| Biological
Sciences
Wildlife
On December 12, beginning at 8:00 am, Park staff and volunteers
will conduct the annual Christmas Bird Count. This will be Wind
Cave National Park’s tenth annual count and is patterned after
the nationwide National Audubon Society effort to document trends
in wintering birdlife throughout the United States. The area covered
will be a 15 mile circle centered on the Ranking Ridge fire tower.
This area includes all of Wind Cave National Park and portions of
the Black Hills National Forest and Custer State Park. This effort
is conducted annually to aid in documenting winter birdlife in the
park and surrounding area, provide information for the park avian
databases, provide information to the South Dakota Ornithological
Union, and to enjoy time with friends. Those participating should
bring a lunch, warm clothes, field guides, binoculars, spotting
scope and something to share for dinner, as at the end of the day
participants will meet at the VIP center for a Pot Luck dinner and
compilation of bird lists. All are invited to participate and any
additional questions may be directed to Dan Roddy at 745-1157.
Vegetation
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), a popular Christmas plant, is
a close relative of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.), a very unpopular
exotic weed that occurs at Wind Cave National Park. Poinsettia,
a native of Mexico, was introduced into the United States in 1825,
and today is commercially grown in all 50 States. It is widely believed
to be poisonous, however the American Medical Association’s
Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants, states that other than
occasional cases of vomiting, ingestion of the poinsettia plant
has been found to produce no effect.
Leafy spurge, was introduced into the United States from Eurasia
around 1827, and has been documented in 35 States across the country.
This species is considered toxic to cattle, although sheep and goats
may eat it following an acclimation period with little or no harm.
Leafy spurge’s extensive root system containing large nutrient
reserves makes it extremely difficult to control. Fortunately, biological
control agents such as flea beetles have been successful in controlling
and reducing infestations.
The Park has several small infestations of leafy spurge, but is
too far north for poinsettia to occur in the wild, which requires
a much warmer climate. The park also has several native spurge species.
Physical Sciences
Cave and Karst
It has been a general perception that airflow in Summer Avenue in
Wind Cave always seems to blow towards the Crossroads, whether or
not the cave is blowing in or out. To obtain some instrument readings
to either help support or refute this observation, Dr. Andreas Pflitsch
just completed a one week airflow test. Although preliminary at
this point, because we have not tried the test during different
seasons, it appears that everyone's perception was correct. At least
during this one-week test, which covered several high and low pressure
events, the airflow continuously flowed towards the Crossroads at
an average wind speed of 1.64 feet/second (1.1 mph) with an average
temperature of 53.96 degrees Fahrenheit. Over the course of the
week, the temperature gradually decreased as it got colder outside,
however, the wind direction never changed.
Dr. Pflitsch
is now conducting another experiment at the Walk-In Entrance. He
is asking that no one use the revolving door or go to the top of
the stairs from inside the cave until March. If anyone has an emergency
reason for using this door during this time period, please report
that use to someone in the Physical Science staff soon thereafter.
Resource
Data Management
Most park employees using ArcGIS software have updated to the new
version, 9.0. This will make some of the daily tasks easier to perform
and offers some new tools. Plus a new addition called "Arc
Globe" is available which allows you to look at and 'fly' around
the world on your screen.
Some of the
folks in the fire world still need to run previous software versions
so their custom software will still operate. We've accommodated
users of both versions of the software by running two license servers
from the GIS Data computer. Dawn has been busy working on two computers
in the resource area. These machines will have Arc 9.0 installed
on them if you'd like to come by and take a look.
If you have any questions on our GIS program or are interested in
installing the software or taking online classes stop by the resource
shop and we'll do what we can to help out.
Comments and
feedback about Resource Ramblings are encouraged and can be made
to Dan Foster, in person, or via email.
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Wind Cave National Park Resource Management News Briefs
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