larger trees. This could be due to: – The soil at Ghost Lake could be more favorable due to the lack of acidic ash. – There could have been some surviving plants at Ghost Lake which would grow sooner. This would also mean that the forest will be denser and more favorable for wildlife at Ghost Lake in the future than at Meta Lake.

38. TREE SIZE: VALIDITY The clinometers that we used were only accurate to a single degree, and could have been misread for any smaller measurements than that. The clinometers could have also just been read for the angle, not for how far off ninety degrees it was, producing a negative result in the calculations There was a variance in the number of trees in the two plots, possibly throwing off the comparison. There could have been a mistake in the measurements or in the calculations

39. CONCLUSION Overall, the terrestrial life was much more diverse and abundant at Ghost Lake than at Meta Lake. This could be accounted for by the fact that the Ghost Lake plot was less disturbed by the blast allowing for a quicker and more complete recovery. The aquatic conditions at Meta Lake were preferable to those at Ghost lake. In the future, we should expect to see flourishing terrestrial life at Ghost Lake and flourishing aquatic life at Meta Lake.

40. VALIDITY To make the results more valid, more time should be allowed at the plots. This could be done by covering the methods of collecting data the day before, or even in class previous to going to the mountain. Also, having a plan for who is going to collect and compile the data would prevent loosing the data. Finally, having a second group check the calculations could help make sure that they are accurate.