SHELBURNE FARMS: Its A Shore Thing Livin On The Edge

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SHELBURNE FARMSIts A Shore Thing Livin
On The Edge

You WISH you were here
Who we are... Laura Mallard Faculty, Elizabeth
Jameson Lead Learner, Evan Masseau, Ilya
Matiach. Matthew Bush, Alma Zjakic, Emily
Dobkowski, Jessica Richland, Kimberly Taft, Ellyn
Webb, Dante Quirinale. Katherine Meyer
Lifeguard, Jenna Daly, Eliza Giroux, Bill
Schoonover Assistant Faculty, Marc Best.
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Coring

• When a tree grows it grows in two different
  ways. It grows up and down through the leaves and
  roots, and it grows out through the bark.
• If you cut a tree down you can look at its stump
  and count how many rings there are. This will
  tell you the age of the tree. In order to
  determine the age of a tree without killing it
  you need to use a tool called an increment borer.
  Using the increment borer you get a cylinder of
  wood that goes from the bark of the tree to the
  core. You can count the rings on the cylinder to
  determine the age of the tree.

Emily Dobkowski
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Wildflower Location 1 North of Shelburne Farms
Inn
End of Field Site
Red Clover
Climbing Nightshade
Cow Vetch
Common Comfrey
Hedge Bindweed
Cow Vetch
Chicory
Flowering Dogwood
Common Fleabane
Oxeye Daisy
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Wildflowers found at Location 1
Chicory (Cichorium intybus)- Stiff stem with
several blue flowers obviously toothed at the
tip. Leaves long and dandelion-like. Grows 1-4
feet. Blooms from June to October.
Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca)-Gray-green leaves,
flowers 1/2 long. Found along roadsides and
fields. Crowded spikes of tubular lavender to
blue flowers. Blooms in late spring to summer.
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)- Magenta or
purple flowers. Hairy stem and leaves divided
into 3 oval leaflets. Very common(VT state
flower). Blooms from May to September.
Hedge Bindweed (Convolvulus sepium)- A twining
vine with funnel shaped flowers. Flowers are
white or pink in color and 2-3 long. Leaves are
arrow shaped or triangular. Blooms from May to
September.
Dames Violet (Hesperis matronalis)- Large,
showy, purple flowers. Very fragrant. Blooms in
the spring and summer. Found in gardens, fields,
and roadsides.
Oxeye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucamthemun)- Long,
slender, solitary stalk. White flower head with
15-30 slender rays. Very common in fields and
meadows. Blooms spring to fall.
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Wildflower Location 2 South of Shelburne Farm
Inn
Dames Violet
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Hop Clover
White Clover/ Hop Clover
Buttercup
Oxeye Daisy
Bladder Campion
Yellow Hawkweed
Wild Madder
Devils Paintbrush
End of field site
Canada Anemone
Flowering Dogwood
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Wildflowers at Location 2
Devils Paintbrush (Hieracium aurantiacum)- Also
known as the Orange Hawkweed, this flower carries
several usually leafless orange flower heads.
Blooms from June to August and is found in
fields, roadsides, and clearings.
Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)- A low
plant with bright yellow flowers in an irregular
shape. Height of 6-24. Blooms in summer.
Wild Madder (Galium mollugo)- Leaves on main stem
in whorls of 7 or 8. Numerous flowers in loose
white clusters. Blooms in late spring and summer.
Bladder Campion (Silene cucubalus)- White,
irregular flowers in loose clusters. Flower heads
1 wide and a height of 8-30. Blooms from April
to August. Found in fields and roadsides.
Yellow Hawkweed (Hieracium pratense)- A bright
yellow flower in several heads. Heads 1/2 wide.
Blooms from May to August. Found in pastures and
along roadsides.
Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis)- A low
growing, white, spectacular flower. Reaches up to
1 and blooms from May to July.
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Three Types of Faults
Normal
Strike-Slip
Reverse
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Two Types of Deformation
Brittle
Ductile
Brittle deformation occurs when rocks break to
form a fault
Ductile deformation occurs when rocks become
flexible and bend when pressure is applied
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Dikes
On the shores around Shelburne Farms there are
interesting places where igneous rock appears in
the shale bedrock
A dike occurs when the bedrock of Iberville Shale
splits and plutonic magma pushes into the gap,
the rock around these has been eroded away
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Soil Testing
Evan Masseau

• Purpose
• Look for a connection between soil pH and
  vegetation.
• To see how soil pH changes from one horizon to
  the next.
• Basic Procedure At multiple sites, record nearby
  vegetation, then dig soil pits to see the
  horizons, taking samples from each horizon. Test
  the pH of each soil sample.
• A Little Background A soil horizon is a layer of
  soil.
• The three top layers are
• - O-Horizon Organic layer rich in decomposing
  matter and nutrients.
• - A-Horizon Nutritious soil beneath the
  O-Horizon AKA Topsoil, usually home to deeper
  roots of trees and shrubs.
• - B-Horizon Hard layer of clay and rock, with
  many minerals that leach through from high
  horizons, AKA Subsoil.
• Soil Types

Sand Dry, drains easily and loses water quickly
Loam Ideal soil, holds water well.
Clay Dense and hard, holds water for too long.
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Results
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Soil Horizons
Soil horizons From Locations 4, 5 and 6
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What is erosion?

• Erosion is defined as the wearing down or
  washing away of soil and land surfaces by water,
  wind, ice, and other natural or manmade forces.
• Erosion tends to happen in areas near moving
  water, like a river or the edge of a lake.
• In an attempt to slow the effect of erosion,
  humans often try to place boulders in front of
  vulnerable soil. At Shelburne Farms, there are
  long seawalls placed on the beach that prevent
  travel of water into the soil.

Dante Quirinale and Marc Best
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The North Seawall

• The north seawall was built around 1900 in order
  to prevent the erosion of the soil and land near
  the lake. A wall of concrete slabs created to
  block the water covers approximately 124 ft. 1
  in. On one side is 22 ft. of rubble and 34 feet
  of open shale, and on the other is 140 ft. of
  soil. The soil had been eroded away at various
  places, and there are overhangs of depth ranging
  from 1 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. The actual seawall is
  688.97 ft. long. The seawall is still in
  excellent shape, but the beach nearby is slowly
  giving in to the water.

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The Staff Beach

• The Staff beach stretches across 95 feet and four
  inches of small rocks. Towards the back of the
  beach, large boulders block water flow. Judging
  from photos from the early 1900s, the water was
  eroding away the soil and so the boulders were
  placed there. However, in most parts of the
  beach there is still an overhang of at least 2
  feet.

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1900
2005
These pictures are from a small beach to the
south. The beach from the picture on the left
has all but disappeared due to erosion.
These photos are of the north beach, before and
after the seawall. The shoreline has receded
since the first photo was taken around 1900.
There is more debris on the beach than before,
probably from the rocks along the beach
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The Problem Invasive Species

• Dreissena Polymorpha
• Grow to be 1.5 inches
• Can live in diverse habitats lakes or streams -
  rocks, freshwater mussels, or anything else that
  has a high density
• They are not native to the US came from the
  Caspian and Black Sea regions of Eurasia
• Came from other ships (1986) spread rapidly in
  the Great Lakes
• Can clog water pipes break engines and damage
  ships cover lake bottoms and compete with other
  organisms
• Zebra Mussels kill native mussels by attaching
  themselves to them and preventing respiration
• Currently there is no method to control them per
  contra, all efforts are put into trying to stop
  them from spreading to other lakes through proper
  regulations
• Interesting fact each female zebra mussel can
  lay up to one million eggs during the summer!

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The Results

• The results show a correlation between the depth
  of the first layer of substrate from the top of
  the water and the first sighting of the zebra
  mussels the mussels seem to live only in a
  habitat that is about 53 inches down from the top
  of the water.

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Microbiological Study
Ilya Matiach

• Index
• Measuring Tools Utilized
• Conductivity Meter
• pH Measuring Tool
• Global Positioning System
• Lake Champlain sites observed.

• Research Question
• What are the microorganisms that live in the
  designated area of group Shore and what does the
  existence of these organisms indicate or what are
  the ramifications of them?

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Site 1
Chlorophyta.

• Site 1 turned out to be a diverse habitat for
  many different microorganisms. At the surface
  water the researchers found a great number of
  cocci shaped eubacteria, as well as many bacteria
  which are believed to be Gleocapsa. However, at
  the top there werent many protists. In the
  substrate at site 1 there was a much larger
  habitat. Most of the pictures that you see here
  are from the substrate. The soil sample had an
  immense number of bacteria, but not many protists

Diatom, probably Navicula sp.
Tabellaria sp. This 50 µm organism can be found
along the shoreline. As it reproduces it forms
interesting zig zag patterns.
Drapalnardia sp. This green protist is attached
to rocks in moving waters
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Site 2

• This was a site which was basically a pond which
  flowed into the lake. The pond/stream had a
  great number of organisms in it, and it had a
  very high level of conductivity. In the pond
  there were many more monerans than at site 1.
  There were only two samples taken here, that of
  the soil and the top water. Both samples had a
  great number of organisms in them, although the
  substrate still had more.

This is Navicula sp., similar to the one at site 1
This is Fragellaria sp. It lives on top of
rocks and submerged substrates as well as near
aquatic plants.
This is Synedra sp, it forms clusters of cells
once attached to substrates
This is another Tabellaria sp., like the one in
site 1.
This is Cocconeis sp. It can take from a green
to a golden brown color. It lives near aquatic
plants.
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Lake Champlain
This shows a number of different organisms.

• As a side excursion, a plankton net was used to
  collect some microorganisms in Lake Champlain on
  a research vessel. Here we actually began to see
  multicellular organisms.

This is a picture of Daphnia sp.
This is Diaptomus sp., it can be found in the
deeper waters of Lake Champlain.
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Benthic Macro Invertebrates (BMI)

• Bottom-dwelling (benthic) animals without
  backbones (invertebrate) that are visible with
  the naked eye (macro).
• Objectives
• Diversity Vs. Density
• -pH
• -Temperature
• -Conductivity
• -Tolerance index

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Location 1-Northern Most Part of Beach

• Description
• pH - 8.4
• Temperature -
• 22.3C
• 72.3 F
• Conductivity -177.8 µ
• Observations -
• Clear Water
• Rocks covered with green algae
• Lake floor-shale
• The least mucky of the four locations
• Conclusion Mayflies are found consistently along
  this beach, their presence represents that the
  water is in good condition.

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Location 2-Elm Swamp

• Description
• pH - 7.7
• Temperature -
• 26.1C
• 78.8 F
• Conductivity - .755ms
• Observations -
• Larger organisms
• Warmer, murkier water
• Aquatic grasses
• Different organisms than in lake
• Conclusion We found many left-handed snails,
  left-handed snails are very tolerant. Which
  represent that the water in location two is in
  poor condition.

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Location 3-Home Base Beach

• Description
• pH - 8.6
• Temperature -
• 26.5 C
• 78 F
• Conductivity - 175.4 µ
• Observations -
• A few rusty nails
• Moderate algae
• Thousands of mayfly exoskeletons
• Conclusion The large bio diversity occurring in
  this beach represents a very intolerant area,
  which implies that the water here is in good
  condition.

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Location 4- South Beach

• Description
• pH - 7.7
• Temperature -
• 22 C
• 71.6 F
• Conductivity - 185.7µ
• Observations
• Abundance of rust covered objects
• Rocks covered with patches of eggs
• Large amount of minnows
• Conclusion Although the rust may seem a hazard,
  the organisms found here seem to tolerate it well
  and pH is not affected. The water is in good
  condition.

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We are the SHORE GROUP!

• Thank you for a wonderful and fun week together

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Finito!