Embedded Files
Local History
Local History
This location was once was a prairie where many Native American tribes congregated. Tombstone Pass got its name because in 1871 a teenage boy working on a wagon train shot himself and was buried on the pass. The next summer, his mother made the journey to his grave and built a tombstone beside the trail for him. If you hike along the trail you can still see it. The site was also often used as a camping spot for people on the Santiam Toll Road.
Introduction to Tombstone Pass
Introduction to Tombstone Pass
Keep in mind as you watch the videos
Keep in mind as you watch the videos
Take notes using the community analysis pages for each site provided in the assignment. Remember at each site we are trying to determine whether we are seeing a mature forest or an early successional stage.
To determine this we will try to answer the following questions:
What is the structural complexity of this forest? Is every layer represented?
What is the species composition and diversity of this forest? Which species are here?
What are the soil conditions in this forest? How do they contribute to the diversity and complexity?
What is the relative age of this forest?
Specific Information
Specific Information
Ecoregion: Western Cascades Montane Highlands
Ecoregion: Western Cascades Montane Highlands
Altitude: 4,236 ft.
Altitude: 4,236 ft.
Precipitation: 76 inches per year (falls mostly as snow)
Precipitation: 76 inches per year (falls mostly as snow)
Keep in mind as you visit each location, the specific information listed for that area (ecoregion, elevation, rainfall, climate , soil, light, vegetation), and consider the various layers and plant species you will see.
Ground Cover -- dead organic matter covering the ground as well as the presence of mosses and herbaceous plants
Herbaceous Layer -- any plant 0-3 feet tall including woody plants (tree seedlings and shrubs) and ferns
Shrub Layer -- any woody plant (tree saplings and shrubs) or fern that are 3-15 feet tall
Understory -- any woody plant (small trees) that are between 15 feet tall and the tallest plants in that community
Canopy -- the tallest trees in the community
Overview of Tombstone Pass
Overview of Tombstone Pass
Keep in mind as you watch the video
Keep in mind as you watch the video
What time of year was this video recorded?
How is the precipitation different here than at House Rock?
What sorts of plants survive here under these conditions?
How do these conditions affect the rate of decomposition?
Herbaceous Plants Under the Snow
Herbaceous Plants Under the Snow
Rattlesnake Plantain
Bunchberry
Pipsissewa
Vanilla Leaf
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