Arizona Envirothon 2007
Alternative/Renewable EnergyOther Web Links
The World Wide Web is a prolific source of information in this modern age. Most of the Web is not peer-reviewed, that is, read and checked by independent experts. Therefore, the web's information must be consumed with caution. It's always best to seek corroboration of information across multiple sources.
Here are several web sites that focus on the issues of Arizona forests and trees and on this year's Envirothon topic of alternative/renwable energy. Many of these web sites link to yet more web sites. The last one listed here is about general forest ecotones in Arizona; don't miss it.
On-line guides to important trees of Arizona:
Note: You should be able to observe and describe tree specimens. Namely, describe the leaves (broad or needles, how long, how many needles per group), fruit (flowers or cones, scales, size), and bark (color, thickness, platy). The on-line guides below are better than nothing, but a good basic tree guide for this is the "Golden Guide to Trees of North America."
- Douglas-fir: A major species of Arizona's Rocky Mountain mixed conifer forests.
- White fir: A lesser, but still important species of Arizona's Rocky Mountain mixed conifer forests.
- Quaking aspen: The crowd favorite of Arizona's subalpine forests.
- Fremont cottonwood: A common deciduous hardwood along Arizona's natural streams (riparian corridors).
- Arizona sycamore: Another common deciduous hardwood along Arizona's natural streams.
- Alligator juniper: An aptly named conifer in Arizona's Madrean woodlands.
- Velvet mesquite: A dominant legume (nitrogen fixer) tree of the Sonoran desert.
- Arizona white oak: An evergreen oak of Arizona's Madrean woodlands.
- Gambel oak: A deciduous oak of Arizona's Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine forests.
- Ponderosa pine: The dominant species of Arizona's Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine forests (what's left of it after the 2002 and 2003 fire seasons).
Some Arizona Forest Ecology Sites
- Ecology of Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests: Cruise through this comprehensive page and focus on:
- Why ponderosa pine is so important in Arizona.
- The natural fire regime of ponderosa pine and how current fire patterns are different.
- Other disturbance ecologies of ponderosa pine forests.
- Southwestern Sky Island Ecosystems: This site details the biological diversity found in Arizona's so-called Sky Islands. Concentrate especially on the changing forest types with changing elevation, as illustrated in Figure 2.
- Biodiversity: What is this thing biodiversity and why do people worry about it? How might Arizona forests contribute to or detract from biodiversity? This web site is from the highly regarded American Museum of Natural History.
- Forest Fire Management in Arizona: Wildland fire is a dynamic process in Arizona's forests, including in some cultural landscapes that are built essentially right within fire-prone forests. Cruise this suite of web sites to learn about current and past fire patterns in Arizona and strategies and issues of restoring wildland fire to Arizona's forests. (Note: pdf files in this site are protected with a different password from the rest of this Arizona Envirothon site; check with Paul if you need the password.)
- Some basic plant ecology: Can you explain the grand carbon equation of life?
- Green plants (ag crops, trees, cactus, you name it) take this equation in both directions, right and left. In which direction would it be called photosynthesis?
- Do you participate in this equation? If so, when? Which direction?
- What effect does this equation have on water?
Sustainable Forestry
The expression "sustainable forestry" gets mentioned a lot. What does it mean? How can it be achieved? These questions are at the core of environmental forestry, and therefore also at the core of forestry for Envirothon. Check out this readbale publication: Science Biodiversity and Sustainable Forestry. Focus on Areas 1 (forest structure–the kinds of trees that are growing in a forest) and 2 (forest process–the kinds of disturbacnes that take place in a forest).
Audubon New York. This web site links to a pdf manual on New York forests and wildlife. The manual is, "Wildlife and Forestry in New York Northern Hardwoods: A Guide for Forest Owners and Managers." It looks like a must-read for Envirothon.
How To Measure Tree Height
To measure forest biomass (how much wood is out in the woods?), it is necessary to measure tree height, or at least heights of some representative trees. Can you do that with your high school math skills? Yes, as it involves nothing more than one trig function (tangent of the angle = opposite over adjacent) plus some basic algebra. The angle needed can be measured using a clinometer (angle-o-meter), and the ground distance can be measured using a tape measure. Click here for an example.
Wood Biomass for Energy
Kids' Energy Page. This US Dept. of Energy page looks like it's intended for pre-high school, but the info looks good. A start on terminology and ideas for discussion.
Energy From Biomass Burning: Feasible or Not? This Univ. of Oregon page has fun graphics. Note especally the map of states doing biomass energy. Arizona is barely in this game, but New York (site of the North American competition this year) is heavily into it. And California! Wow, leading the way, as usual.
Primer on Wood Biomass for Energy. This US Forest Service page has basic details. Note the explicit section on advantages, but don't forget that biomass burning has its disadvantages. Nothing is perfect, it seems.
Energy Matters. Here's one that includes advantages and disadvantages, though not in great detail. Can you take this list and expland on the arguments?
Biomass Energy. One more with advantages and disadvantages listed.
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Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
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Comments to Paul Sheppard: sheppard @ ltrr.arizona.edu
Copyright © 2002-2007 Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona
Revised — January, 2007
URL: http://www.ltrr.arizona.edu/~sheppard/envirothon/otherweblinks.html
