KBS004: Baseline Soil Sampling s1

Scaling up – how local and regional processes impact bioenergy production

Background information

What will make our bioenergy blocks differ between districts? Each school will have the same treatments and the same seed mix to start, but we will see dramatic differences in the data each district collects. From a landscape perspective this session will help us determine what causes these differences. Using small scale (local) and large scale (regional) techniques we will characterize surrounding vegetation types and land use around plots to examine what factors are important. Why do some blocks have higher biomass than others? Do we see different invading plants depending on surrounding land use? We will show you how to investigate these questions in your own blocks and across districts!

Timeline/Frequency

This protocol should be completed once a year.

Materials

Large Scale  Map of your district plot (provided)  Grid paper with 100 cells (provided)  Datasheet and protocol (provided)  8 dry erase markers of different colors  Ruler  Calculator

Small Scale  Datasheet and protocol (provided)  GPS unit that can measure latitude, longitude, and elevation  50 m tape measure  1.5m x 1.5m quadrat  Clipboard

Supplemental Documents

 Key to identify the land use categories on a satellite image  Satellite images of all other school districts and KBS  Instructions on how to use a GPS to collect landscape variables

BEST Experiment Updated May 6, 2011 Landscape Protocol pg.1 Definitions

 Elevation - A location’s height above sea level. Mountains have a high elevation; ocean beaches have a low elevation.  Land Cover - Physical material at the surface of the earth. Land covers include grass, asphalt, trees, bare ground, water, etc. There are two primary methods for capturing information on land cover: field survey and analysis of remotely sensed imagery.  Latitude - A measurement used to identify how far north or south a location is from the equator.  Landscape - Visible features of an area of land, including landforms; water bodies; vegetation; human land use; and buildings.  Longitude - A measurement used to identify where a location is on the Earth’s east-west axis.  GPS - stands for Global Positioning System. GPS uses satellites in space to provide accurate locations (latitude and longitudes) and times.  Remote Sensing - Uses devices (satellites, aerial photography) to collect data on a location without physically being on the land. You will be doing this using satellite imagery of your school.  Slope - How the land changes in elevation over distance.  Transect - A path along which one records data  Waypoint - A reference point in physical space used for navigation (latitudes and longitudes)  Quadrat - An enclosed shape (hula hoop) that allows ecologists to sample portions of the land by identifying what lies within the shape. Often used to sample vegetation or insects.

Instructions

Land Use Categories

1. Farm- annual and perennial crops, harvested red 2. Residential- mowed lawns, landscaped, housing developments green 3. Pavement- walkway, parking lot, road black 4. Building- man-made structure purple 5. Soil- bare ground, gravel, sand, wood chips brown 6. Prairie- Field, land used for grazing, not mowed or landscaped orange 7. Woods- Trees (deciduous and conifer), not landscaped pink 8. Water- River, lake, wetland, marsh, estuary, ponds, pools blue

Large Scale Methods

1. Using the map and grid paper provided, measure percent land cover of the land use categories surrounding the plots at your school. Each map is 1000 m X1000 m. Review the Key to land use categories and examples (supplemental documents) before starting. a. Place transparent grid paper over map, lining up edges. b. For each grid cell, classify which land use category it falls into. Use the KEY TO LAND USE CATEGORIES to help you identify each cell. If the cell only contains one category, list that one. If more than one category falls within a cell, choose the most dominant category. c. Color each land use category in the grid with a dry erase marker. d. Calculate the percent land cover based on number of cells that fall into each category 2. Using the map and a ruler, measure the distance from the center of the bioenergy block to the closest edge of each land use type. 3. When each group is done filling out their worksheets, compile all the class’s data and AVERAGE land use category percents obtained from all groups. Also average distances to the closest land use type from all groups in the class. These averages will be more representative of true landscape variable estimates than values from a single group. 4. If you have more than one class completing this exercise, average all your classes data to submit to the GK-12 website master datasheet (to be established).

BEST Experiment Updated May 6, 2011 Landscape Protocol pg.2 Small Scale Methods:

Characterizing Land Use 1. A team of twelve people should assess each Block. You should have 4 recorders, 4 students in charge of the tape and GPS, and 4 data collectors. 2. The data collectors should start at the central point of each edge of the block (so if the block is 12 m long, then the data collectors will stand 6 m from either corner (see image below). 3. The students in charge of the tape and GPS should take a waypoint at the center of each edge (see image) to collect latitude, longitude, and altitude. Refer to GPS instructions in the supplemental documents if necessary. 4. Have the data collectors hold one end of the meter tape and the students in charge of the meter tapes walk the meter tape out perpendicular from the plot. Place the other end of the meter tape on the ground-100 meters from the block. 5. The students in charge of the tape and = where to take a waypoint GPS should take a waypoint at the end of the tape to collect latitude, longitude, and altitude (see image). 6. The data collectors and recorders should then walk along the tape, until they reach 10 m. At 10m, center the hula hoop on the ground around the tape. Estimate the dominant land use category that is within the hula hoop. The potential types of land use categories are described above. 7. The data collectors and recorders should then walk another 10 m on the tape, stopping at the 20 m mark. Repeat step 6. 8. Repeat Step 6 at 30m, 40m, and 50m. If a 50m transect brings you outside the school grounds or onto property where you cannot go, then make a note of that, and use your best judgment to estimate (if possible) what kind of land use characterizes the various locations all the way up to 50m. If you cannot estimate, then make a note of that. 9. Count up the number of locations in each land use category, and divide by the total number of locations (which will be 24 if you were able to go 50 m in all four cardinal directions). This will give the percent cover for each land use category. For example, if sixteen of the sampled locations are mostly covered by pavement, woods cover six locations, and residential covers 2, then you will report that land cover at this scale is 40% hard surface and 50% woods.

Pavement 16 16/24*100=67% Woods 6 6/24 *100=25% Residential 2 2/24 *100=8% Total 24 Total= 100%

Characterizing Elevation and Slope: 1. After all the land use has been categorized along the tapes, the students in charge of the GPS and meter tapes should share the latitude, longitude, and altitude with the data recorder for both the starting waypoint and the waypoint at the 50 m (or furthest that you could get) point. 2. Divide the change in elevation by the distance that your waypoint was from the edge of the plot (ideally 50 m). This will be the slope of the land immediately around your plot in that direction.

Altitude at starting point (by bioenergy plots) 821 m

BEST Experiment Updated May 6, 2011 Landscape Protocol pg.3 Altitude at 100 m distance from starting point 833 m Change in altitude -12 m Slope -12 m/50 m= -0.24

BEST Experiment Updated May 6, 2011 Landscape Protocol pg.4