| Evergreen
Vegetation - A Holiday Tradition
Evergreen trees dominate the forests and woodlands at Wind Cave
National Park. Outside the park, autumn brings the annual descent
of leaves from deciduous trees. Within the park, extensive stands
of ponderosa pine and Rocky Mountain juniper provide a welcome reminder
that all is not dead; warmer temperatures and deciduous vegetation
will return in spring.
Evergreen plants have long been a symbol of continuing life, and
are an important component of many winter holiday traditions. Sprigs
of evergreen holly are said to represent eternal life. A Christmas
wreath symbolizes the strength to overcome the forces of winter.
Christmas trees are considered symbols of a living Christmas spirit,
and bring the wonderful aroma of the forest into our homes. The
first lighted Christmas tree is attributed to Martin Luther, who
attached lighted candles to an evergreen to simulate the appearance
of the starlit heaven watching over Bethlehem on the very first
Christmas. According to legend, a Christmas tree affected the outcome
of the Revolutionary War of 1776. Hessian mercenaries were so reminded
of home by a candlelit evergreen tree that they abandoned their
posts to celebrate the season with food and drink. General Washington
attacked and defeated them that night, turning the tide for the
colonial forces.
You won’t find many of the traditional holiday evergreens
- balsam fir, mistletoe, holly - on the park’s plant list.
However, the park is home to several other evergreen plant species,
including black hills spruce, creeping juniper, common juniper,
fragile pricklypear, bigroot pricklypear, plains pricklypear, pincushion
cactus, yucca, cliff-brake, waxflower shinleaf, green shinleaf,
Oregon grape and bearberry. If you look beneath the standing, dead
vegetation, you might see the green of grasses and sedges taking
advantage of sunny days to conduct photosynthesis during the colder
months.
For additional green vegetation, we’ll have to wait for the
warmer temperatures, precipitation, and additional sunlight that
spring and summer provide. Marie Curtin.
GIS Training
The second week of December marked the third and final Geographic
Information System (GIS) training class for Wind Cave. Thanks to
everyone that could attend.
If you are interested in learning more about using GIS, consider
taking an online course through the Environmental Systems Research
Institute's Virtual Campus. This is a computer based class that
you can take at your own pace. The "Learning ArcGIS 9"
course is normally $175.00 but thanks to the Department of Interior
Agreement, the class is currently free.
To sign up for a class give Bill a call at extension 1149. Bill
Koncerak.
Continuing Cave Research
Dr. Andreas Pflitsch’s environmental monitoring experiments
continue to make interesting new discoveries. He recently documented
a pronounced pattern that is present at Wind Cave, but not at Jewel
Cave. He has demonstrated that wind blows primarily in to Wind Cave
during the winter and primarily out during the summer, a condition
not found at Jewel Cave. He also found that the average inward flow
velocity is quite stable in the summer in Wind Cave, but higher
during the winter, while the average outward flow velocity is almost
always higher than the inward velocity year-round. Additionally,
he found that the average mean temperature of air flowing outwards
at Wind Cave is quite stable, which is not the case at Jewel Cave.
He has also shown that Coyote Cave is probably not connected to
Wind Cave, however, the blowholes surrounding Wind Cave probably
are. This of course indicates that there is still undiscovered cave
outside the current boundaries of Wind Cave to be found. You will
see Dr. Pflitsch working on his experiments from time to time this
winter and then hopefully, you will also see one of his interns,
Andre Baumeister, working in Wind Cave for a couple of months from
mid January through mid March. He is currently waiting for a J1
Visa. Rod Horrock
Comments and
feedback about Resource Ramblings are encouraged and can be made
to Dan Foster, in person, or via email.
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