Exploring the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
Student Handout #1: Virtual Tour & Introduction Questions.
Student Name(s) ______________________________ Date _________________________
Use the back of the page if you need more room to answer questions.
1) How big is a hectare, in acres? How big is the HBEF, in hectares? 2.5 acres. Page 1; 3,160
hectares, Page 1.
2) Define the term “evapotranspiration.” The loss of water from a given area during a specified time by evaporation from the soil surface and by transpiration from plants. Glossary and the Page 4A-Answer (get to this page by going to Page 4, clicking on the “to learn more” link at the bottom, and then finding the link to the answer for the precipitation graph at the bottom of page 4A).
3) Give a reason for why there is less calcium, an element that is used by plants, in the forest soil at the HBEF now, compared to fifty years ago. Acid precipitation has leached much of this calcium out of the soil. Page 9D.
4) Define “biogeochemistry.” Explain. The study of the
relationship between the geochemistry of a region and the animal and plant life
in that region. Glossary, throughout tour.
5) How many marked watersheds are there in the HBEF? How many have weirs? There are 10 marked watersheds in the HBEF, and 9 of them have weirs. Page 8.
6) Describe one of the watershed experiments and some of the results from that experiment. There have been 4 watershed experiments. See Page 9 for details.
7) On the back, describe one of the shorter-term research
experiments that has been conducted at the HBEF. See Page 15 for details.