Forest Ecology-- April 24, 2024

Forest Ecology: Unit 17 in your textbook (optional quiz)

Rick Travis, BPTMN class of 2018, Chapter President

Read Rick's BIO

1. Make sure that you have recorded ALL CLASSES in VMS.

2. Look through Unit 17 in your textbook. optional quiz

3. Watch this short video First Steps in Tree ID  (11:22) You will need your copy of the Tree ID brochure. If you didn't get one in class, download and print a copy: Trees of North Texas: Key to the Broadleaf Trees 

4. Take the Tree ID quiz, using your brochure as a guide.

5. Watch these videos covering "An Introduction to Our North Texas Woodlands". NOTE: these cover a great deal of information, so we recommend watching one at a time, maybe one each day.  This info will NOT be covered in class. 

Part One: Forest Ecology and the Benefits of Trees (17:53)

Part Two: Native Tree Species (about 37 minutes)

Part Three: Understory Trees (about 19 minutes)

6. Read this article on Rick's Tree Surveys: Park by Park reprinted from the Elm Fork TMN Chapter newsletter.

7. Try the interactive Tree ID guide. It is the information from the brochure converted into an interactive slide deck. It will open in Google Slides. To begin, click the SLIDESHOW button in top right corner. Then, each page will have clickable buttons to take you to the next step of the key, or to go back, or start at the beginning. (click ESCAPE to get out of the interactive deck.) Note: If you want something to use on your phone, it is recommended that you use this interactive guide rather than the brochure.

Optional Activities

Take the brochure (or the interactive Tree ID guide slide deck) outside and see if you can identify some trees!

Bring your Tree ID Brochure to class with you

Logging Hours

Make sure that you have recorded last week's attendance in VMS.

(If you missed class, contact your pod guides to schedule a make-up.)     

Opportunity: Init Training-Class 11      

Date: April 17, 2024       

Hours: 3.0 

Description: Botany, presented by Dr. George Diggs

If you are working on a presentation, log your preparation hours in VMS

      Opportunity:  BPTMN:  Community Presentations
      Date: (date of your preparation work)
      Hours:  (actual hours of preparation or presentation, to the nearest quarter hour)
      Description:  (describe what you did and its purpose) example: Preparation for presentation: "First Steps in Tree ID" to be presented on May 8 to the 2024 Class

Volunteer Service (VH) Opportunities

• Pod 5's BioBlitz at Hoblitzelle Park in Plano, April 19th, 3-6pm, see chapter calendar for details

• Pod 6's BioBlitz at OakPoint Park in Plano, April 19th, 6-8pm, see chapter calendar for details

• Caldwell Park Pollinator Garden workday, April 20th, 8-11am, see chapter calendar for details

• Pod 7's BioBlitz at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano, April 20th, 9-11am, see chapter calendar for details

• Pod 9's BioBlitz at YMCA Collin Co Adventure Camp, April 21st, 1-3pm, see chapter calendar for details

• How Trees Talk to Each Other - recorded Ted Talk

• Texas Oak Wilt Rising - 6 minute video

• The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World - book 1 of the The Mysteries of Nature Series

• BONAP - The Biota of North America Plant Atlas

• Discover Life: ID Nature Guides

• Flora of North America ID Keys for many plants

• Go Botany pictorial glossary Hands down, the most helpful guide to decoding botanical keys

• Plants of the World Online iNaturalist's authority for accepted botanical names

• SFASU Dendrology Detailed information on dozens of trees, plus many helpful resources for trees

• Virginia Tech Dendrology Another helpful tree resource

• A Field Guide to Texas Trees – book by Benny J. Simpson

• The Illustrated Book of Trees – book by William Carey Grimm

• Trees of Texas Field Guide – book by Stan Tekiela 

• Texas Trees – book by Howard Garrett

• Beneficial Trees for Wildlife: Forestry and Plant Materials Technical Note – USDA

• Texas A&M Forest Service “Trees of Texas” - website for tree ID

• Ladybird Johnson Wildlife Center Plant Database - searchable website

WEEK TWELVE CLASS UPDATE

April 18, 2024

Happy Thursday, Class of 2024!

Hi, all –

Next week’s Forest Ecology class is a lab class, so almost all of the lecture needs to be completed BEFORE class. There are four videos, so please don’t try to watch them all in one sitting! (Do be sure to watch them all before class, though.)

During class, you will be walking for over an hour, so be sure to wear appropriate shoes, long pants, bug spray, etc. We will start right at 6:00, so please try to arrive around 5:45-5:50.  

Next Wednesday, April 24,  is the final day to sign up for a Capstone project, and we still have openings! (Sign up HERE) You can even sign up with a friend, and present a two-person Ted Talk! (still 10 minutes, though!) Remember, you do earn Volunteer Service hours for your time spent preparing and presenting the project. You should record your preparation hours under Community Presentations. Be sure to record each day’s prep time separately.  (see example below)

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEATHER:  We have lots of outdoor events scheduled in the next few weeks, and our weather this time of year is notoriously unpredictable! It is possible that some of our iNaturalist Bioblitzes could have to be cancelled! If you have signed up on Sign Up Genius, you will be notified via email in case of cancellation. Sign up HERE

§ Here is the LINK   for the “Big Book,” aka Shinner's and Mahler's Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas  The book is available for free as downloadable, searchable PDFs. (The hard copy of the book is available for purchase there as well.) Dr. Diggs also shared his slide deck from last night with us (attached)

Quite a few of you have already signed up for Graduation, but if you have not, here is the LINK. Some people have asked for more details about the agenda.  We’ll be meeting at the Myers Park Event Center in McKinney, and dress is casual. We’ll start at the usual time, have dinner (pizza, sandwiches, etc.) for about an hour. Then, we’ll have a short presentation and hand out your completion “diplomas,” as well as initial certification pins and awards to those who have completed the requirements. (40 hours Volunteer Service and 8 hours Advanced Training.) We will even have some people that have “double certified!” They will have earned 80 hours of Volunteer Service and 16 hours of Advanced Training, and they’ll receive the 2024 recertification pin as well.  We’re usually finished by 8:00 or 8:30. This night is all about celebrating your accomplishments, and it is lots of fun!

Have a great week!

Lisa

HOW TO LOG YOUR PREP TIME FOR THE CAPSTONE PROJECTS (Ted Talks, outreach trunks, etc.)

Log your Volunteer Service in VMS If you are working on a presentation, log your preparation hours:

      Opportunity: BPTMN:  Community Presentations
      Date: (date of your preparation work: log each day you work on it separately)
      Hours:  (actual hours of preparation or presentation, to the nearest quarter hour)
      Description:  (describe what you did and its purpose) for example: 

Preparation for presentation: "First Steps in Tree ID" to be presented on May 10 to the 2023 Class

Lisa Travis, Training Director

Texas Master Naturalist, Blackland Prairie Chapter
education@bptmn.org
(817)832-3912