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Foxcroft Farm Visit 3

  • Writer: BioTAP Student
    BioTAP Student
  • Apr 29, 2019
  • 2 min read

Coniferous Forest Ecosystem Week 3, Tuesday Lab Section



This week’s lab was bittersweet: I was exhausted by walking through muddy hay fields, but I had grown attached to the coniferous forest. Like the week before, it had rained the days leading up to lab. This had caused the stream to flood even more, but the garbage bag trick did not work this time around. As we trudged through the stream, we realized that there were holes in all the garbage bags. Soon, the bags, as well as our shoes, filled with cold water. Some escaped this fate by piggybacking on students who had taller boots. I, however, was not so lucky, and my shoes remained soaked for the remainder of the lab period.


The recent rains had not only flooded the stream, they also had made foliage on the coniferous forest floor flourish. Small sprouts, Canada mayflowers, peppered the ground; something that I had not seen until that point. When researching coniferous forests, I found that it was unusual for much to grow on the forest floor, however, this growth made more sense for the coniferous forest on the Foxcroft farm because the forest wasn’t extremely dense. Small deciduous trees were even able to grow belief the conifer canopy. The rain had caused these smaller trees to begin to sprout leaves and the occasional flower bud.


The main goal I had for this lab period was to use the shovel my group was given to explore the biodiversity below ground. I quickly discovered that the nutrient rich soil was only an inch or so deep. Below the soil was waterlogged clay that didn’t contain much indication of life. Thus, I tried to explore the topsoil as much as possible. Here I found several common earthworms, one of which my groupmate Aachal got attached to. I also found a female sawfly, a maggot, and an ant. I was unable to get clear pictures of the ant and maggot, so I decided to store the organisms in our Tupperware for closer examination in the lab next week. I also made sure to place a significant sample of the topsoil and deeper clay into the Tupperware as well.


With the recent rainfall, I explored the decaying logs for any sign of fungi. I was able to find plenty of jelly spot fungi and false turkey tail, but I also found what seemed to be a dried out pine bracket which was interesting to view. Through this field lab experience, I found a greater interest in fungi and other forms of flora. I have done fieldwork regarding flora before, but that was back in Texas. The species I found in the coniferous forest on Foxcroft farm were mostly foreign to me, and I enjoyed learning more about the species that are more common in the Northeast.


- By Mia

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