Jackson's+Page

= Jackson's Page =

Brought to you by Jason P., Tyler A., and Jackson G.


= Site Overview   =

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Our site was right next to the containment pond. If you were to walk out of the the biology doors down the pathway, you should see a containment pond across the street from the corporate building and nearby, a softball field should be located on your west side. The site was located on the far side of the pond (relative to the school) and it was roughly 10 yards away from the back drive-way. See pictures below to gain a better a perspective of our site.======



1.) **To the North**

To the north of our site existed a corporate center and the back driveway. Also our site was located down on a hill and by our north side was the exit of a pipeline.

To the east, we were facing the entrance of the bus' driveway. We were surrounded by bushes and trees to the right of our transect line.
 * __To The East__**

To the west, we were able to see in the distance the softball foul pole. We were also surrounded by our west side a small pond.
 * __To the West__**

To the south, we faced the old cross country trail. Trees and bushes lined along our south side.
 * __To the South__**

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2.) Our site consisted of many different types of organisms that collectively made up our microclimates. Regarding the different temperatures of both our days, our data changed significantly throughout each specific abiotic factor. Temperatures directly were affected by the allotment of sunlight which then influenced our light intensity, soil temperature, and both our types of humidity (relative and absolute). Our data concerning dew point was influenced through amount of rainfall or fog in the morning or night before. Abiotic factors played a unique role in our overall collection of data.======

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__Data Table of Microclimates__ - (We collected data for our site on two different days. The numbers may be interfered with variables like the rainfall the night prior to collecting the data and the conditions during our collection of data__)__======

Day 1 Data
(C) || Light Intensity (Lux) || Dew Point (C) || Relative Humidity (%)  || Absolute Humidity (g/m^3)  || Soil Temp (C)  ||
 * Sample || Temp
 * 1 || 15.4  || 76.9  || 11.3  || 80  || 10.5  || 13.8  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">15.3  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">96.13  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.2  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">81  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">10.5  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">12.6  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">3 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">15.3  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">95.83  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.8  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">84  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">10.9  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">13.9  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">4 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">15.6  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">83.3  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.6  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">82  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">10.8  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.8  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">5 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">15.5  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">121.77  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">12.0  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">84  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.2  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">12.0  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">6 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">15.8  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">160.22  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">12.4  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">84  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.4  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">13.6  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">7 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">16.0  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">307.62  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">12.4  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">83  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.4  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">13.1  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">8 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">18.2  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">621.94  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">12.4  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">73  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.5  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">15.2  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">9 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">18.8  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">1832.69  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">12.6  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">73  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.6  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">13.8  ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">10 || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">19.2  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">3482.91  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">13.0  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">71  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">11.7  || <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt;">15.8  ||

Day 2 Data
(Lux) || Dew Point (C) || Relative Humidity (%) || Absolute Humidity (g/m3) || Soil Temperature (C) ||
 * Sample || Temperature || Light Intensity
 * 1 || 12.1 || 105.74 || 6.3 || 71 || 7.8 || 10.2 ||
 * 2 || 11.8 || 115.36 || 6.2 || 73 || 7.6 || 9.8 ||
 * 3 || 11.6 || 198.67 || 6.6 || 77 || 7.8 || 11.2 ||
 * 4 || 11.0 || 230.71 || 6.7 || 79 || 7.9 || 11.7 ||
 * 5 || 10.7 || 371.70 || 6.9 || 82 || 8.1 || 11.3 ||
 * 6 || 10.7 || 455.82 || 7.1 || 83 || 8.2 || 10.4 ||
 * 7 || 10.6 || 813.90 || 7.3 || 84 || 8.2 || 10.6 ||
 * 8 || 10.7 || 467.12 || 7.5 || 85 || 8.3 || 9.5 ||
 * 9 || 10.7 || 509.91 || 7.3 || 84 || 8.2 || 10.3 ||
 * 10 || 10.7 || 378.11 || 7.4 || 84 || 8.3 || 10.4 ||

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3. __Common Vegetation__: Our transect line was located by the drainage pond, so there was an abundance of species of plants located there. Most common to our line was crabgrass, smartweed, quackgrass, and regular grass. Also Cattails were prevalent at the very beginning of our line, which had a swamp like micro-climate. Daisy Fleabone and Goldenrod plants were also sprinkled randomly throughout our transect line.====== Crabgrass is an annual plant that is widely distributed in warm and temperate regions. Regarded as a pest, it can grow in many places such as fields, ditches, pastures, etc..., but tends to grow where adequate sun and water are present. Tends to germinate during the summer season. It is branched at the base, with extending leaves lying on the ground. Grass is an annual plant that has an vast range of habittats. Grass, like crabgrass, has an ability to thrive in most places with water and sunshine. Quackgrass is a non-native perennial plant. It has a bad tolerance to drought, so it tends to populate in moist areas, like the containment pond. Cattails are marshland plants that can be anywhere from 3-10ft tall. Cattails thrive on areas with plenty of moisture, such as the edges of ponds or in marshlands. Daisy Fleabane is an annual plant that is common in the northeastern US. It is commonly foung in fields, gardens, and woods. Goosegrass is an annual non-native plant species. It is capable of growing in most places with enough water and sun, like crabgrass.

= Identifying and Describing Microclimates  =



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In Microclimate 1, this specific area was particularly situated in the middle of cattail bushes around the containment pond. Our microclimate was near the pipeline and this microclimate encompassed many of the factors that come with an area near a water-based pipeline (see figure 1)—muddy soil, bushy cattails, and no grass. This microclimate was predominately characterized by its array of large cattails that surrounded the area and the few types of plants that were surrounded in the area (ticklegrass and crabgrass). There was slight evidence of human disturbance considering the sight of the pipeline along the north side of this microclimate. The muddy soil attributed to the lack of any subsequent/solid ground for one to stand on (see figure 2), but this may have been due to the evidence of precipitation the night before (the soil temperature differs from Day 1 data and Day 2 data). One may attribute this to the stone pipeline (see picture “To the North” on the right side) and tall cattails to block sunlight from entering; this can attribute to the lack weeds and grass and compliment the prevalence of muddy/cold soils, cold temperatures, and low levels of light intensity (see Sample 1 and 2). See figure 2 for a visual reference.======

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In microclimate 2, this specific area was situated a little to the left of our transect line (looking at figure 1, this microclimate is behind the large cattails). Overshadowed by the cattails, we saw a drop in our light intensity index (see samples 3 and 4). From samples two and four from Day 1, there was little light coming through the cattails and onto this microclimate. There isn’t enough grass to classify this section as a our third microclimate but there isn’t any prevalent evidence of any tall cattails to classify this as our first microclimate either. Microclimate 2 can be assumed to be regarded as some medium between the Microclimates 1 and 3. Also, this microclimate was situated near the containment pond attributing to the nearness of some body of water. Unlike Microclimate 1, there was some evidence of Daisy Fleabone, Goldenrods, and Quackgrass (see pictures), possibly to its nearness of a body of water or its avoidance of muddy soils. Some of the nicer-looking weeds including the Daisy Fleabones and Golden Rods existed here in our transect line. See figure 3 for a visual reference.======

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In Microclimate 3, this specific area was responsible for the back half of our transect line, consisting of mostly grass, Crabgrass, Quackgrass, and Goosegrass. Geographically located more in the open area and away from the shadows the cattails provide, this microclimate was much more prone to greater light (see values of light intensity increase from 5 through 10). The more one steps towards the south side, the more exposure to sunlight he or she could receive. The exposures to sunlight directly affected overall temperature and soil temperature (values increase from samples 5-10 in soil temperature and outside temperature [see data table]). This translates into healthier grass samples and an abundance of weeds that may not be as prevalent as in the other two microclimates. The varied levels of exposures to sunlight affected the way weeds grew and ultimately compliments the overall premise of this microclimate.See figures 4 and 5 for a visual reference.======

Relationships between Biotic and Abiotic Factors
In our first microclimate, which was in the swampy area by the containment pond, Cattails were the dominate type of plant. This area was swampy and marsh-like both days we were out there. Cattails are wetland plants that thrive in “large marshes and on the edge of ponds,” which is exactly where we found them. The ample water supply along with the good sunshine it received during the day, Cattails were able to thrive there. We only found this plant in the 1st micro-climate with the swampy conditions.

In the second and third microclimates, crabgrass, grass, goosegrass, and quackgrass were all prevalent. The conditions in Microclimate 1 were too swampy and too flooded for these to grow, but moving away from the pond they became common. It is not a surprise we found these growing out into the field because they can grow in a vast array of places with light and water. These microclimates had both of those abiotic factors so these plants thrived here. Also in these last two microclimates, Daisy Fleabane and Goldenrods were spotted, however they became more prevalent as one moved towards the back of the transect line. These plants thrive in fields with sun and ample water. Seeing them more frequently as we went towards the back of the line, we believe, had to do with the increased exposure to sun as well as getting further away from the undesirable swamp conditions. The cleanliness of the water could have played its role versus the cleanliness of rainfall in the plant's wildlife.

Overall, we did not see any major abiotic factors that could have tampered our microclimates. There was no apparent evidence of any animals that had lingered through our microclimates and if there was any interference, intervention would of been tasked by humans considering the pipeline along our first microclimate. The sun played a critical role as temperatures were lower in our first microclimate than the other two. Despite the sun being positioned in the same place as we were every time we collected data, the naturally swampy and cool conditions of the containment pond and the cattails of Microclimate 1 coerced the microclimate to a certain type of wildlife. Cattails would only be prevalent in such conditions and vice versa with weeds and grass in the our latter microclimates (2 & 3). The relationship between biotic and abiotic factors is crucial when it comes to the overall health and welfare of these microclimates.

Take a break and enjoy some of Mr. Allen's aesthetic photography. Let the beauty of Mother Nature submerge into your veins..