Snow and Sun

For blogs this week, the topic is looking at spring break through an ecology lens.

With that in mind, I first thought about the weather while I was home, and the climate of the mid-Atlantic region. I call Maryland my home, as I've lived there all my life, and right now it's going through that awkward in between phase of winter and spring. Although there are four seasons in Maryland, there really isn't much of a winter; if we get snow it's usually temporary and the forecast consistently predicts more than we get. In fact, I've even had school closed because snow was forecast, but never actually came.

I bring up the snow because it snowed while I was home, on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning so that there was about a 1/4 inch by 8 AM or so, not even enough to cover the grass. People in DC called it the Snowquester after the recent economic developments from the White House. It's crazy to think that there was snow Wednesday, yet this weekend yielded sunny skies and 60 degree weather. All within the span of a week. But that's part of the beauty of Maryland really; you just have to take it day by day.

What was most interesting about this situation, is that the birds and critters seemed slightly confused by the warmth and sunshine - thinking it was spring. On Saturday and Sunday morning, birds were chirping happily in the morning and throughout the day, despite the fact that colder weather will probably come again shortly. Some of the tulips in my front yard had already sprouted and started to grow, but cold weather will stop them in their tracks. Crocus, typically a small purple or white flower, is one of the first flowers out in very early spring, verging on the end of winter (pictured below). Small patches of the small flowers could be found here and there throughout the neighborhood, but this is a flower that can withstand threatening colder temperatures.

The temperature and climate are one way in which ecology was witnessed over spring break.

Crocus, image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crocus_group.jpg

Crunch Time

In light of our upcoming exam, the blog post this week will feature 3 short answer exam questions and answers.

1. Why is studying ecosystems ecology important?

Studying ecosystems ecology allows us to better understand the world around us, adapt to changes and anticipate adversity. In understanding the pieces, patterns and processes in ecosystems, we can become better stewards by figuring out our role in the environment.

2. What are the benefits and drawbacks of modeling?

Although modeling allows us to look at different possibilities for the future and determine which scenarios are most likely, there are a lot of variables that aren't accounted for and can't be foreseen no matter how many trials are run. Modeling past events as a predictor of the future works most of, but not all of the time. On the other hand, modeling helps us to consider and list the important facets of an issue that we might not otherwise factor in.

3. Why is decomposition critical to continuation of an ecosystem?

Decomposition allows for nutrient cycling to occur; so nutrients can continuously be broken down and taken back up again by plants and animals in the area. Nutrients facilitate energy production, and without energy an ecosystem doesn't exist.

US Global Change Research Program

A little bit more focused in terms of subject is this weeks subject of some sort of climate change report. I chose to look at the report from the United States Global Change Research Program.

Before even starting to look at the report, I checked out the authors and who wrote the report. Turns out that they have a pretty wide variety of people (mostly scientists) who are all advising the report itself. Some are professors, some are professionals, but all of them seem to be experts. I'm always skeptical of sources for information, especially something as important and controversial as climate change. Although skeptical, the authors of this report appear to have a decent record in terms of experience. This information is found here: http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/first-national-assessment/national-assessment-synthesis-team

Moving onto the 163 page summary report, there is a lot of useful information to be gleaned from every page. The temperature will be increasing 5-9 degrees or more in the next 100 years. Climate patterns in terms of temperature, precipitation, and storms will all be affected. The food supply will not be secure. There's a lot of scary information found in this report.

The most important part of which I think is the fact that the real, or actual results can not be 100% predicted. That's the scary part, that we can't fully anticipate what's going to happen in the future to the entire planet. Everything will be different; organisms, the atmosphere, populations.

Here's a link to the report:
http://downloads.globalchange.gov/nca/nca-2000-report-overview.pdf

Technology

Remote sensing and GIS have only recently been incorporated into solving environmental problems. Although they have both revolutionized the field, such technology can frequently be difficult to use. I wonder if the technology causes people to shy away from certain classes or careers. I used ArcGIS and all of its software package last year when I took Intro to GIS. Over time, the software becomes easier to understand, although it takes a lot of initial effort because it's not very user friendly. The software isn't GUI, unfortunately. My project at the end of the semester was very basic, not because I didn't have any ideas, but mostly because there was a limited amount of data available for free. It was also difficult to figure out exactly how to process the map layers to get the information that I wanted, even with experience at the end of the semester. It was very frustrating.

Moving forward, I also think that Dinamica can be frustrating and difficult to use; but much less so than ArcGIS. So far the lessons have been fairly easy, and the software is pretty easy to use. There have been some problems in the directions from the guidebook because it's outdated, but the goal at the end of the day is usually accomplished. Through the trials and tribulations, technology can be useful.

Soil Resources

This week's sweet subject: soils!

Last year I took Joseph Gorres class on soils, which was awesome to say the least. Lab was entertaining, as we learned how to quantify soil via organic matter, organisms, and hydrologic qualities, among other things. However, one of the most interesting resources that I used in and after that class was the Web Soil Survey.

I think it was mentioned in class yesterday, but it's a useful, informative website. Essentially, you can search any place within the United States and find out the soil qualities of that region. It has the flaw of not every place has been surveyed and is represented on the map, but it's a slow and steady process to study all of the soils. It's pretty simple and relatively user friendly though, which is very convenient. You just type in an address, whether it's by state and county, specific address, or latitude and longitude. From there, the display changes to show the specific region, and soil properties including uses, texture, mineral and nutrient content, water content, and many many other details. In short, it's a pretty helpful tool in quantifying soil, at least within the United States.

http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

 

 

The Great Gulf

Blog posting round 2! Here goes nothing!

So this week’s topic is supposed to be discussing the link between location and climate. In other words, explaining why the climate in a particular place is the way it is. I thought I would look into England, which is affected by the Gulf Stream. This is the swath of warm air that cradles England and makes the water and weather much warmer than it would be naturally for that longitude. My parents used to live in England, and I can attest to how relatively mild the winters were; they were very similar to the winter I experienced growing up in Maryland, which is several hundred miles south of England. The other strange part of visiting my parents abroad was that in the summer and winter the number of hours that the sun was visible was very great and very few, respectively. In the winter, the sun would only be out for about four hours or so, and the world before and after would be plunged into darkness. Inversely, the summer produced long days with only about four hours without sunlight; and the shades had to be pulled tight in order to produce enough darkness to sleep. There wasn’t really an accurate way to look at the sun outside and determine what time it was.

Pushing this idea that warm air circulates over the United Kingdom; there is also a large amount of precipitation because the warm air comes from over the Atlantic Ocean, bringing moisture and heat with it. As the air cools over the land, water is lost from the air, landing all over Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Although cooling, the air is not cold enough in the winter to consistently produce lots of snow during the winter in England, which is surprising considering that England and the northern United States and Canada are on the same latitude. However, they have very different climates.

 An image of the Gulf Stream and temperatures of the surface.

First Post

The simple question posed at the end of class the other day was: why am I in this class?

In short, it's an obvious answer; it's a class that fits into the requirements for the concentration within my major. Through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at University of Vermont, I'm working towards a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a concentration in Conservation Biology and Biodiversity.

With all that jargon out of the way, the long answer is that I thought the class would be interesting. I thought it would further explain how to understand and realize the different parts within the whole of an ecosystem. In all honesty, I could have taken any number of classes to just fulfill the requirement, I picked this class because I think studying a problem on the ecosystem level is the most effective way to figuring out the world around us. Understanding how the pieces, or in this case species, within a puzzle interlock is the key to problem solving. That being said, I hope this class helps me to do that.