A New Brand of Predator

               In other blog posts, we have discussed the viability of reintroducing wolves to the Adirondack Park in an attempt to control unchecked herbivorous populations, but maybe its niche has already been filled.  The eastern coyote has its origins in a 25lb mutt chasing rabbits, mice, and insects around the Great Plains.  In the last two hundred years, however, this opportunistic canine has become almost an entirely new species.  Ironically, the key to its success lies in the population pressures from American pioneers settling the West.  As habitats fragmented, wolf populations plummeted.  The coyote populations, however, thrived.  Because of its faster breading time, varied diet, and scavenger mentality, the coyote expanded into previous wolf habitats.  With wolf populations at dangerously low levels, lonely wolves bred with coyotes, yielding a larger and more capable predator. 

By the time they reached the east coast in the mid-1900s, coyotes weighed in at 35lbs and hunted in pairs or family groups.  This “new” brand of coyote gained some notoriety when it began taking down endangered woodland caribou in Canada.  Scientists were hesitant to accept that coyotes were large enough to feed on such large prey, but studies in the Adirondack park have shown that white-tailed deer makes up the majority of the traditionally varied coyote diet.  If the coyote’s evolution continues to follow such a trajectory, there may be no need to reintroduce wolves to the Adirondack Park.  The coyote of two centuries ago could not have hoped to compete with the wolf in the forests of the east, but today, the coyote has found a place in the fragmented but recovering Adirondack Park.

Sources:
Sharon Levy, Nature: http://www.nature.com/news/rise-of-the-coyote-the-new-top-dog-1.10635
Brundige, G.C. 1993. Predation Ecology of the Eastern Coyote (Canis latrans var.) in the Central Adirondacks, New York. Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, 194 pp. 

Rocks for Jocks

I love rocks and I love Lake George. My dad started taking me to Lake George when I was 6 and it’s still the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I can read about the formation of Lake George and picture the rocks I scrambled over on my way to the water. Lake George, as we know it today, has been around since the Pleistocene Epoch, only 12,000 years ago. To a geologist, that’s like yesterday; for non-geologists it was the most recent glacial period (the term “ice age” is incorrect, but when people think of the last ice age they think of the Pleistocene). The lake basin didn’t form until the Wisconsin Glacier retreated and dammed up the southern end of the lake with deposited sediment and erratics (a natural dam created by the retreat of a glacier is called a recessional moraine). Lake George is fed by 8 major streams and flows north, since the southern end is at a higher elevation. The north was clogged by a recessional morain as well, causing the formation of a lake instead of a river. Lake George enters Lake Champlain through the La Chute River in the town of Ticongeroga, which is where my summer camp is located. I’ve been to La Chute River many times but have never kayaked it (yet). The river is fast moving and has many falls and rapids, as it travels 230 feet in only 3.5 miles (it’s only a class II whitewater river if you don’t account for the falls).

I’ve always known Lake George as the second deepest lake in the Adirondacks, but I never knew why it reaches those depths. I did some more research after the reading about faults and it helped explain the depth of the lake. The southwest-northeast fault zones that exist all over the park exist around Lake George too. The Eastern shore follows a normal fault line (also known as an extensional fault) in which the Eastern side is the footwall and the lake bottom is the hanging wall. The mountains on the Eastern side either moved up a little bit or didn’t move at all, while the lake bottom slid down, creating a lake basin. On the western side of the lake, the same process occurred to create the basin, but there were multiple faults. The geologic terms for these features are graben and horst, which are German for trench and heap, respectively. I was excited to be able to connect basic structural geology to Lake George and it will be great this summer when I can point out geo to my campers, even if they get bored.

from the USGS

http://www.lakegeorgeassociation.org/what-we-do/Education/Lake-George-Basics/Lake-George-Formation.htm

https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/1335/

A Few Wandering Thoughts On the Appeal of Mountains

Amanda's post "Why climb a mountain?" reminded me of the question posed in class and provoked some further thought. I attempted to think of some potential fundamental reasons for why we are drawn to mountains. I primarily looked into how this might be useful in the context of human nature, survival, and evolution.

For reasons of survival it is in our best interest to learn as much as possible about our environment. Through time and experience we develop an understanding of the world around us and how things within this world interact. This understanding allows us react to situations. Take, for instance the classic example of a child learning that fire is dangerous. The child wanders to some bright light and finds that it can cause pain. If the learning stops here, the child will avoid the light for the rest of his/her life. Instead the child's understanding of the fire might grow to incorporate ideas of warmth , protection, food, and pleasure (a camp fire, for instance).

In learning as much as possible, it seems that we naturally find the idea of nuances or variety to be appealing. Imagine planning anything. Let's use planning a strategy as a coach as an example. Your strategy may vary based on the skills of your team and the skills and strategy of an opponent. If you are familiar with only one strategy, you will use it even though it may work poorly in a particular situation. For this reason knowing a variety of strategies helps, as you can then choose or blend multiple strategies.

If breadth of knowledge is so valuable, it makes sense that mountains are appealing. As discussed in class, mountains (particularly relevant in the case of the Adirondacks) offer an incredibly wide range of ecological systems. Exploring these systems and being able to conquer them (so to speak) via a hike is then very beneficial to us. Overcoming the mountain as a physical challenge only adds to the appeal and leaves us in a position of power.

Imagine standing atop a mountain. As this is a goal that has been accomplished, it feels quite rewarding. The position relative to the rest of world seems to add to this. Being physically above others is generally advantageous. Consider a city on a hill. The location makes it easier to defend both, because of the ability to see further out and the ease that comes with fighting from above. The perspective gained from above is particularly important here. The ability to learn more from a higher point makes it valuable to humans as learners. The view on a mountain offers information about a huge area, which makes for a pretty overwhelming learning experience.

There is clearly far more to be considered here. It seems, though, that the human experience on a mountain can, to some extent, be generalized as an intense learning experience.  I apologize if this all seems like nonsense or a huge stretch - this was a way of fleshing out a few wandering thoughts that I had.

Why Farm the Northern 'Dacks?

Before the Adirondack course, I always assumed that farming was the most successful in warmer, drier, flatter climates. Boy was I wrong. Finding the truth about Adirondack farming started when I asked myself: Why, according to the 2002 map of farmland in the Adirondacks from the Adirondack Atlas, do the most successful and extant farms exist in the Northeastern most region of the park? The answer – farming in the Adirondacks is not only dependent on latitude but also a host of other factors including soil quality, bedrock composition, distance to water and topography to determine the best and most successful farming sites.

            Latitude does not impact farming in the Adirondack region as intensely as would be normally anticipated. According to a map of average United States temperatures in Atlas, the temperature throughout the Adirondacks is relatively even. Indeed, the temperatures within the park itself tend to drop about 5 degrees in contrast with the surrounding region. Therefore, the best farming regions in the Adirondacks exist around the park, including to the North.

            In comparison, topography, soil quality, bedrock composition and distance to water play a much stronger role in determining the success of farming in the Adirondacks. While the main portion of the Adirondack Park is extremely mountainous with many changes in elevation, the surrounding areas are flatter and better for farming. The soil quality is much higher due to less weathering of the exposed bedrock, fewer glaciation deposits from past receding glaciers, and lake sediment outwash from nearby Lake Champlain. The bedrock composition, while the same Granite/Gneiss as the majority of the park, is hidden under layers of soil and sediment, preventing leeching from bedrock erosion. The Northeastern region of the Adirondacks in particular is extremely close to Lake Champlain, which not only contributes to soil quality but also creates a general source of water for farming.

            The similar temperature/climate surrounding all sides of the Adirondack park allow for more specialized factors – topography, soil quality, etc. – to have an impact on farming. It may sound backwards but because of the positive impact the specialized features have on farming and because the majority of those features exist in the Northeastern region of the Adirondack Park, Lake Champlain Valley can thrive on its farming potential, overcoming higher (colder) latitude.

         Source: The Adirondack Atlas: A Geographic Portrait of the Adirondack Park by Jerry Jenkins

Northern Saw-whet Owl

As Paul J. Marchand, author of Nature Guide to the Northern Forest, discussed the various fluctuations of ecosystems in the Adirondacks and the relative effects these have on major species, I was curious about the effect these fluctuations specifically have on Saw-whet owls. This species was featured on the cover of the nature guide, so I wondered if it plays a large role in this ecosystem. The book mentions that climax communities can be drastically altered by natural and human-caused ecological disturbances, which lead new species to emerge where they once could not due to lack of sun. Small mammals such as hares and warblers are directly affected by the disappearance of specific species, but some research led me to find that although Saw-whet owls have a smaller population in the Adirondacks than these other species, they are actually more adaptable to various ecosystems. Saw-whet owls are found in multiple ecosystems including coniferous forests, deciduous forests, woodlands and even suburban environments, as long as they have a perch and dense vegetation for roosting.

Saw-whet owls are highly adaptable but still threatened by the various effects of logging, leading their populations to decline over the years. During my research I came across a center at Paul Smith’s College, located in the Adirondacks, which is currently banding Saw-whet owls to find out more about their populations and movement across the region. These birds are carefully captured, banded and measured in order to determine health, age and sex. According to this site, Saw-whet owls migrate to the Adirondacks in the summer to breed, then migrate through Lake Placid on their way down south in early fall so can only be identified during this time interval.

            Although Saw-whet owl populations are not as critically affected by logging as beaver populations were by trapping, the various relationships, this bird has to humans can further illustrate the conflicting interests in the Adirondacks. Simply by doing a little research, I found that on one hand logging companies threaten the habitat of this species by eliminating dense vegetation needed for roosting, while a different group of humans spends their time banding these birds in hopes of preserving their populations. These varying perspectives are based on priorities; are economics or preservation more important?

http://www.adirondackraptors.org/?page_id=71

http://www.lakeplacid.com/blog/2013/10/migrating-northern-saw-whet-owls
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Saw-whet_Owl,_Reifel_BC_1.jpg

A Somewhat Less Important Impact of Climate Change

Staff hurriedly shovel artificial snow onto the course only to watch it melt while skiers land in puddles at the end of their run while tourists sunbathe between events. Such was the scene at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

While much attention has been given to the ways in which species are starting to crawl north alongside global temperature increases, human behavior may follow suit. I should be clear that I am making no attempt to equate the two in significance but, our social definitions of certain regions and activities often contain a backdrop of consistent climate. This also says nothing to the people that will displaced by rising sea-level which is a much more significant and immediate issue.

However, in the Adirondacks, entire towns which might consider themselves dependent on a ski/snowmobile resort economy could soon find themselves with a much shorter season. The future of snow in the Adirondacks is not guaranteed and while winter tourism is an admittedly more stable industry than logging or tanneries, it is dependent on a singular resource. As so much of the region has dedicated its infrastructure to this tourist economy, I wonder if they can afford to lose another industry and if anything will be able to take its place.

 Along similar lines, two-time Olympic host Lake Placid may very well find itself in the place of Sochi-requiring more money to import winter into their winter Olympics. A report by researchers from the University of Waterloo and the Innsbruck Management Center used data from the IPCC to conclude the “climate reliability” of former Winter Olympic sites, including Lake Placid. The results show a relatively long lifespan for the Adirondack region but it is not unlimited.

Admittedly there are many, many, many more pressing concerns with relation to climate change than skiing. It may not even be a concern this century. But eventually, the Adirondacks may find itself needing to adapt once again to a changing world. 

https://uwaterloo.ca/news/sites/ca.news/files/uploads/files/oly_winter_games_warmer_world_2014.pdf

Corridors and Climate Change

While the Adirondacks contain many swaths of protected wilderness, one thing they lack is the presence of major corridors. Wildlife corridors are areas of land that allow species to move freely between multiple habitats. These corridors are important for organisms because it gives them the ability to migrate in search of food, water, shelter and a mate. Wildlife corridors are also becoming especially important because of climate change. It is expected that the increased warming of the planet will send many species, both plant and animal, to higher latitudes. This pattern of migration has already been observed in multiple species in the past 50 years.

The Adirondacks are home to many species that are climate sensitive so the maintenance of wildlife corridors is imperative for their survival. One example of an animal susceptible to the warming climate is the American Marten. These small mammals not only prefer old growth, coniferous forests, but also a cold, snowy climate. Martens often inhabit areas of high elevation in the Adirondacks and will face a serious threat in the coming decades because of climate change. Without the presence of corridors, Martens and other climate sensitive species will be forced to migrate to higher elevations in the park. This is called the escalator effect, as organisms move to higher elevations in search of cooler conditions.  Not only do these peaks have a finite elevation, but there is also an increase in competition for resources as you near the top of a mountain. It is important to have corridors within the park, and also tracts of land that connect the park other protected landscapes in the north. This will allow many of the climate sensitive species the ability to migrate as temperatures increase.

            One organization that understands the importance and urgency of this issue is the Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative. A2A hopes to link the Algonquin Provincial Park with the Adirondack Park along the Frontenac Arch. A2A hopes to work with landowners to restore and protect natural habitats along this path. This corridor would be incredibly beneficial to the Adirondacks and would allow many species to move freely between the two parks. It is important that we establish corridors like this one soon so that species do not feel the pressure of climate change.  

http://www.a2alink.org/

http://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/natural-connections

http://www.protectadks.org/2013/01/why-wildlife-corridors-2/

   

Why climb a mountain?

While discussing the importance of mountains, Professor Dash posed the following questions: “Why do people climb mountains? Why them in particular?” One of the following comments led us to the idea of some “otherness” the experience provides, and while I can understand this feeling, I wanted to be able to explain it through the written word.

Even though mountains are a part of the natural world, it’s easy for me to separate them from most other landforms because of their sheer size. Their only competition comes from underwater ridges/rises and volcanoes. Underwater ridges/rises occur at divergent tectonic plate boundaries, and cannot be climbed because they are only found in the deep ocean. Volcanoes can be climbed to a certain extent, but are dangerous when active and still sketchy when dormant. Mountains, on the other hand, are more easily accessible and rarely dangerous as long as you know what you’re doing. Because they are not easily altered, mountains are also timeless; they are one of the more obvious constants of nature. Their stature makes them feel majestic and powerful, as if the human race cannot conquer them.

When climbing a mountain, there are usually no modern-day distractions. Hiking allows someone the opportunity to get in touch with themselves as well as nature. Because the only thing to focus on is the act of ascending, your mind is free to wander. The feeling of accomplishment when you reach the top is difficult to replicate since it stems from the completion of both a demanding physical feat and self-reflection throughout the journey.

Mountains can also represent a physical trek analogous to the difficulties of life. Throughout history, people have romanticized the phrase “to climb a mountain” to mean the accomplishment of a laborious goal. To climb a mountain is to overcome a life obstacle. The same mental process cannot be found in another activity, and the characteristics of the mountain itself are just as important in creating the sense of “otherness” hikers feel. Each person you ask might define this “otherness” in a different way, but at least for me, it’s the feeling of nostalgia for simpler times and a deeper understanding of what it means to be human.