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September
2002 Newsletter
Your
Chance to Become a Citizen Scientist:
Establishing Long-Term Forest Monitoring
Plots in the Red Hill Valley
By
Brian McHattie, Environment Hamilton
At
the June 18, 2002 Friends of Red Hill Valley Annual
General Meeting, I made a presentation designed to encourage
Red Hill Creek lovers to participate in monitoring the health
of the valley ecosystem. We are seeking keen volunteers
to become citizen scientists! Read on…!
Change
is a constant in ecosystems (short-form for ecological systems)
— the environment directs what will grow where and
whether it will survive to maturity and reproduce. A forest
community in the Red Hill Valley that was established after
a fire 100 years ago is not the same one that was established
50 years ago on former agricultural land, or that which
will establish after some sort of disturbance next year.
How
healthy is the current Red Hill Valley forest? How is it
being affected by air pollution? Is climate change leading
to differences in tree growth? How healthy are frog and
salamander populations? Although many of you walk in the
Valley every week and likely have some sense of the forest's
health, it is difficult to know the answers to these questions.
The answers lie in examining the Valley ecosystem in a systematic
way, year after year.
Long-term
ecological monitoring (greater than 50 years) is the way
to document what is changing in ecosystems, at what rate,
and with what results. Monitoring results should also give
warning of what is likely to happen, and thus allow for
preventative or adaptive action. Environment Hamilton has
entered into a partnership with the Canadian Nature Federation
and Environment Canada's Ecological Monitoring and Assessment
Network (EMAN) as part of the Canadian Community Based Monitoring
Network. In Hamilton, we are joining other communities such
as Canmore, Alberta; Fredericton, New Brunswick; Sydney,
Nova Scotia; Port Alberni, British Columbia; and Quebec
working on giving citizens the tools they need to undertake
their own investigations of environmental health.
The
Canadian Nature Federation and EMAN have the job of developing
scientific monitoring methods that can be used by communities
such as Hamilton, to measure local ecosystems, and influence
local decision-making. To date, they have come up with two
broad categories of monitoring tools:
A.
NatureWatch Programs:
National
series of volunteer monitoring programs designed to help
scientists discover how, and more importantly why, our natural
environment is changing.
- FrogWatch
(www.frogwatch.ca)
· Listening to frog calls to determine species
type and abundance - nine species found in the Hamilton
area
- PlantWatch
(www.plantwatch.ca)
· Noting first flowering records for a select number
of plant species, of which 14 are found in Ontario
- IceWatch
(www.icewatch.ca)
· Noting the freeze and thaw dates of lakes, ponds
and rivers
- WormWatch
(www.wormwatch.ca)
· Looking under logs and rocks near the soil surface
to identifying different worm species - who knows how
many species we have?!
B.
Long-Term Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Plots:
The
EMAN and the Canadian Forestry Service have developed a
forest biodiversity monitoring protocol based on the use
of permanent, 20m x 20m square monitoring plots. The focus
is on measuring tree health, but other variables include
herbaceous plant health, soil health, and salamander relative
abundance. Using the same standard methods across Canada
should provide insights about species change across broad
regions, raise questions for additional research, and help
define unexpected environmental problems.
We
are currently in the process of establishing several 20m
x 20m monitoring plots in different areas of the Valley.
The plan is to engage volunteers like you in conducting
the monitoring, assisted by Hamilton high school students.
Of course, we would be happy to have people participate
in one or more of the NatureWatch programs listed above
as well. How well do you know your frogs? Can you tell a
maple tree from a beech? This fall we are planning workshops
to train volunteers on how to conduct the monitoring - a
great way to learn and perhaps develop a second career as
a citizen scientist!!
To
learn more about the program, and most importantly to sign
up as a volunteer, please contact Brian McHattie at Environment
Hamilton by telephone (905) 549-0900; or via email at contactus@environmenthamilton.org.
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