Mt Rainier scouting for field trip

this was a great day for scouting for the first field trip for a new natural history course. Sunny, cool, spring melt is in full swing. Most observations were in two seral stages of cedar, doug fir, hemlock forest; the first site (site 1) was in and around the Pack Forest Experimental Station (the sequoia was clearly planted, the other observations were in the forest, along trails). Trails were in a mixed second growth stand dominated by Hemlock and Douglas Fir, with a bit of cedar, and large stands of bigleaf maple in moist areas. The understory was primarily Salal with a bit of sword fern in dryer areas, mostly sword fern under the maple. The second site (site 2) a late successional stand just inside the boundary of Mt. Rainier National Park. Here, the stand was oldgrowth, dominated by hemlock and cedar, I did not see any Doug Fir, but we did see subalpine fir.

The Bobcat was a locky spot near the road on the way out of the park (see observation notes). I ran into plenty of fungi and bryophytes I'd love some thoughts on, as well as a couple of plants.

Species List (aside from plants in the observation list)
Site one (just listing dominants)
Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)
Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) - leaf buds forming, no leaves

understory
Salal (Gualtheria shallon)
Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium)
Cascade Oregon Grape (Berberis nervosa)
Red Huckleberry (Vaccinum parvifolium)
Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformes)

Site two (just listing dominants)
Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)
Cones from Grand fir / sub-alpine fir...
Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) - leaf buds forming, no leaves

understory
Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridum)

Posted on March 25, 2012 06:18 AM by tewksjj