Forest+Density+by+Daryl+and+Ogun

Team Members: Ogun and Daryl


 * Watershed 2008:

Forest Density, by Ogun and Daryl **

Background:

For our Watershed project this year, **//Forest Density//**, Daryl and I wanted to know if the Northern Red Oak was the most populous tree in a 50 ft. by 50 ft. square area. We choose the Red Oak because the Read Oak is New Jersey’s state tree. Also, we looked at previous people’s projects to get an idea of which trees to look for in our 50 ft. by 50 ft. square area. The other trees we decided to investigate were the Black Birch, Yellow Beech, and Sugar Maple. We referenced a booklet, //Trees of New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic States//, lend to us by our science teacher Mrs. Males and the internet to do some basic research on each tree before we got to the park. Northern Red Oaks: Ultimately, we had to answer these questions: How does the density of a particular tree species vary in different parts of the forest? (Ex: Are red oaks more common here than there?) Why? Which tree species are in the forest, and how are they distributed in the forest? What factors correlate or cause this distribution? What are the relative densities of dead trees vs. live trees? How does this correlate with vine densities (since vines can strangle trees)?
 * are common throughout the state except on the Outer Coastful Plain
 * 70 – 90 feet tall with a broad crown and a diameter of 2 – 4 feet
 * leaves 5 – 9 inches long, 4 – 6 inches long, with 7 – 11 sharp, well-defined bristles, with a dark green hue, and a vein structure that extends individually to each bristle

Materials: 2 one meter meter sticks (which Daryl and I used to measure our 50 ft. by 50 ft. square area, and to measure the relative difference between certain trees if necessary). //Trees of New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic States//, which we used as a reference while at Flat Rock Brook to identify our different tree species(The Northern Red Oak, The Black Birch, The Yellow Beech, and The Sugar Maple. Magellan "explorist" 400 GPS, which we used to mark our location once we found a Northern Red Oak, and this point would be the starting point that we measured away from by 50 ft.(50 ft. South of the Point, and 50 ft. North of the point, approximately)

=**Methods:**=

First, research was required of past projects, to see what choices people makes and what works. The most popular tree that was researched was the Northern Red Oak. Next, other tree species had to be chosen, which were the Black Birch, Yellow Beech, and Sugar Maple. Basic facts were gathered for each tree:

__Northern Red Oak__ Family: Fagaceae Leaves: Habitat and Range: Deep, moist, well-drained soils Bark: When young smooth, shiny gray; becoming with age ridged and furrowed, with distinct flat gray areas running longitudinally(sometimes referred to as "ski-trail bark"), with white bark underneath. Wood: Nearly white to brown with a red tinge, heavily and finely textured. Usage: The tree is commonly used as an urban street tree(which means it has been passed by people multiple times without them knowing).

__Black Birch__ Family: Betulaceae Leaves: Habitat and Range: Rich, moist woods, found on slopes Bark: Smooth, reddish black when young, later becoming gray to black, and broken my furrows that separate smooth irregular plates. Other facts: Black Birch has a very distinct taste, and it reeks of what's called "wintergreen". But the inside bark smells like cyanide or burned almonds. In New Jersey specifically, the black birch is found in rich woods and on slopes.

__American Beech__ Family: Fagaceae Leaves: Habitat and Range: Rich uplands and slopes, edges of streams and swamps Bark: Thin, smooth, light bluish gray to dark gray. Wood: Nearly white to reddish-brown, heavy, hard, strong, shock-resistant, adaptable to bending. Other facts: The trees often reach 70 to 80 feet, but at times exceptionally reach 120 feet. They provide thick canopies and a lot of shade as they mature. The tree is common on mature slopes.

__Sugar Maple__ Family: Aceraceae Leaves: Habitat and Range: Uplands, well-drained woods Bark: Smooth, gray-brown when young, becoming deeply furrowed, with long irregular thick plates or ridges. Wood: White, with a reddish-brown tinge, heavy, strong Other facts: The tree grows 60 to 80 feet tall, found in suburban areas throughout New Jersey.

After some basic tree research was conducted, via the internet and the booklet lend to us by Mrs. Males, the team was prepared to go to Flat Rock Brook.



The team went into Flat rock brook and amongst the forest; they found a patch of ground that we thought suitable for measuring tree density. After finding one red oak, they used that as the top right corner of our 50x50square ft area. They then picked up the 2meter sticks and measured 50ft down from that red oak. They measured 50ft to the right. They measured 50ft to the left. They measured 50ft up again. With each corner that they measured, they marked it with a flag marker. They then had a 50x50ft area in which to start counting the trees. In this area, they found many living trees, as well as tall grass and some dead trees that were identifiable at times. They counted the number of each tree and concluded that there were 2 sugar maples, 1 horse chestnut, 5 black birches and 13 red oaks, new jersey’s state tree and the predicted most numerous tree they would find in the area.



Conclusion: After analyzing our data, Ogun and I found that the red oak, the New Jersey state tree, is a very frequent tree in Flat Rock Brook. Among the red oak, were some other trees rarer to the flat rock area such as the American beech, and the black birch. It can be said that the red oak is so numerous, it takes up almost half of the trees in the 50x50 square ft area. This 50x50 square ft area corresponds to the density of the forest as a whole, so it can be said that almost half of the forest at flat rock brook consists of red oaks. It can also be said the horse chestnut takes up a considerable margin of the forest as well, as it was the second most predominant tree in our patch of forest. The red oak, state tree of New Jersey, flourishes and thrives in the flat rock brook area, dominating the landscape in large numbers.

http://w3.d-e.org/inside_d-e/us/tech/tech11/watershed/04watershed/Section5/TreeDensity-5/Publish/index.html
 * References: **

http://w3.d-e.org/inside_d-e/us/tech/tech11/watershed/04watershed/Section5/TreeGrowth-5/index.html

http://www.flatrockbrook.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_red_oak http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/DENDROLOGY/SYLLABUS/factsheet.cfm?ID=38