Lecture 10

Question 1

What is needed to open jack pine cones?

Answer 1

Fire (i.e. temperatures of at least 50C)

Question 2

How does fire benefit jack pines?

Answer 2

• Burns duff layer off the ground, exposing mineral soil to seeds
• burns vegetation on the ground, eliminating competition

Question 3

T/F: jack pines can form a climax forest

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Fire regenerates jack pines, creating habitat for this bird:

Answer 4

Spruce grouse

Question 5

Kirtland’s Warbler

Answer 5

• Endangered, found mostly in WBF

- Nest only in young jack pines (5-15 years)

Question 6

Why do fires occur (relatively) often in the WBF?

Answer 6

• Little precipitation
• Lots of lightning storms
• Flat land
• Hot winds from Prairies
• Conifers burn easily, since they have a lot of resin

Question 7

How many types of cones do black spruce have?

Answer 7

Two:

• cones on outer branches that open by themselves
• cones next to the trunk that need heat to open (semi-serotinous)

Question 8

Greater Yellowlegs are an indicator for this habitat (including in the BF):

Answer 8

Peatlands

Question 9

T/F: Mosquitoes are found in the BF, and lay their eggs on water

Answer 9

True

Question 10

These insects in the WBF fly around black spruce & jack pines while hunting:

Answer 10

Emerald dragonflies

Question 11

Western forms of these animals can be found in the WBF:

Answer 11

• Red-sided garter snakes

- Painted turtles

Question 12

How do western painted turtles differ from those elsewhere?

Answer 12

Pattern on their underside

Question 13

What are the two wilderness parks in the WBF? Why were they established?

Answer 13

• Woodland Caribou & Wabakimi Provincial Parks

- Established to protect caribou

Question 14

Which lady’s slipper likes warm, acidic conditions?

Answer 14

Pink lady’s slipper

Question 15

Blowdown

Answer 15

Trees fall due to wind and pile on top of each other

Question 16

Effects of fire

Answer 16

• Opens jack pine cones
• Removes duff layer
• Leaves dead trees that become habitat for cavity adopters
• Leaves organic material to be recycled

Question 17

Logging removes _____ from the ecosystem

Answer 17

calcium

Question 18

T/F: the WBF has a lot of peatlands and blackflies

Answer 18

F: it’s dry

Question 19

The Superior Boreal Forest (SBF) runs between ______ ___ and ____

Answer 19

Thunder Bay and Wawa

Question 20

T/F: Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world

Answer 20

True

Question 21

How do large bodies of water affect the temperature of an area?

Answer 21

• Absorb/hold heat, and release it slowly
• Makes winter temperatures warmer
• Buffer zone near the shore is warmer

Question 22

Lake Superior depresses summer temperatures, resulting in ______ ______

Answer 22

coastal summers

Question 23

What formation has the highest vertical rise in ON?

Answer 23

Sleeping Giant

Question 24

What two factors combine to result in cool summers in the SBF?

Answer 24

• Effects of Lake Superior

- Elevation

Question 25

Why can calciphilic plants grow on the shoreline of Lake Superior?

Answer 25

Some of the islands are volanic and contain basalt

Question 26

Butterwort

Answer 26

• carnivorous plant
• calciphile
• glacial relict
• found on rocks of basalt islands

Question 27

A disjunct population of this plant can be found in the SBF:

Answer 27

Alpine brook saxifrage

Question 28

What did rivers from glaciers leave behind?

Answer 28

• sorted materials
• boulders
• sand deposits

Question 29

This plant is only found on the shoreline of Lake Superior:

Answer 29

Beach pea

Question 30

American Dune Grass

Answer 30

• Colonizer, grows along shore of Lake Superior
• Disjunct population in SBF; mostly found along Hudson Bay
• Glacial relict

Question 31

There is a disjunct population (glacial relict) of this lady’s slipper on the north shore of Lake Superior:

Answer 31

Sparrow’s egg lady’s slipper