Inside The World Of

Ravines

Jessie B. Pink

Background on Ravines

Plants Of Concern (P.O.C)

Mentors

Project

Agenda

A landform narrower than a canyon and is often produced by

stream-cutting erosion. Ravines are typically larger in scale than

gullies, landforms created on hillsides by running water erosion,

but smaller than valleys.

An unique ravine habitat can found alongside Illinois’ Lake

Michigan shore. The bluff and ravine systems associated within

Lake Michigan’s coastal plain are steep-sided, V shaped valleys

that create groundwater-fed growing conditions and

microclimates, which in turn make special communities of plants

and animals.

What Is A Ravine?

Photos of Ravines

Ravines can be home to:

Native Plants/Animals

Threatened And Endangered Species

Contain Water Ways

Environmental Benefits

Environmental Problems

Human Interactions with Ravines can cause:

Storm Water Runoff

Erosion

Invasive Species

Plants of Concern (POC) is composed of a diverse,

dedicated group of citizen scientist that monitor the

Chicago Wilderness region's rarest plants, assessing

trends in population. The organization is coordinated

by the Chicago Botanic Garden.

With Problems Comes Solutions

Determining the quality of ravine vegetation through meander

based sampling.

Meander based sampling is a new protocol based on the

Minnesota Flora Quality Assessment.

Jaileen and Rachel designed the new protocol to gather data

within one day; the old protocol that P.O.C used last year, plot

based sampling,took over 2 months.

Jaileen’s Project

New vs. Old

Meander Based Sampling vs. Plot Based Sampling

A special data sheet split into three sections: bluff, slope, and

table.

Meander Based Sampling Procedure

M.B.S.P Cont’d

Time each section

Divide into two groups

Each group obtains the special ravine data sheet

Group walks through the community of the ravine it was

assigned to and checks all the plant species found

At the end of each meander, record the cover class of each

species

If there are more than three new species ten minutes before the

set up time stops, add ten more minutes

Determining the quality of vegetation in a ravine through

meander base sampling (new protocol).

Looking at the consequences of erosion in a ravine through

plot base sampling (old protocol).

Working Side-By-Side

The purpose of this project is to assess the occurrence,

health, and stability of P.O.C plants populations in ravines.

How does ravine erosion impact plant populations?

Rare plant populations will be located in the ravine where

there is less erosion (lower quality).

Purpose/ Question/ Hypothesis

P.O.C Monitoring

Journal (Pencil/ Pen)

Colored Flags

GPS Tracking Model

Plants of Concern Ravine Color Guide

P.O.C Monitoring Procedure

Select a P.O.C plant to track throughout ravine.

Use colored flags to track selected plant.

Record data through P.O.C monitoring data sheet

(Make table in journal and tally up how many males and

females are in the selected plant population.)

Photos of P.O.C Monitoring Procedure

Photos of P.O.C Monitoring Procedure

Continued

Ravine Average Table

Ravines Ravine #1 Ravine #2

Average Erosion 1 0.92

Average Species Richness 126 164

Average Vegetation Score 11.056949.918475

Ravine #1’s Species RichnessRavine #1

Ravine #2’s

Species Richness

Ravine #2

Discussion

It’s important to save endangered species as they:

Play a huge role in biodiversity

Allow the ecosystem to function normally

Impact society

Where To Go From Here?

- Is old reliable still old and reliable?

- Time for a new method in collecting plant

populations data?

- Should merging the two methods be considered?

References

Baker, William, and David Mladenoff. Spatial Modeling of Forest Landscape

Change. United Kingdom: Cambridge University, 1999. Print.

Himelick, E.B., and Kenneth Robertson. The Preservation And Management Of

Vegetation In Ravines In Highland Park, Illinois. 1997. Print.

Goad, Rachel. "P.O.C Information." Personal interview. 15 July 2014.

Merced, Jaileen. "P.O.C Information." Personal interview. 15 July 2014.