OU Vegetation & Soils Days 2-4

Well the best intentions of blogging each day went completely out of the window ... the residential course was excellent but very full on, with evening sessions not finishing until 9pm at night, and then more studying or discussions required before the next day.

On the first day, we carried out a practical exercise on an upland area about half an hours drive from the field centre.  The weather was overcast with low cloud and it was bitterly cold - I had to break out my emergency fleece before we even started!

We carried out vegetation surveys in two quadrats in distinctly difference areas - one grass and one heather. We also looked at soil properties - taking some samples back to the lab for later analysis - as well as looking at other environmental factors such as the oreintation of the slope, and the angle of the slope (measured using a gun clinometer).

We returned to the field centre after lunch and carried out some experiments on the soil to test for pH, phosphorus content, loss on ignition and soil density. Each of the groups pooled their results for the vegetation survey to come up with the requisite five replicates needed for frequency, so that we could work out the NVC classification for each area.  In the evening session, we spent some time looking at NVC types and the MATCH software.

All of this was in preparation for our group project. The following day, we were taken to a different area - Stapeley Hill - and each group was allocated an area comprising two different vegetation types. We had to carry out an initial assessment, devise a hypothesis, and then gather sufficient data to test the hypothesis when back at the lab.

Our group had an area of grass and one of bracken, and on the basis of Ellenberg indicator scores our hypothesis was that the soil beneath the bracken area was higher in nutrients than the grass area. We carried out a detailed vegetation survey in five quadrats in each stand, and took ten soil samples from each area.

Although the tutors were on hand to provide support, we were pretty much left on our own to plan the project, carry it out, do follow up work in the lab, and then come up with a conclusion.

Once back at the field centre, we set about testing our soil samples for phosphorus content. This took most of the evening to do. After mixing the soil with distilled water to form a slurry, this was drained into a conical flask then measured into vials. A reagent was added, and the phosphorus content was measured using a colorimeter.

Unfortunately the results were completely opposite to our hypothesis!  That evening, we also collated the data from the vegetation surveys to work out the frequency and maximum abundance for each stand.

The next morning was mainly spent doing follow up work and researching our findings. After keying each plant species into the MATCH software, we researched the NVC classifications and concluded that the bracken was actually having a deletrious effect on the soil nutrient levels, as nutrients are being held in the dead vegetation on the soil surface and this takes a long time to break down and be returned to the soil.

After lunch we gave a brief presentation on our findings, and once home we had to write up the project for our assignment.

I found the residential school very interesting and applicable to what I want to be doing in my future career, and was fortunate to be working with a good group of students.