Trinity College Field Station (TCFS) Trees
With the help of ENVS 149 students, I have started a long term project
of identifying and tracking the change in trees at the Trinity College
Field Station in Ashford, CT. We started in the Spring of 2006 by selecting a 50 x 50m
region and started tagging trees. Measurements on height,
circumference and age (using tree ring cores) were collected. The
location of trees were mapped using pace and compass techniques and with
GPS where possible. The plan is to track the change in the trees
over years, even decades, to understand the evolution of the Church Farm
forest. The project exposes ENVS 149 students to the rural
environment of the
field station and helps develop basic field skills in data collection
and data synthesis using ArcGIS.
Students in the 2007 ENVS 149 class measure tree diameters and estimate tree heights of previously tagged trees.