Biodiversity Breakdown of ECLP

 

 While we will only be exploring to the Genus level of identification, the target species was white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) given their environmental impact towards sites in Fairfax County.   Domain: Eukaryota – Organisms who have a nuclear envelope enclose their cellular nucleus. While not all Eukaryotes are multicellular, all multicellular organisms are found in Eukaryota . Kingdom:     Animalia  - Multicellular organisms that usually consume organic materials, respire aerobically, are capable of movement, and utilize a blastula during embryonic development. Phylum:     Chordata - animals that possess the following at some point during their development: a notochord, a dorsal neural tube, pharyngeal slits, a post-anal tail, and an endostyle. Class:     Mammalia – Mammals are identified through their ability for females to produce milk for feeding their young, a neocortex, fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. Order:     Artiodactyla – Known as the even-toed ung

 

For a little over a year now, I've been using the iNaturalist app to record species observations and aid me in expanding my ability to correctly identify species within ECLP. In particular, my knowledge of flowering herbaceous plants has been steadily growing as I've uploaded and researched what I've found. The app is very user friendly, with an easy to understand design and method for recording observations.  Pictures can be taken directly with the app, or uploaded indirectly. Before being included in databases (labeled research grade), your identification MUST be verified by another user.  This not only helps to reduce the amount of incorrectly labeled observations, but also works to connect users through their shared identification. I have begun to notice quite a few reoccurring usernames myself as we have both made suggestions and verified each other's observations! The app acts as a great tool to help communities connect with the ecosystem around them. Verified obs

 

  Follow this link to explore the web soil survey yourself.  I don't personally have much experience with soil, however I know that the health of an ecosystem is directly tied to the soil of the area. In particular, the web soil survey is useful to provide general information about the soil of a selected location (specifics require on-site investigation). It was interesting to quickly view potential areas of concern within ECLP. As was expected, the areas around the ball fields and operational buildings (visitor center, middlegate complex) had the highest erosion factors and lowest properties of good soil health. In particular these included: available organic matter, wind erodibility index, drainage capacity, and available water capacity. Given landscaping options, it helps to identify areas were generation of a buffer zone might be beneficial in preserving the soil capacity of our site. Use of the forestland productivity report was of interest to me in identifying the types of