Battelle Darby Metro Park Forest
The forested area of the Battelle Darby Metro Park was a diverse habitat for many lime loving species To be more specific, chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) and shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) were the dominant species in the overstory of this forest and there was also a decent amount of hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). In the shrub layer/ mid-story the main species that could frequently be seen was redbud (Cercis canadensis). Other notable species in this layer included spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and small growths of blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata). In the ground cover layer the most dominant plants that could be seen were as oak and hickory seedlings, and unfortunately mixed in with all of these great plants, there were also some invasives mixed in such as white snake-root (Ageratina altissima). This species is a member of the carrot family and bears resemblance to other non-toxic species such as Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota). White snake-root inadvertently caused sickness in humans as cows were consuming the plant, and when humans would drink cow milk, the toxins were still present and caused sickness and in extreme cases death in humans.As previously mentioned, this area has a high lime content in the soil, and the forest itself sits on a slope, so some there is a good amount of variation of potential water regimes for a plant to grow in. Based on appearance alone this does seem to be an old growth forest as there are distinct classes of tree growth.
Battelle Darby Metro Park Wet Prairie
Another habitat type we encountered at BDMP was a wet prairie. In the prairie only two types of trees were noticeably present in the overstory were American sycamore (Planatus occidentalis) and eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides). Otherwise, in the shrub layer, a large number of grasses such as Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) and large blue stem (Andropogon gerardii) were present comprising a typical prairie. It is likely that we could have seen more flowers in the ground cover layer under other conditions, however it is possible that the drought facing Ohio this summer has caused many flowers to not bloom. Flower species that were notably present in the ground layer included common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and various golden rod species (Solidago spp.). As a whole, this habitat was a fairly flattened landscape that aside from the grown up grasses and occasional trees, you could see a good distance. Although there was no discernible water to be seen, it can be assumed that there was a decent amount of water somewhere available for these plants as American sycamore and eastern cottonwood are both plants that are frequently associated with having water nearby as they consume a large amount
Common Milkweed
Indiangrass
eastern cottonwood
American sycamore
Geobotany
In discussing these two distinct areas that we visited for this field trip, an important topic that cannot be ignored relation to these two areas and how we manage to see such distinct habitat types is the the topic of geobotany. Geobotany is the study of relationships of plant species and plant communities with their associated substrates. Or more simply; the interdisciplinary study of botany and geology. Geobotany is important in Ohio as we have two very distinct geological regions which in turn lead to distinct plant habitats! In the western portion of the state, the land is very flat and is underlain with limestone. In the eastern portion of the state, the land is steep-sided hills and much of this portion of the state is underlain with sandstone. The way that the rocks in this area formed were by an initial layer of limestone, which were then overlain with shales, then sandstone came in on top of the shales. This sequence was then gently tilted into the a low arch up until the point that erosion began. This arch created the original Appalachian mountains to the east at its lower points, and in the western part of the state, where the arch was at its highest erosion cut through exposing the oldest rocks. However the question can still posed; what led to this erosion occurring? For 200 million years a river known as the “Teays” (pronounced “Taze”) was the driving force of the erosion. Eventually, after the 200 million years of erosion force of the Teays river, glaciers moved into the area and stopped the rivers erosion activities. As these glaciers invaded Ohio from the northwest, they were able to move their way across the state, until they reached the eastern part of the state, where they were slowed-down by the steep-sloped hills.
After being slowed down and eventually stopped, the glaciers began to retreat and left behind two material types. One type is sand and gravel materials that were moved by the melting glacial waters. These materials are localized and only occur in a river valley, or a hill. The other type is what we call till, which is a mixture of sand, silt, clay, boulders which accumulated from the ice melting. This glacial till is broad and spreads throughout a large part of the state. The make-up of till ultimately reflects the nature of the geological materials that the the glacier moved over. In western Ohio, this is reflected as the glacial till is rich in clay and lime. In eastern Ohio the till that is there from geological processes predating the glacier, contains very little lime and clay. Even today, we are still seeing longstanding effects of the glaciers that were present millions of years ago, namely in the substrate that our plants grow in and how they effect the plants that grow there. In western Ohio, the substrate is typically a limey, clayey till. In clay soils, water typical does not permeate, so it typically remains on the surface. During droughts or prolonged wet periods, there is low oxygen availability. These soils are high in nutrients compared to the eastern portion of the state. In the eastern portion of the state, sandstone creates the dominant substrate. Opposed to the substrate of western Ohio, soils in the eastern portion are highly permeable and have low nutrient availability. These eastern substrates are also highly acidic as opposed to the more basic substrates of the west.
As mentioned, in short the glaciers that were present millions of years ago still affect the plant communities today, as there are some plants who are either restricted to or thrive in specific substrate times. There are some plants that are generally limited t0 limestone or limely substrates such as redbud (Cercis canadensis), red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), blue-ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata), and chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii). As mentioned before, some of these species were widely abundant in the limey forest of Battelle Darby Metro Park, and those that were present are photographed below!
Blue Ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata)
Chinquapin oak
Hackberry
Shagbark Hickory
Another substrate that plants may generally be restricted to is high lime, clay rich substrates. Plants that are likely to thrive in these include sugar maple (Acer saccharum), american beech (Fagus grandifolia), red oak (Quercus borealis), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), and white oak (Quercus bicolor). Sandstone substrate is another potential restriction that is shown in species such as chestnut oak (Quercus montana), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), pitch pine (Pinus virginiana), scrub pine (Pinus rigida), and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). There are also examples in which species are restricted to areas not because of the substrates present, but because of other long-term effects from the glaciers. Sweet buckeye (Aesculus flava), does not occur anywhere that was affected by the glaciers of Ohio, and it is not completely clear as to why this is, but it is theorized that it is because they are not able to repopulate in the high-lime glacial tills or it could be due to climatic factors. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) occurs in the western half of the state in both the glaciated and unglaciated portions of the state. It appears that this species is associated with continuously cool, moist environments that can be found in the deep valleys set cut into sandstone, which occur in both parts of the state. Ultimately these two plants demonstrate two very different ways in which plants can be restricted to a certain environment; sweet buckeye being restricted to a specific till type, and eastern hemlock occupying deep-valleys cut into sandstone. Plants like rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) however, may be restricted by things that were once present, but no longer are. This plant is only found in a very specific part of the state, which are thought to be former valleys of the Teays system. It is thought that these plants were distributed through movement of the Teays river, and when the river was blocked by the glaciers, the plant lost its means of migration and now continues to live in the valleys that were once a part of that system.
Cedar Bog
Another stop we visited was Cedar Bog – which isn’t actually a bog but rather a fen! A quick way of remembering the difference is that bogs clog and fens flush! This area sits atop an area that was a river valley long ago, before the glaciers moved in, so a valley is carved deep into the ground beneath the fen. This valley filled in with sand and gravel from the glaciers and these materials allow water to steady flow through them, creating an aquifer below the surface. The fen also sits in the bottom of a bowl between two end-morraines created by the glacier which also contribute to the water flow into the fen. Water makes its way into the fen through rain water and streams and small streams flow out, draining the fen. The water in the aquifer below the fen remains around 50 degree Fahrenheit all throughout the year, allowing for unique conditions for plants to grow. These condition can be assessed by assigning plants a coefficient of conservation, which is a numerical value assigned to a plant, indicating how likely it is to be found in disturbed habitat. Higher numbers indicate that plants would be rarer to find.
Cedar Bog Meadow
The cedar bog meadow is hard to categorize as having distinctive layers as since it is classified as a meadow, it is mainly low growing grasses, sedges and forbes that make up the plant community rather than tall growing trees and shrubs. However, sporadically throughout the meadow areas there are trees and shrubs present. The most notable of these species were swamp birch (Betula alleghaniensis) in the “overstory” which even then was still fairly low growing, and shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa) in the shrub layer. However rather than focus on the layers that were lacking, I would rather focus on the layer that was abundantly present and diverse – the ground cover layer! While there were many typical Ohio meadow species present there were also so many rare plants! To name a few, Kalms lobelia (Lobelia kalmii), swamp lousewort (Pedicularis lanceolata), prairie doc (Silphium terebinthinaceum), and Canadian burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis) were all present in the ground layer of the meadow, which is very exciting to see considering the high CC of these plants! As a whole these areas were very flat and opened, as well as being well sunned. The presence of the boardwalk, as well as the occasional spotting of water indicated the abundant presence of water, which would make sense considering that the area is a fen!
Cedar Bog Swamp Forest
In the swamp forest areas of the Cedar Bog the species that was found growing the biggest was tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata) could also be found in the overstory. The shrub layer had a healthy diversity of many different species, but two notable ones that stuck out in many areas were black ash (Fraxinus nigra) and poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) as native Ohio species, however two invasive species; European privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) were also present in this area. In the ground cover there were many species present but most notably, as they were very exciting to see because of their CC were rough leafed golden rod (Solidago rugosa) and great lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica). As a whole this forest was found to be mostly flat and appeared to have an abundance of water available on the ground which was especially noteworthy considering the drought conditions currently present. The forest was also considerably cooler than the open meadow areas.
Grass of Parnassus
Kalm’s Lobelia
Swamp Lousewort
Canadian Burnet
