IoES Critical Ecology Lab Practicum Team
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About Our Project
About Our Project
A snippet of Oxholm's 1778 map of Christiansted featuring Company's Quarter estate #5, estate Little Princess, commonly labeled Little Princesfe on the Dutch maps of the time.
source: Windmills of St. Croix, "1778 Oxholm Map of Little Princess"
Our team is collaborating with the Critical Ecology Lab to understand the effects of European colonial plantation systems on the physical, chemical, and biotic properties of soils on St. Croix–one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Croix is a former Danish colony that hosted over 200 sugar plantations in the 18th and 19th centuries and is representative of other Caribbean island colonies in terms of crop history, enslaved population size, and topographic features. Secondary tropical forests now occupy former plantation land, presenting an opportunity to study the long-term consequences of colonialism on islands. The biogeochemical impacts of colonial plantation systems are poorly understood but likely continue to affect the long-term ability of post-plantation ecosystems to recover to pre-disturbance conditions. More specifically, potential colonial impacts on soils and ecosystems soil health could influence carbon sequestration, sustainable plant growth, ecosystem support, and overall local human health. As such, we aim to help build an understanding of ecosystem and soil health across the globe, in the multitude of areas that experienced intensive farming plantation monocrops.
Our team is collaborating with the Critical Ecology Lab to understand the effects of European colonial plantation systems on the physical, chemical, and biotic properties of soils on St. Croix–one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Croix is a former Danish colony that hosted over 200 sugar plantations in the 18th and 19th centuries and is representative of other Caribbean island colonies in terms of crop history, enslaved population size, and topographic features. Secondary tropical forests now occupy former plantation land, presenting an opportunity to study the long-term consequences of colonialism on islands. The biogeochemical impacts of colonial plantation systems are poorly understood but likely continue to affect the long-term ability of post-plantation ecosystems to recover to pre-disturbance conditions. More specifically, potential colonial impacts on soils and ecosystems soil health could influence carbon sequestration, sustainable plant growth, ecosystem support, and overall local human health. As such, we aim to help build an understanding of ecosystem and soil health across the globe, in the multitude of areas that experienced intensive farming plantation monocrops.
Paper which reads, "Practicum Group is in 7127B, off the AOS admin office," our beloved meeting place throughout the quarters.
Over the 2023-24 academic year...
Over the 2023-24 academic year...
our team will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the impact of European colonial plantation systems on the island of St. Croix. We will conduct molecular and geospatial analyses to assess the relationship between historic plantation influence and modern ecosystem health on the island. This will consist of 1) analyzing environmental DNA (eDNA) samples from 17-20 former plantation sites to determine soil biochemistry and 2) utilizing remotely sensed satellite imagery to assess the topography, hydrology, and vegetation colonization of the land. Ultimately, we hope our research will inform future ecosystem restoration attempts and encourage sustainable ecological practices across regions historically impacted by colonial land practices.
our team will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the impact of European colonial plantation systems on the island of St. Croix. We will conduct molecular and geospatial analyses to assess the relationship between historic plantation influence and modern ecosystem health on the island. This will consist of 1) analyzing environmental DNA (eDNA) samples from 17-20 former plantation sites to determine soil biochemistry and 2) utilizing remotely sensed satellite imagery to assess the topography, hydrology, and vegetation colonization of the land. Ultimately, we hope our research will inform future ecosystem restoration attempts and encourage sustainable ecological practices across regions historically impacted by colonial land practices.
Our Project's Goals
Our Project's Goals
Find and decipher historical documents to provide us with quantifiable factors such as sugar production output and enslaved population
2. Conduct spatial analyses on the abiotic factors of St. Croix
3. Understand how characteristics of soil samples collected from regions impacted by plantation activity vary from soil samples collected within old-growth forests on St. Croix
4. Aid the Critical Ecology Lab in understanding the impact of Danish colonial plantations on St. Croix’s ecology today
Research Questions
Research Questions
How have Danish colonial plantations impacted secondary forest regrowth on St. Croix today?
2. What specific historical variables are readily available and quantifiable to measure plantation intensity?
3. What can remotely sensed data, specifically Landsat data, tell us about forests (primary and secondary) on St. Croix?
4. How do the characteristics of soil samples collected from regions impacted by plantation activity vary from soil samples collected within old-growth forests on St. Croix?
5. Does plantation use intensity impact the biogeochemical state of soils in the area today?
Research Methods
Research Methods
GIS (Geographic Information System) : a system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of geographically referenced information.
Will Be Used To:
identify and digitize historical plantation data
conduct a variety of spatial analyses of data
create informational and aesthetically pleasing figures depicting how plantation intensity on St. Croix impacts forest structure on the island today.
conduct various analyses on this data within ArcGIS
i.e., spatial joins
raster calculations and overlays
terrain analysis
table to point conversions
to produce figures of use for our client.
Remote Sensing: the science of acquiring information about an object or phenomenon by measuring emitted and reflected radiation
Remote Sensing: the science of acquiring information about an object or phenomenon by measuring emitted and reflected radiation
Will Be Used To:
create a time series showing changes in forests over the past 50 years
predict modern forest health by creating an NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) to indicate forest health
retrieve Landsat data from EarthExplorer, and analyze in SNAP (Sentinel Application Platform) or ArcGIS Pro
examine vertical structures and canopy density as another way to look at secondary forests with LiDAR data from NOAA
further to supplement GIS spatial analyses. Given enough time, remote sensing assistants will determine evapotranspiration (ET) values for St Croix forests as a secondary measure of forest health
Molecular Biology Lab: the study of the structure and function of molecules and systems associated with biological processes
Molecular Biology Lab: the study of the structure and function of molecules and systems associated with biological processes
Labwork will consist of:
extracting eDNA from soil samples, including archived and fresh, from plantations and primary forests
conduct a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis to find the concentration of eDNAs
sending eDNA to an off-campus facility to get sequenced for future analysis
quantify the bacterial and fungal concentration in the soil samples via quantitative PCR (qPCR)
possibly conduct proteomics on the soil to evaluate and identify the proteins present in the soil
Archival Research: Gather resources and search the Internet for appropriate sources that are quantifiable to measure plantation intensity on St. Croix.
Archival Research: Gather resources and search the Internet for appropriate sources that are quantifiable to measure plantation intensity on St. Croix.
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