![\"DSCN6095\"](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSCN6095.jpg\")
<\/a>Fall is coming…<\/p><\/div>\n
In my last post I mentioned starting on a post-fire community monitoring project in Nome Creek.\u00a0 This plan was put to action a few weeks ago by myself, Jim (wildlife biologist) and a fellow intern, Emily.\u00a0 Jim, Emily and I drove to Nome Creek, arriving too late to complete a site that night.\u00a0 Plus it was raining (ok maybe August hasn\u2019t been THAT dry).\u00a0 Instead we took a short stroll behind the field station to practice plant ID and test out our rain gear.\u00a0 Jim had a solid knowledge of different mosses and lichens as he often works with caribou.\u00a0 This is something I have not had much experience with, so I am looking forward to getting better at moss and lichen ID as this project progresses.\u00a0 The 30+ bags Jim has of just \u2018common\u2019 mosses that look exactly alike is not an encouraging sign, however.<\/p>\n
The next morning we navigated to two different sites in the Nome Creek area.\u00a0 The first was \u00bc mile from the road.\u00a0 This seems close but tussocks, hummocks and sphagnum considered, it took quite a while to navigate to the site using GPS.\u00a0 Once there we had to locate the part of the area that was actually surveyed by British students back in 2001 with only 2 grainy disposable camera pictures to aid us.\u00a0 Keep in mind these sites burned in 2004 so we were often looking a rather different scene.\u00a0 We eventually matched up ridgelines, clumps of dirt and the charred remains of trees and laid down a transect along what we hoped was close to the original transect.\u00a0 For the first site, Jim walked us through the protocol: recording extensive site information, doing a point intercept transect, collecting soil samples, estimating caribou browse, denoting burn severity, measuring amount of organic matter burned, counting saplings, taking photos and installing site markers so that these sites can be more easily found in the future and used for long term ecological studies.\u00a0 Our current goal for the data is to investigate levels of spruce regeneration among plots and analyze how this relates to burn severity, pre-fire amounts of organic matter, site soil moisture and amount of organic matter burned.\u00a0 Jim (and others) have noted that often sites that were previously spruce forest will regenerate after particularly severe fires as deciduous dominant forests (or simply shrublands), see: http:\/\/www.firescience.gov\/projects\/briefs\/05-1-2-06_FSBrief10.pdf<\/p>\n
All said and done, surveying one site took upwards of four hours.\u00a0 Quite the procedure.<\/p>\n
Emily and I visited more sights after Jim departed, noticing low spruce regeneration on all.\u00a0 I am excited to collect more data and see where this project goes.\u00a0 As summer is coming to an end, data collection will have to resume next May.\u00a0 I\u2019ve just received word that I will be staying in Fairbanks through next May and hopefully into the field season so with any luck I will be able to follow this project along and collect data next summer.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Transect line ready at top of Nome Creek Tabletop Mountain Trail<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Some Populus tremuloides<\/em> regeneration<\/p><\/div>\n Odd fungus found at Nome Creek Campground. Any fungus nerds out there that know what this is?<\/p><\/div>\n Other exciting August happenings include a second trip to Denali National Park to meet up with some fellow Tar Heels who came up to visit and backpack through the backcountry, and a trip to central Alaska\u2019s beloved bird inspired towns: Chicken and Eagle.<\/p>\n Teklinika River, Denali National Park<\/p><\/div>\n Hiking in Denali’s trail-less wilderness backcountry<\/p><\/div>\n My supervisor Ruth and I conducted NISIMS surveys (for invasive plants) on the way to and around Chicken and Eagle and attended National Public Lands Day in Eagle.\u00a0 The weather was perfect for National Public Lands Day\u2014crisp fall air, clear skies, cool temperatures, abundant sunlight\u2014and Eagle is an adorable little town.\u00a0 Eagle residents, BLM employees and more gathered to celebrate public lands.\u00a0 A knowledgeable local resident led young-uns and others on a nature walk, the local history expert conducted a tour of the abandoned military fort (Ft. Egbert) established in 1899, children collected pressed and displayed leaves, a Ketchikan artist led a workshop on loop weaving, BLM employees grilled burgers and dogs, root beer floats were served and a good time was had by all.\u00a0 The whole scene brought me back to autumn in the Midwest with its abundance outdoor activities, festivals, crafts and food.\u00a0 My favorite season by far.\u00a0 Around a fire later that evening I learned more about the residents of Eagle\u2014many of them live a subsistence lifestyle meaning they hunt and gather for all their food (save perhaps one Fairbanks Fred Meyer run per year for non-perishables).\u00a0 As such they are incredibly knowledgeable about flora, fauna, weather, soil, water etc. of the surrounding area and completely in tune with the environment.\u00a0 It was quite impressive.\u00a0 The fact that they depend so much on the land also means that the stakes are high.\u00a0 A failed caribou hunt can mean a hungry family\u2013no grocery store to run to for supplemental food (nearest decent grocery store is in Fairbanks, 6 hours away).\u00a0 Each family that lives this way knows exactly how many caribou they need to make it through the winter, so changes in the environment that disturb or change the migration patterns of caribou have dire consequences for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Life up north has been progressing quite wonderfully.\u00a0 After a week getting friendly with the gold miners on the Fortymile river and a June and July full of record breaking rain (http:\/\/www.alaskapublic.org\/2014\/07\/11\/fairbanks-rains-approach-record-levels\/), August has arrived bringing with it some dryness … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a>