Day 7: April 3, 2013
Hi Kids,
We are not done with our capture, mark and recapture
studies for this week, but it seems like we are reconfirming that the
population numbers are low for the mice and voles at another site in the
forest. We did manage to capture a mouse this time (but not the woodland
jumping mouse).
We talked during our Skype session about about the
possibility that winters are starting later and spring arriving later too and
how this can be a problem for many animals. But we really have to see this
pattern for many more years before we can conclude this.
In addition to climate change being a possible problem
for small mammals, the way humans have managed many forests has become a
serious problem for many animals too. The forests in Nova Scotia have been cut
with a process called clear cutting for the last 400 years. Clear cutting is
when you just cut down all trees in area and then just wait about 70 years for
trees to grow back. Unfortunately, this process has resulted in too many
coniferous trees growing back instead of a good balanced mixed forest with both
coniferous and deciduous trees growing in a good balance together. This is of
course not good for species diversity. So today we did some forest management.
This is a fancy was of saying we cut down and cleared some trees. The idea is
if we cut away some of the coniferous trees that are taking over, then some of
the deciduous trees that are there will have a better chance to do well as they
will have more space and receive more sunlight. We made piles with the branches
we cut away. These piles are called habitat piles and they make a good place
for small mammals to burrow under and find safety. The scientists are trying a
couple of different things to see what might be the best way to grow back a
healthy mixed forest with good species diversity.
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| Clearing away logs |
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| Making a habitat pile |
It was a really tiring day but rather satisfying too.
Regards,
Mrs. Reginald
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