Day 2 -
Wednesday, September 24
Hoh
Rainforest
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Our third stop of the day was at
the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park at 12:15 p.m. This
protected forest received 12-14 feet of annual precipitation
which earned it the designation of a temperate
rainforest. With mild winters the
temperature never rose above 80 degrees F. Unlike tropical rainforests where
wildlife made use of the
canopy, temperate rainforests, like the Hoh, supported wildlife mostly on
the ground. Evidence of this lay along trail edges where nurse logs provided later plant
growth with nutrients. Colonnades that grew nurse logs continued the
life-cycle of temperate rainforest and provide danimals with nutrients and
shelter. The dominant tree species included Sitka spruce and the
western hemlock. These trees could reach heights of 300 feet with a circumference of
23 feet. Epiphytes including mosses, ferns, and lichens grew on most of the
older woody plants and nearly every other available surface. The cyclic
pattern of life in the rainforest continued when decomposers returned decaying
plant and animal matter back to the soil. |
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Students at Hoh Rainforest |
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Super
Fun
Facts:
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Once nurse logs have completely
decayed roots of colonnade trees may be far enough off the ground to walk
through
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500 tons of living biomass per
acre exist in temperate rainforests, the most biomass of any ecosystem on
earth.
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Nurse Log |
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We
Love Trees! |
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.JPG) |
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Hall of Mosses |
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HOMEPAGE
Website created
by Beth Guse, Megan Erickson, and Tracey Gilbert
University of
Wisconsin - Eau Claire, Geog 401
2003
