Download Forest Ecology - Hobcaw Barony

Forest Ecology
HOBCAW BARONY
THE BELLE W. BARUCH FOUNDATION
Lesson Description
Continuing to explore the natural world, students will discuss habitats, adaptations and biodiversity in
detail before visiting a longleaf pine forest. Using tools and collection jars, Forest Diversity Logs will be
completed in separate parts of the forest. Students will be led in creating a master list of what was
found and will make a complete forest food web based on observations and resources.
SC State Standards covered (3rd Grade)
Standards
Standard 3-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry, including the
processes, skills, and mathematical thinking necessary to conduct a simple scientific investigation.
Standard 3-2: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the structures, characteristics,
and adaptations of organisms that allow them to function and survive within their habitats. (Life
Science)
Indicators
3-1.8 Use appropriate safety procedures when conducting investigations.
3-2.1 Illustrate the life cycles of seed plants and various animals and summarize how they grow
and are adapted to conditions within their habitats.
3-2.2 Explain how physical and behavioral adaptations allow organisms to survive (including
hibernation, defense, locomotion, movement, food obtainment, and camouflage for animals and
seed dispersal, color, and response to light for plants).
3-2.3 Recall the characteristics of an organism’s habitat that allow the organism to survive there.
3-2.4 Explain how changes in the habitats of plants and animals affect their survival.
3-2.5 Summarize the organization of simple food chains (including the roles of producers,
consumers, and decomposers).
Forest Ecology
HOBCAW BARONY
THE BELLE W. BARUCH FOUNDATION
SC State Standards covered (5th Grade)
Standards
Standard 5-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry, including the
foundations of technological design and the processes, skills, and mathematical thinking
necessary to conduct a controlled scientific investigation.
Standard 5-2: The student will demonstrate an understanding of relationships among biotic and
abiotic factors within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. (Life Science)
Indicators
5-1.8 Use appropriate safety procedures when conducting investigations.
5-2.2 Summarize the composition of an ecosystem, considering both biotic factors (including
populations to the level of microorganisms and communities) and abiotic factors.
5-2.4 Identify the roles of organisms as they interact and depend on one another through food
chains and food webs in an ecosystem, considering producers and consumers (herbivores,
carnivores, and omnivores), decomposers (microorganisms, termites, worms, and fungi), predators
and prey, and parasites and hosts.
5-2.5 Explain how limiting factors (including food, water, space, and shelter) affect populations in
ecosystems.
Focus Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is a habitat?
What is the life cycle of a longleaf pine tree?
How do changes in a forest habitat affect plant & animal survival?
What does biodiversity mean?
What types of plants and animals live in a longleaf pine forest?
Forest Ecology
HOBCAW BARONY
THE BELLE W. BARUCH FOUNDATION
Teachers need to provide:
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
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Pencils (one per student)
Clipboards (one per student)
Worksheets (attached)
o 6 copies needed
o Look for the
Instructor will provide:

Butterfly Data Sheet with
Host/Nectar Plants on Reverse
Lesson Plan
Part One: Introduction
This study will begin with a detailed discussion of a ‘habitat’. The instructor will show students many
pictures of different habitat types focusing in on the coastal plain forests. Animals, human impacts and
development of these forests will lead to a discussion of biodiversity and its importance to human
survival.
Part Two: The Longleaf Pine Forest
The instructor will then lead the group to the pine exhibit to discuss one specific coastal plain forest
habitat located on Hobcaw Barony, the longleaf pine forest. Students will then be led outdoors to work
in groups where each group will be assigned a different section of the forest. Using the Forest
Diversity Log, each group will record their observations of the different animals and plants that live in
the longleaf pine ecosystem.
Part Three: Food Web Exercise
Back in the classroom, we’ll make a master list of what was found as well as creating a forest food web.
Student Reflection: What did you discover today? What have you learned about habitats at your school?
Forest Ecology
HOBCAW BARONY
THE BELLE W. BARUCH FOUNDATION
Teacher Preparation:
A habitat is defined as the place where an animal or plant normally lives, and is often characterized by a
dominant plant form or physical characteristic (i.e., the forest habitat, the stream habitat). Some
species are adapted to living in only one type of habitat. For example, you might see plenty of parrot
species in a tropical rainforest, but most of these species probably wouldn’t be able to survive in the
temperate forests covering much of the United States.
Other organisms can survive within several habitat types. Opossums live in deciduous forests, tropical
forests, and even tropical rain forests. They can also survive in suburbs and cities.
Plants have a lot to do with where animals can live. That’s because animals rely on certain plants for food
or shelter. The types of plants that grow in an area depend on the area’s climate, topography and soil.
All organisms on Earth can be classified by species. A species is a group of organisms that resemble one
another in appearance, behavior, chemical makeup and genetic structure. To be considered the same
species, organisms that reproduce sexually must also be able to interbreed and produce fertile
offspring.
One of Earth’s most valuable resources is its biodiversity. This resource is made up of three
components: genetic diversity, species diversity and ecological diversity.
Genetic diversity is the variability in the genetic makeup among individuals within a single species.
Species diversity is the variety of species on Earth. Ecological diversity is the variety of forests,
deserts, grasslands, streams, lakes, oceans and other biological communities that interact with one
another and with their non-living environments.
Biologists estimate the Earth’s current biodiversity consists of 10 to 50 million different species, each
having variations in its genetic makeup and living in a variety of biological communities. So far, biologists
have classified only about 1.7 million species. They know a fair amount about one-third of these species,
but know the detailed roles and interactions of very few.
Humans are dependent on this biological capital. Diversity within and among species provides us with a
variety of food, wood, fibers, energy, raw materials, chemicals and medicines and contributes hundreds
of billions of dollars yearly to the world economy. Also, every species on Earth today represents stored
genetic information that allows the species to adapt to certain changes in environmental conditions. We
can think of biodiversity as nature’s “insurance policy” against disasters.
*Excerpted from Project Learning Tree Environmental Education Activity Guide Pre K-8
Forest Ecology
HOBCAW BARONY
THE BELLE W. BARUCH FOUNDATION
FOREST ECOLOGY VOCABULARY LIST
Forest: A dense growth of trees and underbrush covering a large tract
Ecosystem: A community of living and non-living things that work together
Habitat: an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or
other type of organism
Longleaf pine: see Background page
Classification: the assignment of organisms to groups within a system of categories distinguished by
structure, origin, etc.
Biodiversity: the degree of variations of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome or an entire
planet.
Food web: depicts feeding connections (what eats what) in an ecological community
___________________
Vascular plants: Any of various plants, such as the ferns and seed-bearing plants, in which the phloem
transports sugar and the xylem transports water and salts
Endemic (native; indigenous): natural to or characteristic of a specific locality or region
Threatened species: any species (including animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to
endangerment in the near future
Endangered species: a population of organisms which is facing a high risk of becoming extinct because it
is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters
Conservation easement: a voluntary agreement that allows the landowner to limit the type or amount of
development on their property while retaining private ownership of the land
Conservation Reserve Program: voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them use
environmentally sensitive land for conservation benefits
Forest Ecology
HOBCAW BARONY
THE BELLE W. BARUCH FOUNDATION
Background: America’s Longleaf Pine Forest
Longleaf Values
The majority of the forests present on Hobcaw Barony are longleaf pine dominated with mixed pine/hardwood and
bottomland hardwood forest sprinkled throughout. Longleaf pine forests were once incredibly vast. From the
Atlantic coastal plain of southeastern Virginia to the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas, these forests encompassed
more than 90 million acres of the North American landscape, and represented an extraordinary wealth and
diversity of cultural, ecological and socio-economic values. The tree itself, longleaf pine, literally sustained the
growth of America with an abundant source of timber and naval stores. It built homes, bridges, ships and railroads
and symbolized the bounty of natural resources that made the nation prosperous. Although longleaf pine remains a
highly valuable commodity in markets today, the value of these forests runs far deeper than economics and trees.
Cultural
Longleaf pines in the systems they support are woven into the cultural fabric of America. The open, fragrant,
“piney woods” are as much a part of southern culture and folklore as cornbread. Their beauty, diversity and humble
intimacies have been the inspiration for some of the country’s most honored writers, artists and naturalists. Long
before European colonization, generations of Native Americans sustained themselves with the natural and spiritual
riches these lands offered – lands that they revered through their customs and rituals. Throughout time, nature
lovers, sportsmen, photographers and outdoor enthusiasts have enjoyed an endless array of recreational and
aesthetic pursuits tied to the abundance and splendor of these systems.
Ecological
Today’s remnants of the longleaf pine forests are some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems outside of the
tropics. More than 140 species of vascular plants can be found in a 1,000 m 2 area, with as many as 40 to 50
different plants species in one square meter. Nearly 900 endemic plant species – species found nowhere else – are
found in these systems across the Southeast U.S. One hundred and seventy of the 290 reptiles and amphibians
occurring in the Southeast are found in longleaf pine ecosystems, with 30 reptiles and amphibians that are
specialists to the longleaf system. Coupled with the extensive decline of this forest type, 29 species associated
with longleaf are federally listed as threatened or endangered.
Economic
Today, longleaf pine forests provide landowners and managers with a variety of economic opportunities. Private
sector markets include returns from high value solid wood products, quality pine straw, and higher real estate
values. Additionally, private and public funds are available for conservation easements and ecosystem services
including conservation banking payment or mitigation and premiums for wildlife hunting leases. From the public
sector, landowners also receive preference on many cost-share and landowner incentive programs including the
Conservation Reserve Program.
Response to Climate Change
Though much additional scientific study needs to be done to understand current and future effects due to climate
change, current information suggests that longleaf pine is the clear “winner” among all the southeastern pines
(including loblolly, shortleaf and slash) by a wide margin in terms of response to climate change. This is consistent
with the fact that longleaf and other favored species are more resistant to drought and high temperatures.
Longleaf also offers other ecological benefits, as compared to other tree species, such as reduced risk from
wildfires, most insects and diseases, and hurricane and wind-related events/storms.
*Excerpted from www.americaslongleaf.org
Forest Ecology
HOBCAW BARONY
THE BELLE W. BARUCH FOUNDATION