NR002 Wednesday Lab Overview
On May 1st, 2019 my NR002 lab explored the Intervale center. The Intervale is located on 180 Intervale Road, Burlington Vermont. After our discussion with a tour leader about the local produce and the history of the Intervale, we headed down to the the green house area. The the green house we went in too was dedicated to planting riparian buffers . Theses specific riparian buffers were native tree species. The goal is to try to plant more native species to presser the ecosystem and try to reduce the effects of invasive species.
After that we were released into the wilderness located by the Headwaters of the Winooski River. The weather was gloomy with gray covered skies and a constant light drizzle. This impacted the land around the river, since you could tell there was flooding on the floodplains from the weather the past week. Im comparing the soil to the one I saw at last weeks lab, due to the floodplains, so I'm making a hypothesis that the PH level was something around 7. Along my groups adventure we discovered some native and invasive species. To start it off we observed a White Ash with no leaves. This is due to the cold spring, so no tree buds have blossomed. After that we observed a Canada Goose, Common Raccoon tracks, Pileated Woodpecker holes and the bird song of a tufted Titmouse.
All land owned by the Intervale is used for agriculture and recreation. This can impact the ecosystem of the floodplain, due to the fertilizer used and wear/tear agriculture does on the land. The Intervale tries to use all natural fertilizer however even natural fertilizer can contain harmful strains of E.coli. From my observations the land seems to be hopping with biodiversity, so I believe if they keep using the land they have for agriculture its ok for the ecosystem. The only thing I'm concerned for is if they keep developing land then they can run into an issues.
