Good morning digi-adventurers!
Submitted by mpengilly on Mon, 2017-06-19 00:00
We are starting our week of Adventure Learning with a discussion of Ecosystem Services and Social-Ecological Systems. These will be our guiding themes for the week so it’s important to understand what they mean. There are a few quick videos on Ecosystem Services posted under the Assignments tab.
Another common thread throughout the week will be restoration and indigenous knowledge. We’ll begin exploring these themes today at Benewah Creek at the southern end of the Lake Coeur d’Alene watershed. Stephanie Hallock, Habitat Biologist for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, will give us a tour of a restoration site they have been working on since 2000.
This afternoon we’ll be testing the water quality of Benewah Creek at the Tribal restoration site. You can find the data sheets that we’ll be using under the Resources tab, titled Water Quality Field Trip Guide.
Your assignments for today are:
- If you haven’t already, post an introductory video on Flipgrid (enter grid code 8v4c9nt)
- Look into Ecosystem Services and Social-Ecological Systems
- Are you familiar with these terms?
- What ecosystem services do you value most in your watershed? Post a picture!
- Learn about the Benewah Creek restoration project: http://www.cdatribe-nsn.gov/LakeMngmt/Programs/BenewahCreekProgram.aspx
- The stream restoration work being done on the creek will likely increase habitat quality for many animals, what are some specific species?
- Read through the water quality field trip curriculum posted to the resources page
- What are your experiences with water quality testing?
- Do you consider the water in your region to be “healthy”? What are specific water quality issues in your area?
- What water bodies are near your school where you could take students?
- Respond to other blog posts! Get outside and post an observation to iNaturalist!
Have a great day,
Marie
Comments
Most valued ecosystem service
Good Morning - I have uploaded a recent photo fishing on Kelso Lake in a 12 foot aluminum boat with an electric motor. As a kid and young adult, I spent time fishing Minnesota lakes with my family. I love lake fishing, anchored near lily pads, hearing a chorus of bullfrogs.
The second photo of a team of my biology students was taken last fall during the field trip to Spirit Lake - just a few miles from our high school - for standing water data collection as part of the biology classes Water Quality Project (Big thanks to Marie Pengilly for joining us). It is important for students to become more aware of water quality issues in our watershed and then to become involved in decreasing sources of nutrient pollution.
Valuing Ecosystem Services
Williams Lake in Salmon, Idaho is a recreational place in which people can camp, boat, fish, bird-watch, observe wildflowers, and perform other activities. However, on the far west end of the lake there is an area which appears to be filling in with sediment. The lake is large but the sediment issue appears to slowly increase with years of time. According to the Lemhi County Museum link provided, residents on Williams Lake have contributed to water quality deterioration and therefore the fishery by allowing leaching of waste into the lake. In addition, mountain road erosion has contributed to adding sediment to the lake. In recent years after 2003, Williams lake residents began containing septic wastes more effectively. The lake currently continues to be a popular and economically valuable recreation area in the Salmon National Forest. The monitoring and management of Williams Lake is important for the continuing availability of this cultural ecosystem service.
http://www.lemhicountymuseum.org/about-us/now-then/williams-lake/
Lucky
We are so lucky here in the West to have close proximity to an abundance of natural resources. Of course, we have to be aware and live sustainably within this ecosystem, but imagine folks who live in densely populated urban areas where the balance of sustainability is so far off that they have little interaction or appreciation for natural systems and ecosystem services. A place where uneven sidewalk or a pothole may seem like the world has gone awry!
Coming from a very urban area
Coming from a very urban area, to North Idaho, your post resonated with me. I understand that I have a responsibility to be ecologically responsible and promote sustainable practices, yet when presented with resource distribution and access to green space and acceptable water quality, a lot of individuals do not have access to these things or perhaps an understanding of their place juxtapose their ecosystem. Anyway, I liked your post, and it got me thinking about how I need to increase my knowledge comcerning our local ecosystems. I feel lucky as well! :)
Urban area
i grew up in Cleveland Ohio and even there, people valued outdoor resources(check out their Cleveland metropolitan parks system). Granted there are no mountains but still some incredible scenic places. I think areas that are developed or have a large number people living in them or in close proximity to them have learned to protect the area. My big complaint to government agencies, BLM, Forest Service is once they are developed, you will never get them back to their original beauty.
Water Quality/Photos?
Logically, I’d have to say that the ecosystem services I value most from my watershed (Lake Coeur d’Alene) are clean water to drink and shower with, although I love swimming in the lake (a little later in the summer when it’s not quite so cold!) and hiking around it. At school (I teach in Wallace), we walk to the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River in front of the visitor’s center to do water quality testing, using the same forms the on-site adventurers used today. (I took Jim Ekin’s IDAH2O training a couple years ago.) The juniors in my environmental science class love going to the river to do water quality testing, although since it’s hard for me to monitor how every group is running each test, I’m thinking of giving a quiz before they actually run the tests to better ensure they’re performing them correctly. The tests indicate pretty good health, although it might be interesting to do some more in depth testing.
If anyone got pictures of the restoration site today, please share them! It would be great to have some visuals to show students, but the website doesn’t have many photos of the actual river and restoration. Thanks!