Boards and Plots

It was the third full-out field day today.  Bruised and sore, we are kicking some serious plot-building butt.  I am so proud of this team we have.  They are without complaint even when I know they are exhausted and are pushing themselves places they usually would never go.  In this group, we have three undergraduates with us for their first year of bog fieldwork;  Mikah, Anita, and Brian have been incredible and it will be a great year with them on the team.   

We have hauled 510 10’ pieces of lumber from here to Red Earth Creek.   We haven’t quite finished with 170 of those that need new homes tomorrow after finding their angle of repose tucked into the trees about 200 meters down the cutline.  That is almost a mile of 10-foot pieces laid end to end.  This lumber is now distributed across a few sites, and we’ve another 170 to go at a new site early next week.  Slogging through the soupy mosses, while an excellent workout, is not the easiest thing in the world.  I give our team giant props for being such good sports.  Everyone has bruises on their shoulders and sore muscles everywhere, but a few more days of this and we can get onto the fun less painful stuff. 

 

Postings may be scarce here while we exhaust ourselves, but all is well in the grand scheme of things.  Fires are burning here and there, but nothing to cause us worry.   Hopefully will keep you all updated as we move through this first phase of the summer.  

Happy bog-walking!

Kim

Preparing for Arrival!

As I sit on my bed in my New Jersey home, procrastinating on my last bit of packing for this year's Alberta trip, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on my past Canadian summer adventures. As a recent Villanova graduate (very recent - I just graduated yesterday!), I hadn't anticipated making a return to Alberta this summer. But as luck would have it, I don't have to start my graduate program until September, and I happily took the opportunity to spend my fourth summer in the beautiful boreal zone. 

The first time I came up to Alberta, I had no idea what I was in for; I barely knew what a peatland was. My experience learning about these remarkable ecosystems, working in them, and ultimately being able to form my own scientific questions about them, has been incredibly formative. I am a lifelong outdoors enthusiast, but until my first field summer, I didn't know that I could combine my love of adventures in the wilderness with my passion for science. At the end of this summer, I will be starting a Ph.D. program in biogeochemistry at UC Davis; considering that I didn't even know what biogeochemistry was before working in our lab, you could say that these experiences have been pretty life-changing for me!

My particular research focus for the past few years has been nitrogen fixation in boreal peatlands - a pretty cool process by which microbes can turn nitrogen in the atmosphere (N2) into usable nitrogen for plants, and the main source of usable nitrogen in our peatlands. I'm interested in figuring out what controls the rates of this process in our ecosystems, and spent a lot of time this past year studying the role of molybdenum (Mo) and phosphorus (P) availability. I'm really excited to hopefully be able to keep collecting data on that project, as well as measuring rates of fixation at many other sites to determine the effects of nitrogen deposition (a major concern due to the proximity of the Athabasca Oil Sands Region) and time-since-wildfire. If last summer taught me anything, it's that science is as frustrating as often as it is fun, but I am stoked to start things up all the same.

-Katy 

The Early Crew

If I didn’t know it was only May 19^th, I would say it is at least mid-June here in Alberta.  A small contingent of our group arrived at Meanook early this year, and we are just driving back from Fort McMurray as I type.  It has been in the upper 70’s near 80 for days, and we were just caught in a very summer-like downpour that came out of nowhere.  The rain felt good.  Sadly, with the heat comes mosquitoes…  the big bomber-type are out and ready to bite through pants and protective long-sleeved shirts.  I clapped one dead, opened up my hands, and it flew away unperturbed and chomp-ready for its next victim… these things are beasts.  Already, myself, Nate, and Cara itch from the buggers, and I fear we are in for it early with the bugs.  Usually, we can count on at least a couple of weeks before the nets come out, so we shall see.  I’m sure it will be a rude welcome on Tuesday for the new members of our team when they show up.

Meanook is ready for them.  Rooms are prepped, and April, the new cook for the summer, has our dietary restrictions noted, and is ready for the considerable challenge.  This will undoubtedly be Meanook’s last year and I’m sure there will be more about that peppered throughout the summer, but for now, it remains a home away from home for me and for a contingent who has been coming here for several  years.  It is at least my 11^th or 12^th summer - I've sort of lost track.  It has been an establishment for our research group since before I can remember and we have accumulated just as much equipment as one would think after so long a time.  It is a nice place to hang your hat and with the Victoria Day holiday here in Canada, it is quiet, but that will change with a blink of an eye with the imminent arrival of several crews.

My last post included much about the birds and so I’ll just finish up on this long day by saying that we saw Northern Shrikes (yes, Shrikes, Kel!!) at EVERY site we visited on this quick trip north.  It was good to see them eyeing us and chatting to their partners.  White throated sparrows sparred with Chippings in feeding flocks rounded out with boreal chickadees and fat robins.  Magpies bobbed from ground to fence and back and ravens are everywhere.  We’ve seen several deer, a coyote, and have been serenaded by the comb-click of boreal chorus frogs.  Thankfully, it is nearly summer for more than just the mosquitoes. 

Safe Travels, crew!  We will see you soon. 

Spring 2012 at Meanook: A Nice Reminder

As we prepare for the field season, everyone is losing their mind.  Seriously losing our minds.  Well, maybe not everyone, but I certainly am.  Not enough time and too much to do.  New projects are a hand-full and people are stressed.  I am stressed.  As I listen to the birds chirp outside my Phoenixville PA window this morning, I am reminded of a pugnacious ruby crowned kinglet that sang his heart out above our heads in the trees at Meanook a few years ago (wichity-witchity-witchity-WHEEEE).  I fished this post out from my personal blog and thought I would share it here.  It reminds me that with all this logistical nightmarrishness leading up to the summer projects, the fieldwork is fun.

Originally Posted May 22, 2012

In the chill of the evening, the passerines are active with the sun still several hands high.  Tennessee Warblers dressed in yellowish green have invaded en masse and flit from tree to tree.  They are mistaking windows for pass-throughs much to the dismay of everyone here at Meanook.  One such warbler, recovering on a pine branch, finally flew off, but only after Kitten made leaps for it, pulling the bough low as if he was the one hanging on for dear life.  Yay, bird!  No doubt Kitten will find a snack elsewhere this evening but the warbler flies free.  White Throated Sparrows are chatting with the Chickadees and the rowdy Ruby Crowned Kinglets, the Blue Jays yell and swoop from low branch to low branch, and the Sapsuckers play percussive wood.  It is a symphony in the bush. 

Spring is arriving here with birds and blooms.  The cherries aren’t quite flowering yet, but they are knocking on that door.  It seems spring is a little early up here as it is also on the east coast.  Last year almost to the day, it snowed 5 inches.  Two days ago I was hot and sweaty looking at a collapsing permafrost mound. 

Our research puts us in what is called the discontinuous permafrost zone.  North of us, the earth is frozen year ‘round.  South of us, the soil thaws completely every summer.  Here, there are pockets of frozen mixed in with the thawed.  This zone is shifting northward and that thaw brings changes to the landscape and changes to the ecosystems.  Fire hastens this advancement, warming the earth as it scorches it with no chance of the peat recovering the cold of the next winter.  Last year was a doozy on the fire-front, and this year, seems like we are in for another.  Right now, 23 fires burn in Alberta with 345 fires since the burning season started this spring.  We drive through smoke on the way to our sites.  That acrid burn in the nose is not unfamiliar to us and puts me on edge.

Tomorrow we head north to the Mariana Lakes region of Alberta where we will spend the day in both bog and fen and hopefully not run into any bears or fire.  The travel allows for some fast truck window viewing, and since arriving, we’ve seen much:  a Bald Eagle, an Osprey, countless waterfowl and shore birds, Sandhill Cranes, Buteos, Falcons, Shrikes, Passerines of all shapes and sizes.  Our feathered friends are here and are welcoming us to Alberta and to spring.  The morning will bring the dawn of a new day and as we walk among the mosses, the birds will sing.

Note:  The above was written 2 days ago… the total fires is now up to 390 as of 10 AM yesterday…   much potential for ignition.   We have only experienced a bit of smoke and smoldering.  So far so good.

NOTE #2....   our sites all made it untinged through the 2012 fire season.  Let's hope for the same in 2013.  We will be hard at work in Alberta in less than a month.