Exploring the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

Student Handout #5: Virtual Tour & Introduction Questions.

 

Student Name(s) ______________________________                        Date  _________________________

 

Use the back of the page if you need more room to answer questions.

 

1) What can you tell from the snowpack graph on Page 11A? Is early February snowpack variable in the HBEF, or is it the same every year? It is variable. Page 11A.

 

 

 

2) What is the best way to describe the overall ecosystem type found at the HBEF? Explain. Northern Hardwood Forest. Page 3.

 

 

 

3) According to the graph on Page 4A, in April how much does it rain on average in Watershed 3? 10 cm. Page 4A

 

 

4) Describe the type of bedrock commonly found throughout the HBEF. The granitic bedrock of the HB valley is dominated by metamorphic rock of igneous and sedimentary origin. Page 4A.

 

 

 

5) How old are the majority of mature trees in the HBEF?  Why are they that old? As a result of the logging in the early 1900s and the 1938 hurricane, much of the forest today is approximately 80 years old with some patches of younger trees and other patches of older trees. Page 5.

 

 

 

 

6) Why is there less calcium in the forest soil at the HBEF now than there was 50 years ago? Acid precipitation has washed much of this calcium out of the soil. Page 9 and 9D.

 

 

 

 

7) Describe two ways that Cone Pond and Mirror Lake are different from each other. The Cone Pond watershed has not been logged, while the area around Mirror Lake and the HBEF has.  Cone Pond is very acidic, and with its pH of ~ 4.6, it is about 100 times more acidic that Mirror Lake (pH of ~ 6.3 - 6.8). Page 14 and 14A.