Exploring the Beech Springs Nature Trail: A Quest

Experience a blend of nature and civilization on the Beech Springs Nature Trail next to the Parkway Visitor Center at milepost 266. This quest leads you to consider the benefits and consequences of places where nature merges with civilization. The QUESTions do not have right or wrong answers but hopefully will inspire you to learn more. If you would like additional information from a ranger, stop by the visitor center. Instructions: Start where the trail enters the woods next to the bench and the small sign near the ground that says “Oak Leaf Hydrangea”. This is the quest beginning. Background: The oak leaf hydrangea is a native to our continent. It is not as showy as the garden hydrangea bred for its huge snowball-like blooms. QUESTion 1: What are some of the reasons the National Park Service would plant the oak leaf hydrangea instead of the more showy garden hydrangea? Master QUESTion: (If you want more of a challenge.) On your walk, look for non-native plants and observe how they affect the native plants. As You Walk: 1. Observe all the levels of the forest; underground, ground level, understory (the layer between the ground and treetops), the treetops and the sky. You will find that each layer is a habitat of its own. 2. Watch for fungi. They are important decomposers of the ecosystem. Where are they growing? Where are they not growing? NOTE: Don’t count the green flaky, plant-like growths on tree trunks. Those are lichen, a combination of a fungus and an alga. They do not serve the same purpose as fungi. They do not decompose. 3. Look and listen for signs of animals. This natural area is home to several species of birds, amphibians, and reptiles. There are several species of small mammals and also deer. 4. Notice places where human intervention has changed the nature of the forest. Background: As you walk, you will see fallen trees. Unless they are blocking the trails, fallen trees are left where they fell. They create open spaces above and many changes below. QUESTion 2: Look closely at the forest floor where a tree fell, the understory, and then at the sky. What has happened to the area where a tree fell? How does a fallen tree affect the character of the forest? Instructions: Walk to the “Y” in the trail. Choose a direction on the path. Stop and think about the QUESTion for two minutes. QUESTion 3: How do the choices you make to live a convenient or extravagant life affect the natural world? Instructions: Continue along the trail in either direction (It’s a loop). Walk about 60 steps, stop and turn toward where you think the other branch of the trail would be. You will see a small valley between the trails. QUESTion 4: How do you think the needs of the trees, herbs, and shrubs on the tops of the hills differ from the trees at the bottom of the small valley? (Remember, in general plants need space, soil, water, and light.) Instructions: Walk to a bridge and stop. Do this at every bridge. Look down. Is there water? Sometimes there will be and sometimes there is not any water, but you can see where water once pooled. Along the trail there are no running streams, only wet weather streams and pooled water. QUESTion 5: How do you think the temporary nature of the water under the bridges affects the plants and animals that live in this nature area? Master QUESTion: How would aquatic insects and animals in temporary wet areas differ from those in permanent wet areas? Instructions: Walk farther along the trail. Background: Historically, when humans move into an area, some species of animals disappear from that area. Wolves, elk, and bears used to roam right where you are standing. Today, animals that use these woods are deer, foxes, raccoons, skunks, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. QUESTion 6: Did you see any signs of animals living here? What signs? Which animals? If not, why not? How did you feel about that? Master QUESTion: What happens to the predator/prey animal population balance of animals the closer they are to civilization? What consequences does that have? Instructions: Continue walking until you return to the Y where the trail splits. As you walked the trail, you saw a lot of different kinds of plants. Think about all the ways that seeds plants grow from can travel. Question 7: How do cars driving on the Parkway and the people walking on the trail affect the types of plants that grow on this trail? Instructions: Walk to where you can see where the trail ends and turn back to see where you have been. Background: Many thousands of years ago, no people lived in this area. People came in waves, first the American Indians, eventually the early European settlers, then the people of the industrialized and motorized ages. QUESTion 8: Think about what this place may have looked like before people came here. Do you think you would have wanted to visit then? Why or why not? Master Question: People often refer to changes in the environment as either natural or human-caused. Are humans a part of nature? When does human progress become detrimental?