WEEKLY  SCHEDULES  AND  READINGS
WEEK 1 | WEEK2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4: Project Presentation Guides, Sat 3/1, Sun 3/2 | WEEK 5 | RETURN TO SYLLABUS
(Schedules etc. subject to modification)

Saturday – 1 March 08
FORECAST
 

email re: "SCHEDULE CHANGE -- SAT field day" Friday, 2/29/08  Hi All: Saturday is looking to be the better day for fieldwork especially at high altitude.  It will be windier but with much warmer temperatures and dry compared to Sun.  As we have a distance to go, we'll have an early start from the Lodge. Plan on arriving by 8.30a Saturday.**  Be ready for the field with cold weather layers and lunch & snacks. Please reply acknowledging you've received this schedule change. Sunday's schedule will follow that originally planned for Sat with project presentations in the afternoon For what to bring, our highest field location, and its forecast: http://culter.colorado.edu/~kittel/WinterEcology_Week4Sched.html#field-veg See you tomorrow, Tim

8:30a – Weather briefing · Review last weekend's 'Lessons'

8:35a – Field Day Set-up: Vegetation Winter Ecology – Front Range plant associations · Landscape patterns (effects of altitude, aspect, substrate, freeze/thaw, snow deposition) · Wintertime plant id · Plant ecophysiology (adaptations to winter by lifeform - e.g., deciduous vs. evergreen strategies). –

• & Readings:
• LC Chapter 3
• Interested in a re-phrasing? WEH provides a review of some of this material: Chap 3, p. 163-176
• especially re Hardening: p. 165-167
• 2 Handouts:
• Plant Lifeforms & Vegetation Distribution (pdf, 600k)
• Other Resources:
• Mountain Ecosystems: Studies in Treeline Ecology, by G. Broll & B. Keplin (eds. 2005, Springer, NY) [sci library: QH541.5 .M65 M722 2005]

• Bring:@Field Journal, compass, topo map, pack lunch. If you have: Hand lens, snow shovel
• Field Locations:Our highest site for the day = Soddie site
• Forecast:  Niwot treeline (11,000')
• 2 Handout:  Niwot Ridge Sites (doc, 130k)

• Related links:Niwot Ridge Vegetation, and Tundra Vegetation Communties (including Map)
• Plant species lists for Niwot Ridge and Green Lakes Valley are on line at: <http://www.colorado.edu/mrs/spplists.html>
• See also <http://culter.colorado.edu/NWT/site_info/flora_and_fauna.html> and <http://culter.colorado.edu/Field_trip/plants.html>
• Species list for RockyMountain NP <http://www.nps.gov/romo/resources/plantsandanimals/commonandscience.html>
• Other Resources:
• Global Analysis of Alpine Treeline Position (pdf, 275k)
• Winter Ecophysiology of Lodgepole Pine (pdf, 150k)

• More Background on Vegetation Zones:
• From Grassland to Glacier:  The Natural History of Colorado and the Surrounding Region, by C.F. Mutel & J.C. Emerick (1992, Johnson Books, Boulder CO)
• Resources for Plant Id:
• Rocky Mountain Flora, by Wm. Weber (1976, Colorado Associated Univ Press) -- the Marr Lab library has many copies.
• Winter Guide to Central Rocky Mountain Shrubs, by Wm. McKean (ed.) (1976, 2nd ed., Colorado Div of Wildlife, Dept of Natural Resources).

• Analysis & Discussion
• Ribbon Forest
• Results 2008 - Ribbon Forest Structure - see plots in: xls (100k).
• Review readings in LC on Ribbon Forests (p. 89-91 ).
• Additional ref:  "Ribbon Forests and Snowglades" (pdf, 2.4M), pp. 198f. in: Knight, D. 1994. Mountains and Plains. The Ecology of Wyoming Landscapes. Yale Press.
• GoogleEarth images:  broad view, closer view w/ 50m bar (jpg's, 160k)
• Previous year's results: Spring '05 Spruce-Fir Vegetation Survey (xls, 25k)

6:00p – Group Dinner

7:30p–Evening program with Guest lecture:

Understanding High Elevation Ecosystems in an Era of Global Environmental Change– Dr. Tim Seastedt, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & INSTAAR, CU

Related links: The Landscape Continuum: Niwot Ridge LTER research summary

Resources: Tim Seastedt's Presentation (3/1/08) (ppt file, 19M)

12:00 – Lunch, at the Lodge

1:00-4:00p – 2Individual projects – Oral presentations (10 mins each + 5 mins for questions), Marr Lab Seminar Room

• Project Pesentations on-line: 2008

Course CD and website including all internal links © 2008 T. Kittel.  All rights reserved.  All copyrighted material on this CD and website is made available for limited educational use only (commerical use strictly prohibited).
rev.  15 Mar 08