Lab Group: Steffen Seamon, Simon Cohen
Date of Inquiry: 9-20-18
Land Use/Cover Change Lab Week 3
Background
The purpose of this lab has been to observe how three distinct types of land use contribute to cover change across previously forested areas in and around the Lewis & Clark campus. Our site is situated within the Collins View neighborhood just north east of campus. Collins View was most likely once forested like the River View Natural Area. Over the course of the last century it has been developed into a suburban neighborhood with some remnants of the previous vegetation. Last week we observed the ground and canopy cover of our site. We found that most of our site was not covered with any plants on the ground or above us. This week, using our data and the data collected by other groups, we were able to compare the status of our site with that of the other eleven sites established between the three areas. Comparing on a local scale like this gives us an in depth view of the sites we are studying. The variety of land usage and coverage between the sites is evident in the satellite map of the 12 sites. In this report, we will investigate how to empirically express those differences.
Map of all 12 sites
Procedure and Analysis
To analyze the data, we compiled the information on all 12 sites into a single Google Sheet. From there we organized the sites by their general location. For some of the data we calculated averages between the sites and general locations using formula within Google Sheets. Then we created graphs comparing data that we felt was significant about the sites. We created graphs to represent the difference in temperature, humidity, canopy coverage, and ground coverage between the sites.
Results
Figure 1: Temperature averages across three general locations, three rights bars in Collins View represent our site
Figure 2: Humidity averages across three general locations, three rights bars in Collins View represent our site
Figure 3: Percent canopy coverage, red bar represents our site
Figure 4: Percent ground coverage, red bar represents our site
Discussion
The temperature taken on the Lewis & Clark campus shows that over the course of the day we studied it was the warmest. Our site’s temperature did not differ much from average of Collins View. The River View Natural Area (RVNA) was colder than the two other locations. This could be because, as seen in figure 3, it has by far the most canopy coverage. This canopy coverage shades the area, preventing the sun from warming the sites observed. Our area had relatively low canopy coverage and a lot of dark surfaces, like roads, which absorb heat. These observations could explain why our area, and the rest of Collins View, was hotter than RVNA. If we had taken data on temperature over a longer period of time, we could draw more conclusions on the microclimates in the areas studied.
Out of all 12 sites, our site had the lowest percent ground coverage (18%). This makes sense since a lot of the area we sampled was covered by a road. Even though there was little green ground coverage, we still maintained a comparatively high level of plant diversity because of the garden outside 9633 S.W. Corbett lane, the house that we placed our centroid in front of. It would be interesting to do a further study on plant diversity between the three general locations. By doing that, we could see how plant diversity in Collins View and on the Lewis & Clark Campus has been affected by development and how plants have persisted in RVNA.
Simon's Site 