Lake Blog

Lake Nottely is where I go to the lake back home in the North Georgia Mountains of Blairsville, Georgia. It is 4,180 acres in size with a shore line of 106 miles. Construction on the lake began on July 17, 1941 and was completed on January 14, 1942. Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Striped Bass, Hybrid Bass and Crappie, just to name a few of many, can all be found in Lake Nottely.

Sunflower Progress

My sunflower is on the right and has grown sooo much since the beginning of the process! There are two plants in my one container and I think it's definitely time to move them in a pot. I'm pretty sure my sunflower has reached it's maximum heigth because it's remained this tall for the last few weeks! 

Blood Sugar Graph (Negative Feedback Loop)

Blood Sugar

After the ingestion of a carbohydrate rich meal, blood glucose levels increase rapidly. Once the body detects these elevated blood glucose levels it releases insulin. Blood glucose levels peak and then fall off and insulin does the same, however insulin levels peak later than blood glucose. Once blood glucose levels reach normal again, it takes insulin a little bit longer to reach normal again. It is this lag time in normalization of insulin levels which gives us those sugar cravings after carbohydrate rich meals.

Leaf litter Decomposition (Ocmulgee Indian Moud Lab)

   Explanation of the Decomposition of Leaf litter 
    Decomposition of leaf litter is a major source of nutrients in forest ecosystems. As leaves are broken down by insect and microbial decomposers, organically-bound nutrients are released as free ions to the soil solution which are then available for uptake by plants.
    In most forests the major source of nutrients for trees is the process of decomposition. Decomposition refers to the processes that convert dead organic matter into smaller and simpler compounds. The products of complete decomposition are carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic ions (like ammonium or nitrate). Decomposition is mainly a biological process carried out by insects, worms, bacteria, and fungi both on the soil surface and in the soil.

   The rate of decomposition is influenced by many factors. Because decomposition is a biological process carried out primarily by bacteria and fungi, its speed will be affected by temperature and soil moisture. Generally decomposition increases exponentially with temperature.

    Decomposition is inhibited in very dry soils because bacteria and fungi dry out. Decomposition is very slow in wet soils because anaerobic conditions develop in saturated soils. Anaerobic decomposition is less efficient than aerobic and as a result is slower. Decomposition proceeds fastest at intermediate water contents.

Community Gardens

A community garden is a single piece of land gardened collectively  by a group of people. In this week's lab we got to visit the community garden at Centenary United Methodist Church. Mark Vanderhook talked with us about the garden's importance and purpose. There are many advantages of community gardens. A few of these advantages are listed below:
1.) Community gardens gives gardening space to those who live in apartments, have yards that are not garden friendly or live in cities.
2.) These gardens create friendships and build community spirit.Garden tips and advice can be shared by gardeners that will benefit in the raising of crops.
3.) Gardeners often share their crops that they have more produce than they can use.
4.) With the high cost of gasoline communities can help out by raising their own crops without the use of large machinery.
5.) Gardening is environmentally friendly and with people raising more crops and plants it helps balance out the negative effects of population and pollution.
6.) Most community gardens encourage organic growing methods. This is better for the environment and the food that is produced is healthier for humans and animals.
       It was also very interesting to learn about how harmful and prevalent lead contamination is in urban soil and the effect it has on gardens. I have attached a link below that includes an article explaining one farmer's difficulty with lead contamination in the soil.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/garden/14lead.html?pagewanted=all

Soil Type: Andisols

Andisols are soils that have formed in volcanic ash. They differ from those of other orders in that they typically are dominated by glass and short-range-order colloidal weathering products such as allophane, imogolite, and ferrihydrite. Globally, Andisols are the least extensive soil order and only account for ~1% of the ice-free land area. They occupy ~1.7% of the US land area, including some very productive forests in the Pacific Northwest region. Below is a map of andisols eight suborder's distribution in the U.S.

I have also included a link to an article below which is about infiltration rate in andisols and the effect of changes in vegetation cover.

http://www.jswconline.org/content/61/3/153.abstract