Investigating Native versus Exotic Species with Regard to Biodiversity

NH Conservation Moose Grant

Souhegan High School

Quadrant Exotic-1  Plant community

Researchers: Alissa Kozak, Jacob Wheeler, Gergana Micova, Rose Lenahan, Melissa Lipomi 

Tree Data: 

Flowering Data:

 

Plant	Number of individuals	Flowers	pollination	seed dispersal
Scotch pine	1	oblong-ovate candles, about 1/4 to 1/2 long	occurs in spring	solitary cones
white pine	22	monecious and yellow	occurs in spring	cones, 6-8 inches
russian olive	30	small solitary buds	occurs by insect	drupe-like fruit, eaten by animals to disperse seeds
white oak	1	ovate buds	occurs in spring	acorns, spread by animals
Black Cherry	1	white flowers	occurs by insect	red fruits, eated by animals to disperse seeds

Simpson Index: 2.23 

Summary Data Forest Quadrants:

Quadrant Forest – 1

Community Similarity

 

Species	Exotic	Forest
Russian Olive	30	0
White Pine	22	19
Black Cherry	1	0
White Oak	1	3
Scotch Pine	1	0
Red Oak	0	3
Red Maple	0	1

Totals:                                                        55                                                                  26

A= 55                       b=  26                       w = 20

C = 40/81 = 49% Similarity

Quadrant Forest-1 – Plant Community

Researchers: Erica Chapman, Ryan Camponescki, Kristie Scmitt, Jess Piekielek, Mike Wilbur, Sam Peret

Simpsons Index of Diversity – Tree Species

We took the DBH of all of the trees that were in our quadrat, we then figured the relative frequency, relative density, and the Simpsons index number.

 

Tree Species	Number
White Pine	19
White Oak	3
Red Oak	3
Red Maple	1

Simpsons Index Value: 1.9

We placed 3 pitfall traps in our quadrat area and collected the following invertebrates.

 

Invertebrate Order	Number
Diptera	24
Hymenoptera	12
Arachnid	5
Daphnea	1
Collembola	1
Opiliones	1
Lepodoptera	1
Gastropoda	1
Coleoptera	1

Simpsons Index Value: 3.02

 

Totals/Species	Number	Rel. Freq.	Rel. Density	Total DBH
White Pine	19	.73	.0475	431.6
White Oak	3	.11	.0075	88.7
Red Oak	3	.11	.0075	104.6
Red Maple	1	.05	.0025	12.5

Ground Cover Listed in Order of % Coverage:

1. Ground Litter – 5.6

2. Tree Sapling – 3.28

3. Bushes – 2

4. Grass – 1

Stumps - 1

Other Information:

                 White and Red Oak- Male and female flowers on the same tree. Temperate oaks are primarily wind pollinated, but more southern oaks are more insect pollinated.  Acorns- fruit, when they are mature they drop to the ground. Because chipmunks and squirrels forget where they cache them it gives them a chance to germinate.

                 White Pine – Cones open up after maturity to release seeds. Seed dispersal birds include Crossbills and Pine Siskins. Songbirds also eat the seeds.

                 Canada Mayflower – Ground cover plant that is typical in mature forests, carpet like colonies. They have white flowers and are part of the lily family. Habitat is upland woods.

                 Low Bush Blueberry – Small rounded shrub. Flowers are tiny white or pink bells that are grouped in clusters. Berries are edible.

 

Plant Species	Pollination	Fruit/Seed	Fruit/Seed Dispersal
White Oak	Wind	Acorns	Squirrels/Chipmunk caches
Red Oak	Wind	Acorns	Squirrel/Chipmunk caches
White Pine	Wind	Pine cones	Wind/Seed eating animals(chipmunks, squirrels, mice, birds)
Canada Mayflower (Wild Lily of the Valley)	Insect (solitary bees, bee flies, and syrphid flies)	White and speckled red berries	Some by birds
Low Bush Blueberry	Insect (bumble, solitary, and honey bees)	Blueberries/ orange-yellow oblong seeds	Birds, robins, skunks, jumping mice
High Bush Blueberry	Insects (many species of bees)	Whitish Blueberries/ red-yellow seeds	Black bear, white tailed deer, scrub jays, mockingbirds, thrashers.

High Bush Blueberry – Small rounded bush. Flowers small white bells grouped in clusters. Berries are edible.