Trip to Staircase
October 20, 2014
11:00am- 3:00pm
Location: Rapids Loop Trail, Staircase Ranger Station, Olympic National Park
Weather: cool, rain towards the end of the day, misty near the North Fork of the Skokomish River.
Habitat: Westside Washington lowland old growth conifer-hardwood forest
Species Observed: see pictures, too many to name but I want to go back soon to make a more thorough list!
Notes: We saw many Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar - climax trees indicating an old growth forest with little disturbance. There were few Douglas fir or red alder (a N fixture key to riparian areas) except along trails and near park service buildings. Deciduous trees have deep roots and create a thick blanket of organic matter yearly with leaf fall. They also serve as prime hosts for forest epiphytes. Conifers have shallow roots and are prone to wind throw. They create acidic soils with their pine needle drops and do not lend easy canopy openings for sun-loving trees- thus why cedars and hemlock are the 'climax trees'.
We saw many bryophytes and licorice fern capitalizing on the increase of sunlight with deciduous leaf drop and the increase in early rain and thus their H2O supply. they bryophytes often fix N2 from the air and make it accessible to the host tree making them essential to forest ecosystems. We learned many forest plants- salal, huckleberry, and moss are being exported to Europe.
the physiognomy - architecture of the ecosystem- showed many forest layers with hints of the browse pressure in the forest understory. What was growing best were Oregon grape, ferns, etc. which deer do not like. Many old cedars were decorticated- or deadwood- and were hosting mosses and ferns. Douglas fir, and hemlock were the top story, then vine maples and standing dead wood, then ferns and shade plants such as the Aracaceae family (preferring acidic soil).
