Vegetation

LeeAnna, Leanne, Johnathan, John, Liz

=**Objective: Estimate the extent of exotic invasive plant species in stream buffers in the Triangle area **=










__OLD STUFF__

__**Calendar of Deadlines**__
 16-18 March--Make a plan: assign tasks (ID guides, methods), determine outline, and determine sampling techniques and points 24 March--Work on assignment in sub-groups 25 March--Visit to Swift Creek Bluffs (SCB) to ensure that sampling points are appropriate 26 March--Work on assignment in sub-groups

31 March--Review assignments in sub-groups and make sure we're on task 1 April--Visit SCB 2 April--Work in sub-groups

7 April--Have written out methods and tables, ID guide, and report/presentation outline for approval and review of entire veg group 8 April--Begin work on early draft 9 April--Comments returned and reviewed 14 April--Early draft of report and presentation completed (returned Thurs 16 April) 15 April--Among and within observer sampling in field

21 April--Report draft (2nd) 22 April--Practice runs on presentation 23 April--Report draft returned with edits

27 April--Final changes to report 28 April--Final project due   Among Observer Sampling Thurs 4/16- LeeAnna, Leanne, Liz 7, 13 meet at 3-way stop 1:30pm Sat 4/18- Leanne, LeeAnna, Johnathan 12, 15 meet at UWoods 12:00pm noon Sun 4/19- Leanne, Johnathan, John 51, 55 meet at John's 1:00pm

=Paper Outline- more information oriented= Introduction: why exotic invasives are bad-- framework for our sampling Results Materials/Methods Include methodology Conclusion- how can TLC use this? Include recommendations (like having an exotic training course)

=Presentation Outline- more visuals= Picture of Swift Creek with our sampling sites labeled Results from each site Summarize methodology Show what materials we used (like string with 3 marks with a stake) Show blow-up image of one of our sampling sites

Consult this: http://courses.ncsu.edu/nr300/common/project2009/docs/GradingCriteria2009.pdf for what is expected of your section. Also, check our outline draft to make sure you have included everything discussed there.

<<george 4/3 (1) Can you use full names instead of (or in addition to) the 4char abbreviations? I know you're short on space. (2) Would it be better to make a generic data sheet without the specific plot numbers on it? You would have the observer enter the plot number instead. Then you could use both sides of the paper, with one plot on each side, leaving room for full species names and more comments.
 * see comments uploaded for survey instructions: [|Survey instructionsGRH.doc]
 * see comments uploaded for outline: [|Outline draftGRH.doc]
 * On the data sheet, there are two things I'm wondering about. These are both minor issues, so if you disagree that's fine.

>>
 * The plot layout diagram looks good.

__<<george 28 Jan - I don't think this has been updated since you decided to do a focus on invasive exotics, so some of the comments below you might ignore. You need to clearly state your objective with respect to invasives. Something like "estimate the extent of invasive exotic plant species in the Triangle." Then you need to do some of the things you mention below - find out which are the "nastiest" ones and where they generally occur; develop a sampling approach to see how extensively they occur; think about what your final outcome looks like (it's probably pretty simple - thing likes "x% of bottomlands contain microstegium").>>

<>

<<23 Feb - george - Nothing new here, folks. Where is your progress? Where are the bits for your handbook? I see some websites below, but don't know what you're doing with them. You all had good ideas in your Covey essay on mental creation - but all a bit different. You should get together, agree on direction, and post here so that I and others in the class can comment and help. Do you know what the exotics of greatest concern in this area are yet (see notes below)? You should. Conversations with Wentworth, Moorman, and Braham should get to that pretty quickly. You should continue to post your work here where we can all examine and comment on it. You may be working your tails off on this, but I don't see any evidence of that. Please make your work public. Please ask if you need help. THanks!>>__

__Objective: Estimate the extent of invasive exotic plant species in different land cover types in the Triangle__
__Change to: Estimate the extent of invasive exotic plant species richness in stream buffers in the Triangle <>__

__-Current report and what to do in__ _ years to repeat the experiment to determine how things have changed
-Chart that has different land cover types (make sure to keep fairly simple so that volunteers could repeat): Forested: Bottomlands/ Wetlands, Uplands Developed: Low intensity, High intensity Shrublands/ Early Successional Forests Farmlands <>

<<george 14 Mar - this got much simpler for now, as we're focused on stream buffers. Somewhere, though, we have to make the point that we could do the same thing for any type of land cover or any defined area>>

-Divide triangle into the different land cover types (using GIS data- hopefully it already exists) <<george 6 Feb - you know it does - you used it this week>> -Group land cover types from GIS lab

The spread of invasive, exotic plants poses a serious threat to native wildlife in North Carolina. Dr. Chris Moorman, Associate Professor at NCSU, will discuss his collaborations with others to develop an outreach program, including presentations, extension pamphlets, a demonstration garden, and a website, to encourage the use of native plants in urban landscaping. Afterwards, he will lead a short tour of the native plant landscape surrounding the WRC building.<<george 6 Feb - Chris is a great contact - I encourage follow-up - tell him I sent you>>

-?After determining the extent of invasives, find out management practices that will minimize (Determine what are the most threatening invasive species and how to keep them from impacting native vegetation) -Plot sampling on specific land cover types: Forested: Bottomlands/ Wetlands, Uplands Developed: Low intensity, High intensity Shrublands/ Early Successional Forests Farmlands

**Herb:**
Microstegium

**Shrub:**
Elaeagnus Ligustrum (Japanese) Multiflora rose English Ivy Japanese honeysuckle Kudzu

**Tree:**
Paulonia Callery pear

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Possibly a chart that expresses the different species of exotics and their density in the buffer area (30m on each side of stream or whatever area the buffer group determines) in the Swift Creek basin <<george 14 Mar - we need to get solid on the buffer distance. Neuse R rules are 50-feet (15m) on each side of stream. I think we should go with that, so that we're consistent with legal frameworks. Coordinate with buffer team to be sure of this>>

DATA NEEDS AND SOURCES
-Consult with Dr. Braham (resident dendrologist): What invasives should we look to identify in stream buffers/forest edges What are some easy characteristics to identify them What are the most threatening invasive species to this environment in the future? - Focus on the following species: 2 herbaceous, 6 shrubs, 2 trees (10 species total) -Create an identification flow chart and ID pages with pictures. Also, define terms and make a list of quick ID pointers.

http://www.invasive.org/fiamaps/ http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/forest/staff.htm http://www.ncwildflower.org/invasives/list.htm (list) http://plants.usda.gov/index.html (plant ID) http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/DENDROLOGY/factsheets.cfm (tree ID)

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Refine our testing method: since we'll be focusing on buffer area, we won't need to do 100m on each side. We'll find out from the buffer breach group what distance from the stream edge they are determining buffer area. It could be 30m or even greater. We will also need to create an easier flow chart style sheet that helps volunteers identify exotic invasive species. We could start with easy "give away" hints that a plant is an exotic and include definitions of what a shrub and tree is, etc. Also, I think it would be best if we created our own ID guide since the VT version and others are really in depth and it's hard to flip through and ID, the volunteer would have to actually sit down and study the pages the way they are now. It would be cool to create like an example booklet that includes the ID flow chart and then sections for grasses, shrubs, trees with pictures of easy to ID plant physiology like leaves, buds, and overall form. To make sure we have all of this done in time, perhaps the group can divide into groups of 3 and one group work on the methods and how to use the results and the other team work on how to execute the methods (ID book, research on plants, etc).

__LEARNING NEEDS:__
-Decide how many sampling plots (and their size) per area (determine sampling method) -Supplies for sampling/ learn to sample (Ask Dr. Hess) -List species in area -Basic vegetation sampling (invasive or not) -Invasive species training class (recomend this to TLC)