LIFE in the FOREST: 6-8 Get to Know Oregon’S Forest Wildlife Instruction Guide

Grades LIFE IN THE FOREST: 6-8 Get to know Oregon’s forest wildlife Instruction Guide

Analyzing the evidence: CASE STUDY: JUMPING FROGS Which frog species had the longest jump? HOW DO WE KNOW Is there a relationship What biologists wondered: between how far a frog can jump and the distance it travels Which had the shortest jump? about forest animals? within its habitat? WHAT WE KNOW For three Oregon frog species, Have you ever wondered why an animal acts the way it does? Maybe How they studied it: researchers measured the jumping ability in controlled Which frog species traveled the farthest? you’ve wondered how squirrels can climb trees so easily. Or how high laboratory conditions, and their movement behavior in the frogs can jump. Or how hummingbirds fly so fast. forest. They followed the movements of individual frogs using fluorescent powder that glows under black lights. If you’re asking these kinds of questions, you’re thinking LIFE IN DID YOU KNOW? Which traveled the shortest distance? What they found: Biologists are scientists who study like a scientist. Every day, scientists ask questions all forms of life. Wildlife biologists sh about the world around us. Then they try to figure focus on the insects, animals and f out the answers. Thanks to their work, we know that live in the wild. There are many WESTERN TOAD What does the evidence tell us about frogs?

that squirrels have super-flexible ankles that 10 )

(m PACIFIC TREE FROG

different kinds of wildlife biologists. help them climb trees. We also know just how 9 Here are some examples: CASCADES FROG THE FOREST

far certain kinds of frogs can jump, and that 8 ELED

7 hummingbirds can spin their wings to gain AV Aquatic biologists speed as they fly. 6

study animals that live in water. TR 5

CE SCIENTISTS WHO STUDY WILD 4

Animal ecologists AN ANIMALS ARE CALLED WILDLIFE 3

study animals and their environments. They record details they observe ST BIOLOGISTS. 2

about each animal they study, to answer questions DI L Entomologists 1 Get to know

about its behavior. This could include what it eats, TA study insects. 0 ED (cm) where it lives and how far it travels. TO JUMP Oregon’s 5 5 ST AN 5CE EST DI Ichthyologists The work of wildlife biologists helps us better LONG sh. forest wildlife study f understand forest animals. It can also help us The horizontal lines show the range improve the places they live, identify and protect Mammologists animals at risk of going extinct, and avoid conflicts of how far about 60 frogs of each species jumped in the lab. The 5 study mammals. vertical lines show how far those same frogs traveled in the forest. between wildlife and humans. Ornithologists study birds.

When most people think of forests, they visualize trees. But a forest wouldn’t be a forest without wildlife. Forest wildlife are essential Through these activities, components of the nutrient, energy and water cycles that fuel the students will practice forest ecosystem. They also contribute to the rich biodiversity that analyzing data and drawing enables forests to thrive. By monitoring wildlife and promoting wildlife conclusions from evidence habitat, forest managers can ensure the health of Oregon’s forests, – skills that are key to now and into the future. meeting Oregon’s science education standards. They This guide is designed to help middle school teachers use Life in the will also gain an appreciation Forest: Get to know Oregon’s forest wildlife with students to investigate for how scientists know the wildlife inhabiting our state’s forests. Using actual data collected by what they know about researchers, students will explore how scientists learn about Oregon’s Oregon’s forest wildlife. forest wildlife and how they monitor their health, populations, range and distribution.

This guide suggests student activities for examining and analyzing data on Oregon’s forest wildlife, using accompanying resources available online. In addition, the student book includes case studies, with “Analyzing the evidence” student activities that students may do on their own or as assigned by the teacher. BACKGROUND No matter where you live in Oregon, you Activity – eDNA sequencing depend on forests to survive. Oregon’s In this activity, students use eDNA to assess whether an invasive fish forests obviously provide wood and wood species, the Japanese weatherfish, is present in an Oregon stream. products, but they also supply clean water Through a publicly available online tool called BLAST (Basic Local and air, provide food, prevent soil erosion and help mitigate climate change. Thriving Alignment Search Tool) that scientists actually use, students compare forests are not just good for people; nucleotide sequences to a database of known sequences and identify they’re also good for wildlife. Healthy which species they are likely from. forest habitats contain the food, water, protection, nesting sites and migratory Wildlife biologists use genetic information known as environmental corridors a wide array of wildlife need to DNA (eDNA) to detect the presence of organisms in the field, survive. without ever seeing or handling them. All living animals leave traces Oregon’s forests support hundreds of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences in their environment; this of wildlife species that are part of a may come from feces, urine, sloughed skin or reproductive cells, or complex web of life. For example, tiny insects pollinate the flowers of trees and from the decomposition of dead organisms. To use eDNA, researchers other plants; birds and elk disperse the collect water, air or soil samples; separate out the eDNA; and compare flowers’ seeds; and slugs break down the the eDNA sequences to a database of known nucleotide sequences. dead leaves and plant material. This rich This method allows them to detect which species are present, and to biodiversity ensures a healthy, functioning and sustainable forest ecosystem. determine the distribution of species over large geographic areas.

For forest managers in Oregon, the Materials: Copies of the “Monitoring a forest stream” student page (on presence of wildlife is an important back page), Find Your Path: Fish Biologist video (optional) at youtube. indicator of forest health. Forest managers com/user/oregonforests, and online access to the “Assessing eDNA might enhance wildlife habitat by creating snags (standing dead trees) and down sequences” student instructions are available at bit.ly/LITFguide logs, installing nest boxes or planting pollinator-supporting hedgerows. To make Procedure: informed decisions about wildlife, they rely on monitoring data that tells them what 1. (Optional) Share Find Your Path: Fish Biologist with students. In this species are present and how an action 2.5-minute video, an Oregon fish biologist describes her job. may impact those populations. 2. Present the scenario that students are wildlife biologists charged with Since forest wildlife tend to be elusive, monitoring Oregon streams. Their task is to use eDNA to determine researchers use a variety of high- and whether an invasive species, the Japanese weatherfish, is present in a low-tech methods to monitor and study stream in the central Coast Range. them. For example, the researchers use computers to analyze audio recordings, 3. Give students copies of the “Monitoring a forest stream” set up motion-sensing cameras to take pictures, attach radio collars to animals to student page. Help them link to the “Assessing eDNA map their movements, and train dogs to sequences” student instructions and walk them sniff out the feces of particular species. through how to use the BLAST database. In the eDNA sequencing activity (right), students learn how wildlife biologists use 4. Direct students to compare their BLAST environmental DNA (eDNA) to determine results to the possible different species the presence of wildlife species. shown on the “Monitoring a forest stream” student page. 5. Discuss: What conclusions can you draw from your findings? More activity suggestions The following activities will deepen your exploration of Oregon’s wildlife. The first three use actual data sets collected by wildlife biologists. Questions for • Mapping mammals. Direct • Analyzing aquatic species. discussion students to map locations Invite students to analyze data where fishers, gray foxes and that fish biologists collected on After students read all or portions ringtails were detected, using fish and other aquatic forest of Life in the? Forest: Get to know real coordinate data collected wildlife in different locations of Oregon’s forest wildlife, lead a by wildlife biologists and Fall Creek. For their analysis, discussion on the value of learning summarized on page 8 of Life students might create pivot about Oregon’s forest wildlife: in the Forest. (Note that the tables using the built-in pivot spreadsheet data were collected table tool found in many What different across the border in northern spreadsheet programs. Pivot techniques do wildlife California but represent tables allow users to quickly biologists use to study similar mammal populations in and easily summarize selected wildlife? Oregon.) Students can input the columns or rows of a data table. data into Google Earth or other Students might use a pivot table mapping programs to locate the to compare the aquatic wildlife What questions do you monitoring sites and identify data by species, location, have about Oregon’s where the mammals were abundance or size. Access the forest wildlife? How detected. Challenge students data at bit.ly/LITFguide. might you go about to see what patterns or other • Exploring careers. Show answering them? conclusions emerge when they compare detections by year or students the two-minute (Encourage students to be video Find Your Path: Wildlife creative.) by species. Access the data at bit.ly/LITFguide. Biologist, describing the work of a wildlife biologist, and then What challenges do • Monitoring nesting in snags. introduce them to other forest Oregon’s forest wildlife Encourage students to graph career ideas using Oregon face? bird-nesting data collected Forest Resources Institute’s by wildlife biologists from Find Your Path publication (see What can we do to created snags (dead upright Resources). trees) in logged forest areas. ensure forest wildlife Researchers were interested in • Researching forest wildlife. continue to thrive? whether birds nest in created Challenge students to research snags to successfully produce and write about a wildlife fledglings. The graphs on species that lives in Oregon’s pages 16-17 of Life in the forests. To start, have them look Forest: Get to know Oregon’s at Wildlife of Oregon’s Forests forest wildlife show summaries and the Oregon Zoo’s Animal of the data. Students can Fact Sheets (see Resources). analyze the biologists’ data, • Viewing wildlife. Give students which looked at four different opportunities to see forest species over three years, and wildlife in your area, including count the number of successful black-tailed and mule deer, bald and failed nests. Access the eagles, Rocky Mountain and data at bit.ly/LITFguide. Roosevelt elk, and more. For ANSWER KEY TO CASE STUDY ANALYSIS The following are possible responses to the “Analyzing the evidence” case studies in Life in the Forest: Get to know Oregon’s forest wildlife.

Case study: Jumping frogs Case study: Detecting fishers 1. Longest jump: Pacific tree frog 1. Differences: The fisher range has 2. Shortest jump: Western toad significantly diminished. They used to live all over western Oregon 3. Farthest distance: Pacific tree frog and in northeastern Oregon, but 4. Shortest distance: Cascades frog currently only live in pockets of southwestern Oregon. 5. Tells us: Different frog species travel different distances in the forest. The 2. Tells us: One or more factors are distance they travel is related to how reducing the fisher range in Oregon. far they can jump. 3. Possibilities: Competition from other species, lack of food, changing Case study: Wolf tracking forests, human disturbance, climate best success, use the Wildlife 1. OR-7 traveled from northeastern change or other factors. Viewing Map and the weekly Oregon through central Oregon, to Recreation Report from the northern California and back into Case study: Created snags Oregon Department of Fish and southern Oregon, about 1,000 1. Most nests: Chestnut-backed Wildlife (see Resources) to find miles. chickadee. It had at least twice as good locations for viewing. 2. Tells us: Wolves require a vast range many nests as the other species. (to find food and mates). 2. Differences: Chestnut-backed • Creating a wildlife habitat. chickadees, house wrens and Involve students in creating Case study: Bees and fire northern flickers had their highest or restoring wildlife habitat on 1. Heavily burned areas had more number of nests in 2009. Purple school grounds or other sites. bees. martins had few nests every year, with their most in 2008. The National Wildlife Federation 2. The more intense a forest fire, the provides information on how more flowering plants can grow, 3. Tells us: Chestnut-backed to attract wildlife, and steps to attracting more bee species. chickadees and house wrens can quite successfully nest in human- 3. Tells us: Fire is beneficial for bees, certify an outdoor space as a made snags. Northern flickers and because it provides them with more wildlife habitat (see Resources). purple martins also nest there, but food sources. do so less frequently. • Contributing to community science. Engage your students in a participatory science project that helps researchers collect data about wildlife in Oregon. ANSWER KEY TO “MONITORING A FOREST STREAM” Possibilities include: STUDENT PAGE • Acipenser transmontanus (white sturgeon) – 7 o Audubon Christmas Bird Count, www.audubon.org/conservation/ • Cottus asper (sculpin) – 1 science/christmas-bird-count • Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Japanese weatherfish) – none found o Bumblebee Watch, www. • Dicamptodon tenebrosus (coastal giant salamander) – 9 bumblebeewatch.org • Lampetra sp. (lamprey) – 3 o Butterflies and Moths of North America, www.butterfliesandmoths.org • Nitzschia sp. (diatom) – 5 o Great Sunflower Project, • Oncorhynchus clarkii (cutthroat trout) – 2 www.greatsunflower.org • Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Chinook salmon) – 4 (*Note that only the top hit o Project FeederWatch, feederwatch.org gets tshawytscha specifically) o Western Monarch Milkweed Watcher, • Pacifastacus leniusculus (signal crayfish) – 8 www.monarchmilkweedmapper.org/ • Phytopthera sp. (oomycete) – 6 citizenscience RESOURCES OREGON FOREST LITERACY PLAN CONCEPTS Oregon Forest Resources Institute, LearnForests.org • Theme 2, B.2. Forests provide habitat for • Wildlife of Oregon’s Forests. Online guide to common species found in Oregon’s fish and wildlife. forest habitats. oregonforests.org/content/wildlife-variety. • Theme 3, B.5. As human populations • Find Your Path. Student publication and more than 20 two-minute online videos and global demand for forest resources exploring different forest careers, includingFind Your Path: Wildlife Biologist and increase, forest management and advances Find Your Path: Fish Biologist. youtube.com/user/oregonforests. in research and technological systems can help ensure forest resources are maintained • Forest Fact Breaks. A series of 90-second videos that introduce key forest or improved to produce the desired values concepts, including “Forest Fact Break: Wildlife” and “Forest Fact Break: and products. Ecosystems.” youtube.com/user/oregonforests. EDUCATION STANDARDS Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, www.dfw.state.or.us CONNECTIONS • Wildlife Viewing Map. Interactive map showing where and when you can see NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE Oregon’s fish and wildlife. myodfw.com/articles/oregon-wildlife-viewing-map. STANDARDS • Recreation Report. Weekly update on best places for wildlife viewing and other • MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation recreation opportunities in different regions of Oregon.myodfw.com/recreation- based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of report. organisms. (Grade 6) Oregon Zoo, www.oregonzoo.org • MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource • Animal Fact Sheets. Profiles of many animals at the zoo, including Oregon availability on organisms and populations of forest species such as bobcat, rainbow trout and red-tailed hawk, with facts organisms in an ecosystem. (Grade 7) about animal behavior, life history and conservation. www.oregonzoo.org/ • MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument discover/animals. supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological • Endangered Species and Conservation. Information about the zoo’s conservation components of an ecosystem affect projects in the Pacific Northwest.www.oregonzoo.org/conserve/fighting- populations. (Grade 7) extinction-pacific-northwest. • MS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic National Wildlife Federation (NWF), www.nwf.org variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving • Attracting Wildlife. Suggestions for encouraging wildlife to visit gardens. and reproducing in a specific environment. www.nwf.org/Home/Garden-for-Wildlife/Wildlife. (Grade 8)

• National Wildlife Federation – Oregon. Information on the NWF Oregon Education COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS – Coordinator’s activities. www.facebook.com/NWFOregon. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS • Schoolyard Habitats. Resources for creating wildlife habitats at school. • WHST.6-8.9. Draw evidence from www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create/Schoolyards. informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. • Other Educator Tools. www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Educator-Tools. COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS – MATHEMATICS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • 6.SP.2. Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has The Oregon Forest Resources Institute is grateful to the following researchers, who generously a distribution which can be described by its shared their data so students can learn about Oregon’s forest wildlife: Evan Bredeweg, Oregon center, spread, and overall shape. State University; David Green, Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University; Matt Hane, Weyerhaeuser; Jessica Homyack, Weyerhaeuser; Lucas Longway, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; • 6.SP.5. Summarize numerical data sets in Brooke Penaluna, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Jim Rivers, Oregon State University. relation to their context. • 7.SP.1. Understand that statistics can be CURRICULUM WRITER used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the population. Leslie Comnes, Writing for Education

ABOUT THE OREGON FOREST RESOURCES INSTITUTE The Oregon Legislature created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) in 1991 to advance public understanding of how forest stewardship meets the social, environmental and economic needs of both present and future generations. OFRI works closely with the scientific, academic and educational communities at Oregon State University, the Oregon Department of Forestry and other agencies to ensure its K-12 resources are accurate and objective.

Species Matching eDNA Image * Monitoring a Latin name / Common Name sequence (1-9) † forest stream Acipenser transmontanus You are a wildlife biologist who monitors forest streams for white sturgeon invasive species such as the Japanese weatherfish. This small fish is originally from Asia, where Cottus asper it is relatively harmless. In Oregon, however, it eats native species, carries diseases and competes with young sculpin trout and salmon for habitat and food. It has been seen in some Oregon Misgurnus anguillicaudatus forest streams.

You want to learn whether this Japanese weatherfish invasive species is present in Trout Creek. To find out, you use Dicamptodon tenebrosus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which carries genetic code. You filter five liters of water from the creek, coastal giant salamander collecting strands of environmental DNA (eDNA) that comes from the feces, urine, dead skin or eggs of Lampetra sp. living animals, or from decaying dead ones. Back in the laboratory you use lamprey a sequencing machine to identify the eDNA sequences contained in your Nitzschia sp. sample. (various species) You then compare the eDNA sequences to a database of known diatom sequences, called the BLAST database. By doing this, you can identify the Oncorhynchus clarkii species present in Trout Creek.

To complete your task, use the cutthroat trout data and BLAST link found on the “Assessing eDNA sequences” student Oncorhynchus tshawytscha instructions at bit.ly/LITFguide. Record the sequence number on the right for any species matches you find. Chinook salmon Explain your findings: Pacifastacus leniusculus

signal crayfish

Phytopthera sp. (various species)

oomycete

* Images are not to scale. Diatoms and oomycetes are microscopic organisms. † from “Assessing eDNA sequences” student instructions.