Stream Detectives Return – And Spring Into Spring

In the forests we have come to count on a number of things emerging and returning with the new life of spring – skunk cabbage, vultures….. and the citizen scientists from the Forest Grove Community School. This spring they added to their normal research questions, related to creek health, an additional inquiry question “how does spring come to the forest?”.

On April 5th they placed their leaf packs in the creek – preparing to sample the invertebrates that would move in – and chose a range of plants to study for lessons on spring. It was great to have Char and Dave Corkran and Marc Carrel out to support their work.

On April 26th the scientists returned to complete the stream monitoring and to reobserve their emerging plants. Along with this work they did a quick and important job of removing the tubes that protect young seedlings through the winter. When liberated from the tubes, the trees’ “solar panels” are much more effective in gathering energy and helping the young rascals grow.
We look forward to learning from the results of the students’ work.