Hyland Lake Park Reserve
Johnny Greavu
PSTL 1112
Jesse Kroese
July 5, 2015
Field Report #3
Hyland Lake Park Reserve
The 1,000-acre Hyland Lake Park Reserve, in Bloomington, features lowland floodplain forest, upland hardwood forest, prairie, oak savanna, wetland, and aquatic habitats. It is one of 20 parks in the Three Rivers Park District, a park and trail system for the suburban Twin Cities. The location used to be a farm, but around 1950 was turned into a park. Glacial melting formed the park’s many kettle lakes and ponds, and a glacier is also responsible for the giant ridge (now used as a ski jump) at the adjacent Hyland Ski &
Snowboard Area. The multitude of habitats and the vast protected area make it home to a lot of different species.
At Hyland Lake, there are numerous planted paper birch (Betula papyrifera) trees in floodplain forest and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the intersection of floodplain and prairie. Often confused because of their similar smooth white bark, these are most easily distinguished by their leaves. Leaves of quaking aspen are more rounded with duller teeth than paper birch. Their leaves also tremble in the wind (hence its quaking name).
Quaking aspens have survived temperatures of -314 degrees F in the lab and are the
HYLAND LAKE PARK RESERVE
GREAVU
!1
largest living organisms in the world. Cloning itself through its roots, a quaking aspen in
Utah has the world record of 47,000 trunks spanning 0.166 square miles! The entire clonal colony is estimated to be anywhere from 80,000 to 1,000,000 years old, based on its current growth rate. Another way to distinguish the two is that the paper birch’s bark will easily peel off and curl. Native Americans used this bark to make canoes and baskets. The quaking aspen is much more of a generalist than the paper birch, as it will grow in wet or dry and rocky or sandy soil (it is the most broadly distributed tree in North America), while the paper birch needs moist soil.
Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) is
PSTL 1112
Jesse Kroese
July 5, 2015
Field Report #3
Hyland Lake Park Reserve
The 1,000-acre Hyland Lake Park Reserve, in Bloomington, features lowland floodplain forest, upland hardwood forest, prairie, oak savanna, wetland, and aquatic habitats. It is one of 20 parks in the Three Rivers Park District, a park and trail system for the suburban Twin Cities. The location used to be a farm, but around 1950 was turned into a park. Glacial melting formed the park’s many kettle lakes and ponds, and a glacier is also responsible for the giant ridge (now used as a ski jump) at the adjacent Hyland Ski &
Snowboard Area. The multitude of habitats and the vast protected area make it home to a lot of different species.
At Hyland Lake, there are numerous planted paper birch (Betula papyrifera) trees in floodplain forest and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the intersection of floodplain and prairie. Often confused because of their similar smooth white bark, these are most easily distinguished by their leaves. Leaves of quaking aspen are more rounded with duller teeth than paper birch. Their leaves also tremble in the wind (hence its quaking name).
Quaking aspens have survived temperatures of -314 degrees F in the lab and are the
HYLAND LAKE PARK RESERVE
GREAVU
!1
largest living organisms in the world. Cloning itself through its roots, a quaking aspen in
Utah has the world record of 47,000 trunks spanning 0.166 square miles! The entire clonal colony is estimated to be anywhere from 80,000 to 1,000,000 years old, based on its current growth rate. Another way to distinguish the two is that the paper birch’s bark will easily peel off and curl. Native Americans used this bark to make canoes and baskets. The quaking aspen is much more of a generalist than the paper birch, as it will grow in wet or dry and rocky or sandy soil (it is the most broadly distributed tree in North America), while the paper birch needs moist soil.
Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) is