FORESTLABREPORT

Forourlab,ourgroup(Zach,Meta&Andrew)wenttothe
MerwinNaturePreserve.TheMerwinNaturePreserveislocatedin
ParkLandsFoundation,whichprotectsandrestoresnaturallands
intheMackinawRivervalleyofMcLeanandWoodfordcounties,
accordingtotheParklandsFoundationwebsite.Theirgoalisto
createanetworkofconservationlandscorridorsalongthe

MackinawRiveranditstributaries.

Mackinawweatherissimilartotheweatherofanyother
towninIllinoissummersarehotandwintersarefreezing.
Thereare,onaverage,191sunnydaysand37.8rainydaysin
Mackinaw.Thispictureabovedepictstheweatherconditionsof
Mackinawandtheaverageamountperyearthatithasper
condition.Theclimatogrambelowshowsthecomparisonofthe
chanceofprecipitationandthepressure.

Ahealthyforesthasalargequantityoflivingtrees,
diversespeciesofplants(flowers,grass,andanimals/insects.
Theforestneedsthesetraitsbecauseifitdoesnthavealarge
biodiversity,specificroleswillnotbecompleted.Forexample,
itmusthaveinsects&decomposerssuchasfungustodecaydead
animals/manure.HealthyForestsshouldbeabletoprovideavast
arrayofresourcestoallofus,includingfood,wood,medicine,
freshwater,theairwebreatheandinorderforthattohappen,
everyspeciesmustcontribute.Sinceitisaforest,theremust
bealargequantityoftreesandthehealth/ageofthetrees
mustvary.Forexample,ifallthetreeswereyoung,thatwould
beevidencethatadisturbancehappenedintheforestright
before.Ifallthetreesareold,thatmightsuggestthatnew
treeswillnotgrowandthereisapresentdisturbance.Although
itseemsstrange,destructionanddecayareessentialcomponents
ofahealthyforest.Thisisbecausesomeinsectseatthe
decaying/rottingtreesandthoseinsectsareeatenbylarger
animalswhichcompletesthefoodchain.

Inordertodeterminethehealthoftheforest,ourgroup
decidedtoobservethebiodiversityoftheforests,specifically
plantsandanimals.Wechosetoobservethisbecauseahealthy
foresthasawidevarietyofplantsandanimalsbecauseinorder
tosustainlife,eachspecieshasaroletocomplete.Most
seedsaredispersedbyanimals,exceptintheuppercanopy,with
birds,fruitbats,primates,andavarietyofterrestrial
mammalsmostimportant(Springer).

Inordertocollectourdata,oncewesetupourquadratwe
begantowritedownourobservationsonthevarietyofplants
andanimals.Weobservedwhatkindofecosystemswereinthe
quadrat.WebegantojournalthetreesandDiameteratbreast
height(DBH)ofeachtreeinthequadrant.Afterfindingthe
DBH,wefoundtheheightofeachtreeaswell.Afterrecording
thetreesinthequadrat,webegantosearchforanimalsor
tracesofanimals.Werecordedeverythingwediscoveredinthe
forestreportbooklet,whichincludedtheweather,topography,
listsofanimals,amountoflichenonthreeofthetrees,and
thetypesoftrees.


Whatwefoundwasatotalof12treeswithinourareaof
100m
.Twoofthemwerehuge,oldWhiteOaksfoundnearthe
centerandthenorthwestcornerofthequadrat.Theother10we
foundweresmallerthreehadaDBHof05cm,fourwere
5.110cm,andthreewere10.120cm.Becauseofthetwolarge
trees,wecanassumethatourquadratisolderthantheother
quadrats,whichhadnosignoftreeswithaDBHof50cmor
larger.ThetwoWhiteOakshadthesameheightof42meters,
whichmeansthattheygrewsimilarly.Wealsofoundsomesigns
ofanimalsandinsectswecapturedatotaloffivespiders,
threeofwhichwereheldinthesamecontaineruntilthelargest
spidermurderedtheothers.Antscrawledthroughouttheareaand
manybirdsflewaboveus.Wefoundsomewormsunderneaththe
brokenbranch,whichprovidesthemwithshelter.Someanimal
feceswaslayingonthebranchthathadfallendownthisisa
signthatalargeranimalwasrecentlyinthearea.Weassumed
thattheanimalmayhavebeenuponthebranchsearchingfor
otherinsectsorbugstoeat.

Oneinterestingfactwediscoveredofthesuccessionofour
quadratisthatishasbotholdandnewlife.Likewesaid
before,themassivetreesindicatesthattheareaisold.The
branchthatfelldownwasduetotheonesideofthetree
decaying(possiblyfromalightningstrikeoradisturbance),
whichcausedthepatchofshadetobedestroyed.Thisallowed
sunlighttoshineonthepatchofland,leadingtonewlifeof
trees.
2

Thisclassdatatableshowswhatthefourdifferent
quadratsconsistedofthereareatotalof64treesinthe
areas,mostlybeingtreesthatarelessthe20cmindiameter.
Itisclearthatthesmallertreeshavethehighestdominance,
whichtellsusthattheforestisnewer.Theremayhavebeena
disturbancetotheforestthatcausedittoreconstruct.

Basedonourobservationsanddata,theMerwinNature
Preserveisahealthyforest.ThePreservehasaverydiverse
amountofspecies,bothplantsandanimals.Thereisalarge
quantityoftreesandtheageofthetreesvaried.ThelargeDBH
ofourWhiteOaksshowedthehealthofthetrees,andthebaby
trees(stillhangingontotheirgreenleaves)showedusthat
theforestiscontinuingtogrow.

Basedonourdataandourobservations,theforestishealthy.
Wecantellbecauseithasawidevarietyofinsects,animals
andtrees.Thehealthofthetreesvarieddependingonthe
locationlargertreesareolder,andsincetheyarestill
alive,weknowthattheforestmustbehealthyenoughtokeepit

thatway.Also,sincethemajorityofthetreeshadasmallDBH,
weknowthattheforesthassustaineditselfthroughmanyyears.

WORKSCITED

"TheImportanceofAnimalsintheForest."
Springer
.N.p.,n.d.Web.03
Nov.2015.

"Mackinaw,IL|69|Clear."
WeatherUnderground
.N.p.,n.d.Web.02Nov.
2015.

"Mackinaw,IllinoisClimate."
Mackinaw,IllinoisClimate
.N.p.,n.d.Web.
02Nov.2015.

"MerwinNaturePreserveTrailGuide."
ParkLandsFoundation
.N.p.,23Mar.
2013.Web.29Oct.2015.

"WhatIsaHealthyForest?ASupplementtoFloridaProjectLearning
Tree1."
EDISNewPublicationsRSS
.N.p.,n.d.Web.03Nov.
2015.