Winter Ecology - Spring 2009

WEEKLY  SCHEDULES  AND  READINGS
WEEK 1 | WEEK2 | WEEK 3: Sat 2/21, Sun 2/22, Draft Reports Guidelines | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5 | RETURN TO SYLLABUS
(Schedules etc. subject to modification)


Week III
Updated -
25 Feb 09: Lake Results updated

Note: Individual projects draft written reports due this Sunday 2/22 (Draft Reports Guidelines)
 
 
 "special note re gear for this weekend"
Friday, 2/20/09

Hi all

Saturday Plan change - We'll be sampling Lily Lake, as Gold Lake ice is looking iffy.

While forecast looks good,  our exposure will be high out on the Lake.  Saturday forecast for Lily Lake: Sunny, with a high near 39. Wind chill values as low as -2. West wind between 9 and 16 mph. 

So, please be sure to bring gear for staying warm during our lake field exercise.   Insulated boots if you have them, and good layers including wind pants & wind-proof jacket will be a good idea.

See you tomorrow,
Tim 
 

Saturday – 21 Feb 09
FORECAST

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

9:00-10:00a – Lecture: Aquatic Systems in Winter – Winter stream ecology · Winter limnology · Seasonal dynamics in inputs (snowmelt), nutrients, and light · Snow biology 10:00a-3:30p – Field: Winter Limnology of Gold Lake – Guest field instructor: Dr. Sarah Spaulding, US Geological Survey, Denver and INSTAAR, CU
 
FIELD -
Bring: 
  • Field Journal
  • pack lunch
  • If you have: 
    • Sorels (or equivalent insulated boots)
    • Hand lens
    • "Yak Trax" (for boots' grip on ice)
Handouts:
Links: Lake sampling equipment
Other Resources:
Related pages: 

3:30a-5:00p – Lab: Winter Limnology - Analysis & Discussion

5:00p– Group Dinner Prep
6:00p – Group Dinner

7:30p–Evening program with Guest lecture: (theme: Ecology of Other Cold Biomes):

Stream Ecosystems of the McMurdo Dry Valleys:  Surviving the dry years and the big floods – Diane McKnight, INSTAAR, CU



Sunday – 22 Feb 09
FORECAST
 
8:30a – Weather briefing · Review Saturday's activities

9:00a – Lecture: Vertebrate Winter Ecology: I – Mammals & Herptiles – Winter adaptations (morphological, physiological, behavioral)
      Invertebrate Winter Ecology – Winter activities of forest ‘pests’ and other terrestrial invertebrates.
 
Readings:
  • LC Chapter 4: p93-125 (on mammals & birds; also assigned for Winter Ornithology - review text on mammals)
  • More re mammals?:LC Chapter 7:  p185-212 (=sections on northern cervids & semiaquatic mammals)
  • More - on Plant-Animal Interactions?:LC Chapter 6
  • A different treatment is in WEH: Chapter 3: p65-162
Insects and Herptiles –
  • LC Chapter 4: p125-141 (section on 'cold-blooded animals', including insects and herptiles)
  • A different treatment is in WEH: Chapter 3: p177-182 (section on insects)
  • Snow arthropods:  The Beacon 10(3):7 Spring 2006 (CAIC) (pdf, 330k)
Other Resources:
  • No Room at the Top, by Paul Tolmé. National Wildlife, 44(1): 22-30 (Dec-Jan 2006) -  High mountain species and global warming. Online article <from: http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=79&articleID=1147>  (Print article: pdf, 8M)
  • Song of the Alpine:  The Rocky Mountain Tundra Through the Seasons, by Joyce Gellhorn (2002, Johnson Books, Boulder).  Chapters 7, 10, 12 provide an description of animal responses to winter.  - also listed for Winter Ornithology
  • Human physiological response - Surviving cold shock... [http://www.exn.ca/video/?Video=exn20020325-icewater.asx] -link dead (3/09)
    		•

    		click image to read comic:

    source: http://www.comics.com/comics/monty/archive/monty-20080106.html
    10:00a-12:30p –  Field: Winter activities of montane forest mammals: Tracking sign – Guest field instructor: Derek Sweeney.

    FIELD –
    Bring: 
    • Field Journal
    • topo map
    • snacks
    • If you have: 
      • Binoculars
      • Field guide to animal tracks and/or to mammals
    Handouts:
    Related Links:
    Resources:
    • A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald Stokes (1976; Little, Brown & Co.)
    • Field Guide to Tracking Animals in the Snow, by Louise Forrest (1988, Stackpole Books)
    • Scats and Tracks of the Rocky Mountains, by James Halfpenny (2001, 2nd ed., A Falcon Guide)
    • Mammal Tracks and Sign.  A Guide to North American Species, by Mark Elbroach (2002, Stackpole Books)
    • A Field Guide to Animal Tracks, by Olaus Murie (1954, Peterson Field Guides, Houghton Mifflin, Boston).  A classic - in this guide to animal sign, Murie includes personal essays on North American mammals.

     

    12:30 – Lunch, at the Lodge

    1:00-5:00p – Lab: Mammals of Front Range montane forest and alpine tundra: Winter adaptations – Guest field instructor: Derek Sweeney

    5:00p
    RETURN TO SYLLABUS, WEEK 3

    Course CD and website including all internal links © 2009 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.  1 March 09