Two transects were set up at Camp Huntington, part of the Outdoor Recreation Center for SUNY Cortland. One plot was a forest. The other plot was a field. We collected baseline information in Aug. 2002 and will collect additional information during future Field Biology courses. Over a period of years students should be able to compare the diversity data and note how sucession in these areas has occurred.
In the forest, students set up 5(10m x 10m) quadrats to complete the first transect. Students in each plot tagged trees, identified these trees, determined the dbh (diameter at breast height) and took at core sample of the tree. Students also selected an area with the 10m x 10m quadrat and marked off a 1m radius circle. Students then identified the herbaceous plants within that circle.
In the field, students randomly selected several 20m linear transects are recorded the herbaceous plants at 2m intervals.
In determining diversity of the two transects the Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H) was calculated.
| Plot 1 | Plot 2 | Plot 3 | Plot 4 | Plot 5 | Trees: 601 Tsuga canadensis 602 Betula alleghaniensis 603 Abies balsamea 604 Fagus grandifolia 605 Fagus grandifolia 606 Fagus grandifolia 607 Fagus grandifolia approx. 10m from plot, 91cm DBH Betula allegheniensis Trees <10cm DBH: Fagus grandifolia 6 1m circle: Acer pennsylvanicum 9 Fancy Wood Fern 6 Wood Sorrel 57 |
Trees: 608 Fagus grandifolia 609 Tsuga canadensis 610 Fagus grandifolia Trees <10cm DBH: Acer pennsylvanicum 5 Fagus grandifolia 2 Picea rubens 2 1m circle: Fancy Wood Fern 9 Wood Sorrel 59 |
Trees: *611 Betula alleghaniensis *612 Abies balsamea *613 Tsuga canadensis *identified by core samples Trees <10cm DBH: Acer pennsylvanicum 1 1m circle: Acer 58 Canada May Flower 19 Wood Sorrel 120 Star Flower 17 Fancy Wood Fern 9 |
Trees: 614 Fagus grandifolia 615 Fagus grandifolia 616 Fagus grandifolia 617 Fagus grandifolia Trees <10cm DBH: Fagus grandifolia 3 Picea rubens 4 1m circle: Acer pennsylvanicum 27 Acer rubrum 10 Abies balsamea 15 Fagus grandifolia 6 Tsuga canadensis 1 Canada May Flower 8 Wood Sorrel 46 Fancy Wood Fern 4 |
Trees: 618 Abies balsamea 619 Betula alleghaniensis 620 Fagus grandifolia 621 Betula alleghaniensis 622 Abies balsamea 623 Abies balsamea 624 Tsuga canadensis 625 Tsuga canadensis Trees <10cm DBH: Fagus grandifolia 3 Picea rubens 4 Betula alleghaniensis 1 Tsuga canadensis 1 1m circle: Abies balsamea 12 Tsuga canadensis 1 Acer pensylvanicum 30 Acer rubrum 37 Fagus grandifolia 4 Betula alleghaniensis 3 Fancy Wood Fern 5 Wood Sorrel 32 |
|---|
| Tag Number |
Species | DBH (cm) | Length (cm) | Number of Rings |
R/L | Estimated Age of Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 622 | Abies | 14.5 | 12.8 | 87 | 1.47 | 49.28 |
| 618 | Abies | 30.8 | 14.5 | 101 | 1.44 | 107.27 |
| 603 | Abies | 24.5 | 7.0 | 39 | 1.79 | 68.25 |
| 623 | Abies | 16.6 | 13.3 | 75 | 1.77 | 46.8 |
| 612 | Abies | 47.5 | 14.7 | 49 | 3.00 | 79.17 |
| Average | 1.90 | 70.15 | ||||
| 602 | Betula | 69.5 | 4.2 | 46 | 0.91 | 380.6 | 611 | Betula | 50.7 | 15.3 | 162 | 0.94 | 268.41 |
| 621 | Betula | 19.4 | 7.8 | 76 | 1.03 | 94.51 |
| 619 | Abies | 49.1 | 11.1 | 97 | 1.14 | 214.54 |
| Average | 1.01 | 239.51 | ||||
| 608 | Fagus | 21.9 | 10.30 | 100 | 1.03 | 106.31 |
| 610 | Fagus | 42.2 | 7.5 | 42 | 1.79 | 118.26 |
| 606 | Fagus | 25.3 | 2.5 | 20 | 1.25 | 101.2 |
| 605 | Fagus | 13.4 | 4.9 | 37 | 1.32 | 50.59 |
| 614 | Fagus | 23.1 | 12.1 | 58 | 2.09 | 55.36 |
| 607 | Fagus | 20.2 | 9.1 | 48 | 1.9 | 53.27 |
| 616 | Fagus | 11.5 | 10.0 | 77 | 1.30 | 44.28 |
| 617 | Fagus | 16.3 | 5.0 | 44 | 1.14 | 71.72 |
| 604 | Fagus | 19.5 | 7.6 | 40 | 1.9 | 51.32 |
| 615 | Fagus | 18.1 | 5.9 | 33 | 1.79 | 50.62 |
| 620 | Fagus | 18.4 | 8.1 | 43 | 1.88 | 48.84 |
| Average | 1.58 | 68.33 | ||||
| 609 | Tsuga | 56.4 | 13.2 | 84 | 1.57 | 179.45 |
| 601 | Tsuga | 68.0 | 16.8 | 66 | 2.55 | 133.57 |
| 613 | Tsuga | 28.0 | 12.2 | 69 | 1.77 | 79.18 |
| 624 | Tsuga | 15.7 | 10.4 | 42 | 2.48 | 31.70 |
| 625 | Tsuga | 73.3 | 13.5 | 112 | 1.21 | 304.06 |
| Average | 1.91 | 145.59 |
| Age Summary of Trees at Huntington | |
|---|---|
| Age (years) | Number of Trees |
| 0 Stage | 3525 |
| 1 - 50 | 5 +31(not cored) |
| 51 - 100 | 10 |
| 101 - 150 | 5 |
| 151 - 200 | 1 |
| 201 - 250 | 1 |
| 251 - 300 | 1 |
| 301 - 350 | 1 |
| 351 - 400 | 1 |
The Shannon Weiner Index is a diversity measure that takes into account both the number of species and the relative frequency of each species. It is important to take relative frequencies into account since a community with two unequal species (90 individuals of species X and 10 individuals of species Y) is not as diverse as a community with two equi-frequent species. The diversity index (H) is calculated using the following equation.
H = -∑ pi ln pi
A higher value of H indicates greater diversity than a lower value. The evenness (E) is calculated by dividing H by the maximum value for a given population.
| Diversity of Camp Huntington Forest | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TS | N | H | E | |
| Floor | 11 | 562 | 2.31 | 67.0 |
| Subcanopy | 5 | 31 | 1.57 | 67.9 |
| Canopy | 4 | 21 | 1.82 | 91.1 |
These results are the averages of several 20m linear transects in the leach
field at Camp Huntington on Long Point, Raquette Lake. (elevation = 1811 ft,
N 43o49.443' / W 74o37.726' accuracy within 24ft.) Students
used a point sampling technique and recorded data at 2m intervals. Total number
of samples was 300.
| Diversity of Camp Huntington Field | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TS | N | H | E |
| 17 | 197 | 2.92 | 71.5 |