Procedure

FIELD INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE

Choose a tree to observe and collect data from. Using the Epicollect project “Tree Health”, record this tree’s field number, location, common name (e.g. Honey Locust), and circumference (at chest height) in centimeters.
Take photos of the leaves, branches, bark, entire tree and other details like tree fruit, flowers or seeds which will help with the identification. Collect a leaf from the tree and record important information about the leaf (such as color, shape, holes, galls, etc).

Set up a lichen observation rectangle using the yarn, push pins, and a sheet of (8.5 x 11) paper.
One person holds the sheet of paper at chest height against the trunk of the tree. The second person will push the push pins into the tree just outside the corners of the paper.
Remove the paper. Wrap the yarn around the push pins to make a rectangle the size of the paper.
Decide who will be responsible for recording lichen data using a tablet and who will be responsible for completing the datasheets.
Take a picture of the observation rectangle and rate the amounts of each lichen type (crusty, leafy, or bushy) using the magnifying glass if need be.
Collect samples of tree bark with different colonies of lichen for future reference.
Remove the yarn and pushpins. Now examine the entire tree.
Rate its condition with excellent (meaning the tree has no leafless/broken branches, the bark is uniform, the leaves are not discolored and they have no holes), good (meaning the tree may have some missing leaves/bark or some of the leaves are slightly discolored), fair (meaning the tree has a noticeable amount of missing leaves/bark, leafless/broken branches, and discolored leaves), poor (meaning the tree has a significant amount of missing leaves/bark, leafless/broken branches, damaged and discolored leaves).
Take into account the health of the bark, leaves, branches, and base of the tree. Record any other observations you make about the tree.

After data collection about tree is complete, designate an area near the tree (approximately 2-3 ft from the base) where your soil will be collected. Try to avoid collecting soil filled with mulch or stones.
Remove any debris on top and try not to disturb the vegetation.
With your soil corer, insert and twist until you are able to get far enough down to obtain a decent amount of soil. If you're using a hand shovel, dig until you're able to get below the surface.
Take a picture of the soil you have dug up in Epicollect.
Have your partner get out a soil sample bag for soil chemistry and write the date, initials and field number.
Carefully transfer your soil to the bag with the use of a knife, trying not to lose any of your sample in the process.
Once your soil has been transferred, roll down the top of your bag two to three times before folding the ends over.
Collect a sample for soil texture in a tall glass jar. Fill the jar halfway with soil and label it with field number date and initials.
In Epicollect, record the date and time.
Proceed to the next tree for more data collection, repeating all of the "Field Procedure" steps at every visited area.

Using the leaves collected from the field, paint a thick coat of clear nail polish on the underside of each leaf.
Wait several minutes for them to dry.
Stick a piece of transparent tape over the area of each leaf that has the nail polish on it.
Gently remove the tape from the leaves. You should see a cloudy impression of the leaf surface on the tape.
Tape each leaf impression to a clean microscope slide (clean slides with alcohol and paper towel if dirty). Write the field number of the corresponding tree and recorders’ initials on each leaf impression slide.
Focus your leaf impression under 400x magnification (10x from the eyepiece lens, 40x from the objective lens) until you can identify the stomata.
Move your leaf impression until you have an area that includes the model throughout the field of view.
Count and record the stomata for three areas of each leaf. Calculate the average number of stomata and write it down on the Leaf Stomata datasheet.
Remember to repeat these steps for each leaf that was collected.

For the soil texture samples collected, add 1/8 teaspoon of dish soap to the tall glass jar containing your soil sample.

Remove any debris on top and try not to disturb the vegetation.
Now add water to the lip of your glass jar containing your soil sample.
Place your lid on your glass jar and be sure it's secure.
Shake the jar for approximately 5 minutes.
Allow the jar to sit undisturbed for at least 24 hours.
At the end of the 24 hours, measure the total depth (in mm) of your settled soil with a ruler. You may want to use a flashlight to illuminate the layers.
Next measure the thickness of settled sand (the bottom layer)
Now measure the thickness of the settled silt (middle layer)
Subtract the sand and silt depths from the total sample depth to find the depth of settled clay.

For the soil chemistry samples, label a short glass jar for each sample with the date collected, field number, test type (chemistry) and initials.
Open your soil bag and fill a short film canister with the soil. Transfer that soil to the labeled short glass jar.
Now fill the film canister with distilled water five times, each time pouring the water into the short glass jar that the soil is in.
Close the short glass jar and shake well for 1 minute. Allow the short glass jar to sit undisturbed for at least 30 minutes.
Using the rest of the soil in the soil bag, begin the pH test using the RapiTest kit and instructions.
Once the solution in the short glass jar has sat, open the jar and begin the phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium tests using the Luster Leaf RapiTest kit and instructions.

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