USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences

Today was our second day of soil collection, and this time Lisa left us to our own devices. Our collection area today was the Two Harbors 2011 fire burn area and along Deer Valley Trail.

We started the day by gathering all of our sampling materials (spades, Ziploc bags, and transect tapes) and adding them into the “Bucket o’ Science” as Lisa lovingly calls it. We hopped in the van and drove back over to Two Harbors. I had scouted out some sampling areas the day before on my jog and proposed some ideas to the group. We decided to sample and transect an area that had burnt to a crisp, and an area in the same habitat that had not burned.

We set off up the hillside until we found a spot that was suitable, then set up the transect.

We attempted to identify some associated species of the area but it was extremely difficult. First of all, the only thing thriving in the area was invasive yellow mustard, which we had never formally identified. Secondly, all the plants that remained from the fire were grasses and were extremely difficult to identify. Instead of trying to guess each different grass, we decided to take a picture and take a sample to one of our experts and identify it later. It was a tough transect to complete and there was definitely a lot of discussion over each plant and each point.

As we were laying down the tape, we had a visitor join us. It was Wilson, Two Harbors’ resident bison! We were a bit scared as he walked toward us, but it turned out he just wanted to scratch his face against a bush nearby us. There are always so many neat animal encounters in the field, you never know what is going to pop out next!

Our next transect proved a bit easier, after a slightly treacherous hike to the sampling site. We wanted an area to contrast our burned site, so we looked for an unburned area. We climbed further up the ridge through a drainage, sort of following the road but mostly creating our own trail. Dan led the way and we found a great spot amidst some scrub oak. We completed the second transect, and took another soil sample. I really wanted another sample from the same aspect and elevation within the burn area (to have a direct comparison between burned and non-burned) so the group humored me and we hike across the hillside to the burned area to take a soil sample.

After lunch, Dan, Miller, and Alex went up to our trail in Deer Valley to complete another transect and take a soil sample.

Once the data collection was completed, Lisa showed us how to sift the soil in the bag using a two micron sifter. Sifting the soil is going to take a while since there are a lot of sticky clay minerals in this island’s soil. Even though it will be alot of work, I am excited to see how all of our samples turn out in the lab. Overall, it’s been a great experience working in the field.

For more photos see Soil Collection and Transects Part II