Option C — Field Botany

Req 8c1 — Observing a Natural Area

8c1.

Visit a park, forest, Scout camp, or other natural area near your home. While you are there:

All three sub-requirements (a, b, c) are completed on the same visit—or a series of visits to the same site. Go prepared: bring a field notebook, pencil, and a regional plant field guide or plant ID app. Take photos to jog your memory later, but write observations down on the spot too. You cannot reconstruct what you didn’t record.

Requirement 8c1a

8c1a.

Visit a park, forest, Scout camp, or other natural area near your home. While you are there Determine which species of plants are the largest and which are the most abundant. Note whether they cast shade on other plants..

Largest means greatest physical size—height, canopy spread, or trunk diameter for trees; overall mass for shrubs and ground cover. The largest plant on your site is usually a single dominant individual. The most abundant is the species whose individuals you see most often—it may be far smaller than the biggest tree.

Walk the site in a systematic pattern (e.g., a grid or concentric circles) so you don’t just notice the most obvious plants at the entrance. In a forest, the tallest trees almost certainly form the canopy layer and cast the most shade. The question is whether that shade changes what grows underneath. Note:

Which canopy trees let in dappled light vs. deep shade
Whether shade-tolerant species (ferns, wild ginger, trillium) cluster under the dense canopy
Whether sun-loving species (grasses, wildflowers) appear in gaps, edges, or openings

Record species names (even if provisional), relative abundance (dominant, common, occasional, rare), and whether each species appears to be a light demander or shade tolerant.

Requirement 8c1b

8c1b.

Using information from maps, textbooks, or the internet, describe the environmental factors that may influence the presence of plants on your site, including latitude, climate, air and soil temperature, soil type and pH, geology, hydrology, and topography.

This requirement is research-based—you gather information from outside sources and then connect it to what you saw on the ground. Work through each factor:

Latitude and climate: Your latitude determines day length and average temperature range across the year—these set the basic plant hardiness zone. Check the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map for your county.

Air and soil temperature: Minimum winter temperatures limit which species can survive. Soil temperature in spring controls when seeds germinate and when roots become active.

Soil type and pH: Sandy soils drain fast and stay dry; clay soils compact and hold water. Acidic soils (pH < 6) favor heaths, oaks, and pines; neutral to alkaline soils favor many garden vegetables and grasses. Soil survey data for your county is available free from the NRCS Web Soil Survey (websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov).

Geology: Limestone bedrock produces alkaline soils; granite produces acidic soils. Serpentine (ultramafic) rock produces soils toxic to most plants but supportive of specialized endemic flora.

Hydrology: Where water flows, pools, or drains affects which plants survive. Wetland species tolerate flooded soils; upland species cannot.

Topography: South-facing slopes receive more sun and are warmer/drier; north-facing slopes are cooler and moister. Hilltops are windier and drier; valleys accumulate cold air and frost.

Write your description as a paragraph (or organized list) that links each factor to your specific site and explains how it contributes to the plant community you observed.

Official Resources

Environmental Factors Affecting Plant Growth (website) Oregon State Extension's overview of the key abiotic factors—light, temperature, water, soil, and more—that determine which plants succeed in a given location. Link: Environmental Factors Affecting Plant Growth (website) — https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/techniques/environmental-factors-affecting-plant-growth

Requirement 8c1c

8c1c.

Record any differences in the types of plants you see at the edge of a forest, near water, in burned areas, or near a road or railroad.

These are all edge or disturbance habitats—places where conditions differ from the undisturbed interior. They typically host different species than the core habitat because:

Forest edges receive more sunlight, wind, and temperature fluctuation than the interior. Look for brambles (blackberry, raspberry), young trees of edge-tolerant species (box elder, eastern red cedar), and invasive shrubs like Japanese barberry or multiflora rose.
Near water (stream banks, pond margins): expect moisture-loving species—willows, alders, sedges, rushes, touch-me-nots, and native ferns. Soil is often saturated seasonally.
Burned areas: fire-adapted and early-successional species colonize quickly—fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium), native grasses, and nitrogen-fixing plants like clover. Look for patterns based on fire intensity (hotter areas may still be bare; cooler margins show vigorous regrowth).
Roadsides and railroads: These corridors spread exotic invasive species—garlic mustard, Queen Anne’s lace, chicory, purple loosestrife. Salt, compaction, and mowing also shape what survives here.

For your field notebook, record the specific location (edge of the trail near the creek, burned patch in the southwest corner), the plants you observed, and what you think explains their presence there.