Plant research group
Apollo Perla, Kim, L.J.D
Background:
Plants play a large role at Fernhill - as they do in any ecosystem. They are important to wildlife, and much more. So, the health of the plants in this beautiful ecosystem mean a lot.
During the restoration project at Fernhill, many new species of native plant have been added along the trails twisting away from the new wetland. As I said earlier, these plants are very important to this area. "Native" means a species of animal or plant that has lived in that region for a long time. In comparison, "invasive" plants tend to spread out prolifically and undesirably or even harmfully. Invasive plants can outcompete or harm natives.
Our group from the Kestrel classroom has been studying these native and invasive plants that are so vital to Fernhill. Since these plants are so important to this ecosystem, our research is too.
Our research questions:
Is a greater diversity of plants found near Dabbler's marsh, or farther from the water? Are there more or less native and invasive plants near Dabbler's marsh, or farther away?
Method:
Our method for studying our first question was to collect data by throwing hula hoops and counting the number of species we find inside.
The first time we studied this question, we collected data near boy scout bridge, but that area
was disturbed by humans, so the second time, we researched a different location. For the second question, we measured out 150 feet down the trail of Boy Scout Bridge. We looked around near where we ended and where we started and looked for different types of plants near those points. We counted the number of invasive species and native species.
Plants play a large role at Fernhill - as they do in any ecosystem. They are important to wildlife, and much more. So, the health of the plants in this beautiful ecosystem mean a lot.
During the restoration project at Fernhill, many new species of native plant have been added along the trails twisting away from the new wetland. As I said earlier, these plants are very important to this area. "Native" means a species of animal or plant that has lived in that region for a long time. In comparison, "invasive" plants tend to spread out prolifically and undesirably or even harmfully. Invasive plants can outcompete or harm natives.
Our group from the Kestrel classroom has been studying these native and invasive plants that are so vital to Fernhill. Since these plants are so important to this ecosystem, our research is too.
Our research questions:
Is a greater diversity of plants found near Dabbler's marsh, or farther from the water? Are there more or less native and invasive plants near Dabbler's marsh, or farther away?
Method:
Our method for studying our first question was to collect data by throwing hula hoops and counting the number of species we find inside.
The first time we studied this question, we collected data near boy scout bridge, but that area
was disturbed by humans, so the second time, we researched a different location. For the second question, we measured out 150 feet down the trail of Boy Scout Bridge. We looked around near where we ended and where we started and looked for different types of plants near those points. We counted the number of invasive species and native species.
Findings:
November data collection:
These are some of the species we found:
reed canary grass (invasive, and everywhere!)
creeping buttercup (invasive)
red elderberry
pacific crab apple
We definitely found more plants farther away from the bank, and we suspect that this is because that near the bridge, there is bare dirt because of human disturbance.
February data collection:
For our second investigation, we chose a different location near the water that looked less disturbed, and continued to collect data!
Here are some species we found:
- sitka willow
- douglas spirea
- red dogwood
- cress
- reed canary grass
Once again, we discovered that the land near dabbler’s marsh is less diverse than he land farther away. Those areas near the water could use some extra care or planting. We hope that our investigations will help with further restoration of the wetlands!
May data collection:
The third time we went to Fern Hill, we had a different question- this time involving invasive and native plants!
Here are some invasive species we found:
- blackberry
- dock
- thistle
- reed canary grass
And here are some native species:
- willow
- twinberry
- ash
- dogwood
- cottonwood
- hawthorne
- ninebark
- spirea
- rose
Our results showed that near Dabbler's marsh, there is more invasive plants and less native plants than across the trail- that area is in need of work!
Overall:
All of our research has shown that the areas on the bank of Dabbler's marsh is less diverse in plant life, and has more invasive and less native species, than the areas farther away from the water. This data helps us come to the conclusion, that these areas near the marsh are in need of more work for the plant life, than the other areas we studied.
Conclusion:
Our hypothesis for our first question was mostly incorrect- we predicted that the areas near the water would be less disturbed, and have more diversity. But, our research proved that the truth was the exact opposite! What we did get right was that we believed that the different locations we would research would have different plant species. In that aspect, we were correct. For our second question, we didn't really know what to expect- we dove straight into our research.
It's important that we have good diversity with the plant species, and that we have more native than invasive plants. Native plants and lots of diversity are two components of a healthy ecosystem! Our research relates to the reconstruction of Fern Hill, because Clean Water Services planted many native plants around the whole wetland. A lot of work was put into the plant life. Our results show which places need more work, and which don't require as much.
One possible error that could have been made is that we might have missed some species in the counting of the plants. It would be really easy to make that mistake. There are many more places in Fernhill that could benefit this plant research. We only studied two areas to collect data. It would be interesting to see how the rest of the Wetland is doing.
Reflection
My group and I feel that we have grown since the beginning of the project. WE enjoyed looking at different types of plants and spending time together. Our biggest challenge was trying to identify all the plants using a field guide to figure out whether they were invasive or not. Trying to figure them out helped us notice small details about the plants. I hope we can keep visiting Fernhill to see how the plants grow and change, or to help get rid of some of the invasives.