Forest Ecology-- April 30, 2025

Forest Ecology: Unit 17 in your textbook (optional quiz)

Rick Travis, BPTMN class of 2018, Chapter President

Read Rick's BIO

1. Make sure that you have recorded ALL CLASSES in VMS.

2. Look through Unit 17 in your textbook. optional quiz

3. Watch this short video First Steps in Tree ID  (11:22) You will need your copy of the Tree ID brochure. If you didn't get one in last week's class, download and print a copy: Trees of North Texas: Key to the Broadleaf Trees 

4. Take the Tree ID quiz, using your brochure as a guide.

5. Watch these videos covering "An Introduction to Our North Texas Woodlands". NOTE: these cover a great deal of information, so we recommend watching one at a time, maybe one each day.  This info will NOT be covered in class. 

Part One: Forest Ecology and the Benefits of Trees (17:53)

Part Two: Native Tree Species (about 37 minutes)

Part Three: Understory Trees (about 19 minutes)

6. Read this article on Rick's Tree Surveys: Park by Park reprinted from the Elm Fork TMN Chapter newsletter.

7. Try the interactive Tree ID guide. It is the information from the brochure converted into an interactive slide deck. It will open in Google Slides. To begin, click the SLIDESHOW button in top right corner. Then, each page will have clickable buttons to take you to the next step of the key, or to go back, or start at the beginning. (click ESCAPE to get out of the interactive deck.) Note: If you want something to use on your phone, it is recommended that you use this interactive guide rather than the brochure.

Optional Activities

Take the brochure (or the interactive Tree ID guide slide deck) outside and see if you can identify some trees!

Bring your Tree ID Brochure to class with you. Dress for a walk in the woods.

If you "adopted" one of the Texas Yellow Star plants, please bring the empty pot back for Jean.

Logging Hours

Make sure that you have recorded last week's attendance in VMS.

(If you missed class, contact your pod guides to schedule a make-up.)     

Opportunity: Init Training-Class 12    

Date: April 23, 2025   

Hours: 3.0 

Description: Prairie Ecology & Soil Science with Brandon Belcher & Lorelei Stierlen

If you are working on a presentation, log your preparation hours in VMS

      Opportunity:  BPTMN:  Community Presentations
      Date: (date of your preparation work)
      Hours:  (actual hours of preparation or presentation, to the nearest quarter hour)
      Description:  (describe what you did and its purpose) example: Preparation for presentation: "First Steps in Tree ID" to be presented on May 7 to the 2025 Class

Friday, April 25th - Monday, April 28: City Nature Challenge

See event dates and locations on the class calendar and listed below. Sign up on the SUG.

All events should be logged as Volunteer Service Hours, whether you go out on your own or with one of the organized outings:

Opportunity: BPTMN: Blackland Prairie iNaturalist Project: Field Research Hours

Date: ACTUAL DATE

Hours: You should count your time at the event, plus travel time. If you spend additional time at home editing your pictures and entering your observations, you should include that as well. 

Description: Went to PLACE.  Took pictures and made observations for entry into iNaturalist

Volunteer Service (VH) Opportunities

• Chapter BioBlitz at Hoblitzelle Park - April 25th, 9am-noon

• Pod 6's BioBlitz at Hickory Hills - April 26th, 9-11am

• Chapter BioBlitz at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve - April 26th, 10:30am-12:30pm

• Pod 1's BioBlitz at Prairie Creek Wetlands & Wildscape - April 26th, 1-3pm

• Pod 9's BioBlitz at Grand Park - April 26th, 3-6pm

• Pod 8's BioBlitz at Oak Point Park - April 26th, 6-8pm

• Mothing BioBlitz at Grand Park - April 26th, 7-10pm

• Pod 5's BioBlitz at Dayspring Nature Preserve - April 27th, 10am-noon

• Pod 2's BioBlitz at Shoreline Trail - April 27th, 1-3pm

• Pod 7's BioBlitz at Taychas Trail - April 27th, 1-3pm

• Pod 3's BioBlitz at Recreation Center at Towne Lake - April 27th, 3-5pm

• Chapter BioBlitz at Erwin Park - April 28th, 9am-noon

• Chapter BioBlitz at Raymond Park - April 28th, 2-5pm

• How Trees Talk to Each Other - recorded Ted Talk

• Texas Oak Wilt Rising - 6 minute video

• The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate―Discoveries from A Secret World - book 1 of the The Mysteries of Nature Series

• BONAP - The Biota of North America Plant Atlas

• Discover Life: ID Nature Guides

• Flora of North America ID Keys for many plants

• Go Botany pictorial glossary Hands down, the most helpful guide to decoding botanical keys

• Plants of the World Online iNaturalist's authority for accepted botanical names

• SFASU Dendrology Detailed information on dozens of trees, plus many helpful resources for trees

• Virginia Tech Dendrology Another helpful tree resource

• A Field Guide to Texas Trees – book by Benny J. Simpson

• The Illustrated Book of Trees – book by William Carey Grimm

• Trees of Texas Field Guide – book by Stan Tekiela 

• Texas Trees – book by Howard Garrett

• Beneficial Trees for Wildlife: Forestry and Plant Materials Technical Note – USDA

• Texas A&M Forest Service “Trees of Texas” - website for tree ID

• Ladybird Johnson Wildlife Center Plant Database - searchable website

WEEK THIRTEEN CLASS UPDATE

I hope you enjoyed last night's class with Brandon and Lorelei (plus Patty's Bingo 🙂). I added the links we discussed on the Resources page of the class website. Just scroll down to "Week Twelve extras". 

Week Thirteen (April 24-30):

I can't believe that we are already gearing up for week 13! Next week is a lab class. What does that mean? It means that most of our time will be spent outside and with hands-on tree ID. The only "lecture" will be a short wrap-up on NTX trees at the end. 

Soooo...where does the curriculum come in? In your pre-work! Like Rick said last night, it is imperative that you watch all 4 videos prior to class and get familiar with the tree ID brochure. The videos range in length from 11 to 37 minutes, and every minute is relevant. Rick and Lisa did a good job of paring down their wealth of knowledge into these really fantastic digestible chunks. (Hmmm...rereading that makes me hungry) I would suggest following his advice and watch 1 per day to let it soak in.

We will be walking outside for over an hour, so be sure to wear appropriate shoes, long pants, bug spray, etc.

Please note that we will be starting the walks at 6pm with no 10-minute intro from me. Plan to arrive by 5:50pm next week to drop your things on the table and join your group outside.

EOC Presentations & Projects on May 7th:

The deadline for signing up for the EOC presentations and projects is April 30th. We have 9 of 12 presentation slots filled. If you have an idea but haven't signed up, use the SUG. Logging hours info can be found on week 13's webpage.

If you are doing a presentation, please send me your PPT slides by May 6th.

Graduation Celebration on May 14th:

Don't forget to RSVP for our graduation celebration! The SUG list will help us gauge how many pizzas to order. Remember that you are welcome to bring 1 guest with you. If you would like to bring more guests, we ask that you make a small donation ($4) to offset the event costs. We'll have a collection envelope available at classes 13 and 14.

BioBlitzes THIS weekend:

This weekend will be our BioBlitz...well, blitz. These events are a lot of fun. If your schedule doesn't allow you to attend very many of the slated events, you can always iNat on your own! Our 4-day observation count is what matters and our goal is to pass last year's numbers. Your observations just need to be made within the following counties: Collin, Hunt, Dallas, Denton, Fannin, Grayson, or Rockwall.

Texas Stream Team volunteer training - locations update:

We've got the locations narrowed down. If interested, contact Brittany at shioko@gmail.com. She will get you connected with the trainers assigned for each date.

Wed, April 30th 8:30-12:30 in Prosper

OR Thu, May 29th 8:30-12:30 in Frisco

Helpful links:

Field Trips SUG

Snack Sign-up SUG

End-of-Class Presentations & Projects SUG

VHAT calendar

Class of 2025 calendar

TMN ListServ email signup

Graduation Celebration SUG

See you next week,

Nancy

Nancy Casillas, Training Director

Texas Master Naturalist, Blackland Prairie Chapter

nancyc@bptmn.org

214-725-2309