Bioblock—Hands-On Exploration (and Friendly Competition)
Traveling in vans full of science gear, including soil temperature and pH probes, hand lenses, and microscopes, biology students and faculty embarked on ecological explorations during a weeklong Bioblock trip to the Cache River Basin and the Great Smoky Mountains last month. While examining the rich biological diversity of both locations, students made numerous discoveries and appreciated the beauty of the unique landscapes.
Just two hours from campus, Ferne Clyffe State Park, in the Cache River area of southern Illinois, offered students a close look at a cypress and tupelo swamp ecosystem more typical of places like Louisiana and Florida than the upper Midwest. “One of our learning objectives was to determine why this is possible,” says Dr. Chrissy McAllister (C’93), who co-led the trip with Dr. Scott Eckert (C’79). “It’s a convergence zone of four different biogeographic regions—large areas defined by geology, climate, and different ecosystems—resulting in high levels of biodiversity.” While there, the group met with land managers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to learn about the hydrological changes in the river system over the last 100 years that have resulted in nutrient runoff and adverse sedimentation. They also canoed through the cypress swamps with nature guides who explained what’s being done to conserve an ecosystem that affects people as far away as the Gulf of Mexico.
After two days, the group repacked the vans and headed to Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee. “We choose to study in this location each year because the Appalachians provide a good contrast to the oak hickory forests of Principia—and because the area has the largest diversity of salamander species in the world!” explains Dr. Eckert. “Measuring that salamander diversity has become the focus of one of the student’s research projects.”
Working under special permit with the National Park Service, the group captured and identified salamanders, took pH readings of their habitats at Indian Gap and Cosby Creek, measured moisture levels, and collected data for their Ecology class. “We also learned about the forest types—red spruce, Fraser firs, hemlocks, American beech, maples, and others—at different levels of elevation,” says sophomore Sarah Ungerleider.
A highlight of the trip was the “Bioblitz.” Splitting into teams—faculty versus two groups of students—they had 30 minutes to identify as many plant, tree, bird, and salamander species as possible with the help of dichotomous keys. “I feel like I could identify nearly every plant and tree in the park now!” Sarah says. As one might guess, the faculty won. “However, it was very close at the upper elevation sites where the diversity is much lower,” McAllister notes. “It pays to have more people on your team who can fan out and spot more stuff. As a team of two, Dr. Eckert and I could only cover so much territory. The students did a great job!”
Other highlights included climbing the observation tower to the top of Clingmans Dome to see 360-degree views of the surrounding terrain. And a visit to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and to the Cherokee Reservation, just over the Tennessee border in North Carolina, offered a vivid look at the art, culture, and 11,000-year-old history of the Cherokee Nation. “Learning about their intimate relationship to the land, especially before colonial invasion was fascinating,” Sarah says. “Many of their creation stories are relevant to the way they interacted with the mountains. Accounts of their land use has helped guide current restoration of native plant and wildlife landscapes.”
The group camped throughout the trip. Though the nights were chilly, that didn’t hinder the camaraderie—and it made the campfire and s’mores even sweeter.