Date Visited: October 12th, 2022
Time: 5:30 Pm
Location: 49.440036, -117.530795
Descritption of Observations:
For my field project, I want to observe a walking trail right beside my house in South Slocan in the West Kootenays of British Columbia. I would like to acknowledge that this land is the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa people. Daily, I take my dog on walks on this trail so I am familiar with the area and landscape. This initial visit to the trail was at 5:30 pm. The sun was still out but starting to set by the end of my walk. There were several clouds in the sky but the sky remained mostly clear. The trail does not have a name and is not very busy as it is in a rural area and only known to locals. The forested trail is on a mountain slope with half the upper half of the loop being near a railroad track and the lower section of the loop following the Kootenay river, the whole loop is about 6km long. This river is fed by glaciers and melted snow. Also, this section of the river is near a damn used as the local water source. There is a large variety of trees in this area such as western redcedar, western hemlock, interior douglas fir, western larch, grand fir, western white pine, western yew, lodgepole pine, and ponderosa pine. There are few saplings and many trees that have fallen due to strong winds in the area. This time of year there are fungi growing on the trees and the forest floor. Walking this trail you are likely to see squirrels and many different birds. Daily, elk and deer wander through this area. Moss and lichen cover many of the rocks and trees. The forest floor is mainly dirt with some grass and leafy bushes.
Questions:
How do the trees change their dormancy transitioning from fall to winter?
What kinds of moss and lichens live in this area and how do they interact with the trees and rocks that they live on?
Is there any difference in the organisms that live on the side of the trail closest to the railroad track vs by the water? How do the different organisms living on this trail coexist together?
I have noticed the elk change the route they walk every day depending on the time of year. I am curious how their daily walking routine will change as the seasons change from fall to winter.
