I have identified a few species that are readily visible along the hiking trail and in the local vicinity of the stream that transects the watershed. I hope to find specimens to photograph for submission in later assignments of each of these and a few more.
The watershed “benefits” from two distinct portions one that has been undisturbed from development and another section that has had considerable development and disturbance. This disturbance has come from both nature by way of a Derecho in late summer 2020 and continued human disturbance via road construction and bank disturbance.
Cold Stream’s “headwaters” begin humble enough on the border of Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha, Iowa. The pathway is interesting in that the stream passes through a residential neighborhood, light industrial/retail area, it follows a bike and walking trail for most of its length, transecting a small urban park until reaching a heavy industrial area and finally entering the Cedar River just north of Downtown Cedar Rapids. During its 3.61 miles path it crosses under I-380 twice and drops on elevation some 31 meters, from its headwaters @ 251m above sea level to 220m at its mouth when it enters the Cedar River.
The watershed has a much smaller drainage on its west side as small hills prevent drainage to flow east into the stream, while the east boundary is much more extensive providing stormwater drainage from residential, retail, roadway and light commercial businesses and parking areas. The east boundary is also marked by another throughfare which drains east towards Indian creek which traverses portion so N.E. and S.E. Cedar Rapids.
During much of its length it is protected by a narrow riparian strip on both sides which does assist in reducing bank erosion during intense rain events. Its course is rather straight with very few bends which also assists in allowing normal flow to return quickly following heavy rains. Stream obstructions such as boulders and fallen trees create pools for the trout to remain during these brief rain events. The mapped drainage is estimated at 2.15 square miles and has a circumference of 9.22 miles, again most of the land drainage is found east of the stream itself.
Brayton Forest and Wildlife Management Area is a joint management are between the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State University and Iowa State University Extension Service. It is first an foremost a natural resource research property however it also provides public access to a dense upland woodland with mature black walnut, oak and hickory trees which are also home to whitetail deer and wild turkey.
I have added a taxonomic refresher with an example from a dominant species found in Brayton Forest – the Eastern Black Walnut tree. Not only is the black walnut dominant in the canopy and within the forest itself but it is also dominant in its value as a lumber species and nut producer.
Below I have provided a short presentation on the various native tree species of Brayton Memorial Forest. This presentation includes a brief history and purpose of Brayton Forest as well as identification of species with both common and scientific names. The slides also include a brief description of each species and examples of leaf and bark (specimen tree).
Here are a few mobile apps I have found that are not only free to utilize but also fun and easy to navigate. Afterall, if they are not easy they won’t get utilized and we all benefit from better understanding our environment.
LeafSnap – Plant Identification – This app has a few interesting features including Home, My Plant, Tasks and Settings. Home is broken down into two versions “Identify” and “Advanced”, the identify version is for quick identification of the plant in question who may use a photo previously uploaded or take a new photo if the specimen is available.
My Plants is a folder containing your photos previously taken and plants identified. It also can identify using a leaf, flower, fruit, bark, tree, or “other”.
The Task folder contains scheduled task which may be required and can be logged using this feature such as watering, fertilizing, pruning, etc.
Settings allows the user to access tips on taking better photos of specimens, sending images to others, change languages and addresses frequently addressed questions (FAQ’s). It also allows the user to select the zone or region of the world they happen to be in or more importantly the specimen may reside in to assist in identification.
From a personal standpoint I found this app fun and very easy to use to identify vegetation around my neighborhood and the nearby park. I helped identify some very exotic and also very common species.
Flora Incognita – Automated Plant Identification – This app allows the user the option of setting up an account or utilizing the services without setting up a profile. The ease of use is amazing as it provides tips on how to take the best picture to provide the best result. It is best to use in zoom mode and get as close to the subject as possible for the most accurate identification.
By accessing Identify Plant you are taken to a variety of option including, Cactus, Grass, Flower, Tree, Fern, and “other”.
A cool feature is that it records where in the world you took the photo to as part of My Observations, but you must allow the app to track your location.
The Species List provides a specimen quality example in picture form of each of the available species in your country. This listing can be provided by type of vegetation fern, cactus, grass or alphabetically by simply changing the method of search.
Much like LeafSnap I found this mobile app easy to use which makes it al the more enjoyable to use. I would recommend this app for beginner plant identifiers and those who want to keep a folder of their findings. No ads also makes this a fine choice for a free app.
Seek by iNaturalist – Seek is a mobile app which is associated with iNaturalist another app that I have used recently and found very useful. Seek is different in that it identifies plants, amphibians, fungi, fish, reptiles, arachnids, birds, insects, mollusks and
You can earn “badges” by raising your level of participation and identifying different types of species and participating in challenges. This would be a great exercise for a classroom setting. For instance, July is “Exoskeleton Challenge” month!
By typing in my location of interest ((Brayton Forest) it displays various species common to the area which I may be able to seek and locate. A flora/fauna scavenger hunt basically. I will put this to use my next time in Brayton.
The use may also select all species to find the myriad of different species which may inhabit the area of interest or specific locale you may find yourself in. This application of the tool provides for a great opportunity to promote interest in the biodiversity found in a specific area.
Once you have located a species and tapped the identifier the app displays information about the species, the full taxonomic classification, how many iNaturalist observations that have been made worldwide, the species-specific seasonality and similar species of those that may be found in the research area.
Very impressive tool which combines a great learning opportunity as well as great fun, very well named…Seek!
I have attached he diagram produced by utilizing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web Soil Survey online tool. This Soil Map and accompanying Legend display the outline of the property as well as the contours of soil variation within the study area.
This software was easy to navigate and following initial trials it was comfortable to design and identify the soil types and percentages in my study area. I was surprised by the diversity of soil types as no specific soil type comprised more than 22.2% in the Area of Interest (AOI). Considering that the are researched is covered by a uniform canopy of hardwoods and the understory varies depending on the amount of sunlight available. While some variation exists in the understory is still mainly populated by succession and shade tolerant species in most areas.
The most consistent soil type was found near the stream bed which traverses through the most southeastern portion of the forest. Spillville loam represents 8% of the total acreage while also representing 0 to 2 percent slope which is consistent with this portion of the property and follows the streambed leading to minor bank overflow during spring snowmelt and heavy rain event flows.
The report breaks down each of the types of soils found in the study area including type of soil, specific name, characteristics and profile depth, drainage capabilities (class), and mineral content. A very in-depth tool for many applications.
I found this tool to be very helpful and I will be utilizing the printed report to identify commonalities of succession and understory species and their frequencies based upon the existence of the soil within the study area.
I have attached he diagram produced by utilizing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web Soil Survey online tool. This Soil Map and accompanying Legend display the outline of the property as well as the contours of soil variation within the study area.
This software was easy to navigate and following initial trials it was comfortable to design and identify the soil types and percentages in my study area. I was surprised by the diversity of soil types as no specific soil type comprised more than 22.2% in the Area of Interest (AOI). Considering that the are researched is covered by a uniform canopy of hardwoods and the understory varies depending on the amount of sunlight available. While some variation exists in the understory is still mainly populated by succession and shade tolerant species in most areas.
The most consistent soil type was found near the stream bed which traverses through the most southeastern portion of the forest. Spillville loam represents 8% of the total acreage while also representing 0 to 2 percent slope which is consistent with this portion of the property and follows the streambed leading to minor bank overflow during spring snowmelt and heavy rain event flows.
The report breaks down each of the types of soils found in the study area including type of soil, specific name, characteristics and profile depth, drainage capabilities (class), and mineral content. A very in-depth tool for many applications.
I found this tool to be very helpful and I will be utilizing the printed report to identify commonalities of succession and understory species and their frequencies based upon the existence of the soil within the study area.
I have also included a link to the full report provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the USDA. A glossary of terms can be found at the back of the report to assist in explaining terms which may not be intuitive in the report.
Watershed Stewardship - Coldstream Creek 