Celebrating Scientific Research in a Bog, Grand Rapids MN (July 28, 2014)

The Place

Deep inside the Chippewa National Forest quietly resides the Marcell Experimental Forest where scientists from government agencies and universities monitor and conduct studies about the environment, forestry, soils, hydrology and climate.  One such experiment is looking at the effect of temperature changes in a beautiful bog there.  Leslie’s fiancé, Natalie, is one of the scientists doing research there and she gave us a tour of part of the study area. 

Peat in its Natural Form

In our tour, we learned that a bog is a wetland area where the water is provided by rainfall (not a natural stream or other water source) and that the water doesn’t really run off, it just hangs around.  This bog is the home to Spruce and Tamarack trees; cranberries, blueberries, and other shrubs; and a variety of mosses. The organic matter decays and compacts and becomes peat – which has been burned to heat homes (particularly in historical novels) and can be purchased (after it has been dried) as peat moss from the garden store to supplement your garden soil.  And here I thought that bogs were only where ogres like Shrek lived.

The (Soon-to-Be) Mighty Mississippi

Grand Rapids has two claims to fame that are perhaps more well-known.  The town gets its name from rapids located in the Mississippi River that runs through town.  They have built a hydroelectric dam at the fall line.  The river is quite narrow here and very different looking from the powerful river that bisects our country further south.  Perhaps more importantly to some, Grand Rapids is the birthplace of Judy Garland.  They have her childhood home and a museum in town, and a mural of the Wizard of Oz crew painted on the side of a building.

The Adventure

The research that Natalie and other scientists are working on is in the beginning phases.  Scientists are still gathering baseline data, and building the structures where they will conduct the experiments.  When it is completed, they hope that over the next 10 years to be able to record the effect of increased temperatures and increased levels of carbon dioxide in the bog.  They are isolating sections of the bog with domes over them, and walls running many feet into the soil.  They will heat the different sections to different temperatures above the ambient temperature and document what happens.  They will measure the changes in gasses and chemicals in the air and in the water.  They will measure how quickly roots grow.  They will record changes to the plants.  And that is just a sampling of the many, many experiments that are being conducted in these carefully created sections of the bog.

 

Why are they doing this?  They want to understand what will happen to plant life with increases in temperature and carbon dioxide.  They are looking at the vulnerability to these organisms to climate change.  

What we saw was very serious science on a grand scale.  It covers a large area, and each of the sections have been meticulously designed and engineered.  While the project is managed by the US Government, universities are able to put their related experiments into each section as well.  There is a lot of collaboration and sharing of data and ideas.  This is truly science for the greater good.  If you would like to learn more about this project – here is their website http://mnspruce.ornl.gov/

A Pitcher Plant in a Nearby Fen, Which is Different from a Bog