Comparing Historical and Present Landscapes in the East Cascades of the Washington State

Comparing Historical and Present Landscapes in the East Cascades of the Washington State Introduction There are many ways to evaluate the changes within a specific ecosystem in a particular landscape. Among the most efficient methods, a comparison between the historical and the present-day landscape can be used (Hessburg, Agee Franklin, 2005).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Comparing Historical and Present Landscapes in the East Cascades of the Washington State specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More With the help of the latter, it is possible to find out whether the impact on a particular landscape has been positive or negative and what further steps are to be undertaken. The analysis of the current and the historical landscape in the East Cascades of the Washington State will possibly help determine the pattern of the landscape development, as well as set the strategy for the further course of actions concerning the management of the given landscape. Methods To explore the pattern of change within the landscape ecology of the East Cascades of the Washington States, the data assembled by Dr. Paul Hessburg’s research group was used. In the course of research, the Fragstas 3.3 program was used to analyze the landscape. The ArcMap technology was utilized to view the data. Finally, to conduct the evaluation of the landscape change, the qualitative analysis was used, well as some elements of quantitative analysis. Results Considering the data that was sorted according to the principle â€Å"‘met06’=Methow subwatershed 06. Last names G-J,† the amount of herbland has changed sufficiently over the course of the East Cascades history, spreading south and southeast. The forest area, however, remained the same, with few exceptions in the northeastern part of the land. Quite similarly, the nonforest area did not change much, apart from the small patches that disappeared from the southeastern parts of the landscape.Advertising Looking for research paper o n ecology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Speaking of the changes in the vegetation system of the forest, or, as Hessburg, Salter, Richmond and Smith defined it, â€Å"a theoretical endpoint of succession in the absence of disturbance† (Hessburg, Salter, Richmond Smith, 2000, p. 166), one must mention that the deforestation process has took its toll, since more parts of the area have been marked as â€Å"non-forest† ones. In addition, the area covered by old forest multi-storey has also decreased, giving more room to the young forest multi-storey parts of the forest. Likewise, old forest single storey has moved northeast, giving its way to the young forest multi-storey elements. In addition, the area covered by stem exclusion open canopy has grown smaller over the past few decades, with only several elements scattered sideways across the area. The amount of trees that are currently in the stand initiation sta ge has also changed; while in the past, only two small areas of SI trees could be found, at present, the central and the southern part of the forest are in the phase of stand initiation. The amount of trees that are currently in the stage of understory re-initiation has, on the contrary, remained the same. It is also important to mention that the intensity of firelines in certain parts of the East Cascades has changed over the past few decades. According to the data obtained with the help of the Fragstats 3.3, the amount of instances of fireline has gone down in the western area from 2 (in central parts of the west area) to 1. The changes in the northern part of the area are also rather gratifying, with the instances of firelines going from 3 to 1 in most parts of the area. Finally, it is noteworthy that the southwestern spot in the East Cascades area, which was notorious for 6 firelines per year, has had only 3 to 5 firelines.Advertising We will write a custom research pape r sample on Comparing Historical and Present Landscapes in the East Cascades of the Washington State specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The instances of 7 firelines per year, however, have been noticed in the north and southwest, though previously,.west and north-west were known for suffering 7 firelines running. Generally speaking, one must admit that the number of firelines has declined. Discussion When assessing the changes that have taken place in the mean patch area of the landscape in the given time slot, one must admit that there have been radical changes in the development of the landscape of the East Cascades area over the past few years. According to the obtained data, nowadays, the largest mean patch area in the East Cascades landscape consists of young forest multi-storey patches; the recent data shows that the latter take almost 278 (277,7067) sq. km. In the past, however, the mean patch area in the East Cascades consisted mostly of non-forest landscape (206,5067 sq. km). Therefore, it can be concluded that the rates of deforestation have dropped considerably and that the forest ecosystem is getting stronger. The given idea can be supported by the fact that the amount of young trees has increased compared to the previous records, while the amount of old trees has narrowed down. Therefore, such factors as the restoration of the balance between the old and the young trees plays a great role in shaping the mean patch area scale. It is also important to outline the difference between the mean and the median patch area. According to the existing definition, a median patch area allows to evaluate the â€Å"sample median value† (USDA, 1999, p. 66). Therefore, it can be concluded that, in contrast to the mean patch area, median patch area offers a midpoint of all patch areas in question. As a counterpoint to the mean patch area, it allows to see how even a specific element is distributed across the land.Adver tising Looking for research paper on ecology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the East Cascades, the Shannon diversity index has increased, with the split in the increase of various landscape elements ranging from 248,16 (non-forest) to –597,92 (young forest multi-storey). Speaking of the shape complexity, however, one has to mention that the rates of the given parameter have also declined, which can be explained by the massive fire that was witnessed in the northern and northwestern parts of the area. The fires must have also influenced the rates of contagion in the area; according to the recently obtained data, the contagion rates have also risen, allowing for a more rapid fragmentation of the landscape. It is crucial to stress that the structures that can be classified as young forest multi-storey have increased in size and variety. The given data stands in a sharp contrast to the information concerning the old forest. As it has been previously mentioned, the amount of old forest elements has dropped. The given change can be the result of the fir es that gripped the area in the past few years. At first, the given change might seem deadly to the forest, since so many elements have been taken out of the picture. On a second thought, one must admit that the fires allowed to make way for the young forest multi-storey, thus, renewing the forest ecosystem. However, judging by the high rates of the areas that are very vulnerable to fires, one must admit that the given area should be managed to protect it from intense exposure to fires. Literature Cited Hessburg, P. F. Salter, R. B., Richmond, M. B. and B. G. Smith. 2000. Ecological subregions of the Interior Columbia Basin, USA. Applied Vegetation Science 3, 163–180. Hessburg, P. F., Agee, G. K. and J. F. Franklin. 2005. Dry forests and wildland fires of the inland Northwest USA: Contrasting the landscape ecology of the pre-settlement and modern eras. Forest Ecology and Management 211, 117–139. USDA. 1999. Historical and current forest and range landscapes in the inte rior Columbia River Basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins. USDA, Washington, D.C.

To Outline or Not to Outline, That is the Question

To Outline or Not to Outline, That is the Question To Outline or Not to Outline, That is the Question To Outline or Not to Outline, That is the Question By Guest Author This is a guest post by Idrees Patel. If you want to write for Daily Writing Tips check the guidelines here. Creative writers are divided into two camps: those who outline and those who don’t: the ones who write straight on and on. Is it wrong to outline? Which method brings the best results? From the beginning of writing, some people like to write an outline before starting writing. However, there are also many which hate to do so. And then there are some who mix the two methods to create their own method. But which is the best? There is no right answer for everyone. You must find your own right answer. Of course, this is the right answer but an elaboration for it isn’t quite a bad idea. So here’s the proper answer: outlining works for some people. And it doesn’t for others. The what and why of outlining is a must to know, so therefore, here is The What of Outlining To outline is to draw something of a big picture of your work (it may be anything, a novel, a story, a blog post, a sales letter etc) before starting to write the content. Outlining means to write all the ideas spinning in your mind down to paper and arrange them in a logical fashion to make the actual writing easier. Still confused? Here is the Wikipedia definition: An outline is a list of the main features of a given topic, often used as a rough draft or summary of the content of a document. A hierarchical outline is a list arranged to show hierarchical relationships. Writers of fiction and creative nonfiction, such as Jon Franklin, may use outlines to establish plot sequence, character development and dramatic flow of a story, sometimes in conjunction with freewriting. Here is what a typical outline may look like: The abuses of television: How children stay late at night and don’t do their school homework How they hamper their eyesight by watching too much TV How bad programmes have a dangerous effect on teenagers How they dedicate too much time to it instead of taking part in useful pursuits And so on. The general opinion is that by doing outlining the writing process will become easier. Why? Because we now have a roadmap which we can follow. Or not The Advantages of Outlining 1. Not getting lost. This is clearly the biggest advantage. Some SOTP (seat of the pants writers) hate outlining. They write without having a roadmap and this is fun for some time. And then the inevitable happens. They don’t know what to write anymore. In contrast, having an outline means that writers always know what to write. 2. Deciding whether your work is good or not. If you don’t know how your story is going to end or go on, then you don’t really know whether it is good or not. It would be painful, wouldn’t it, to discover big plot holes and flaws after having written 50,000 words. Whereas if you outline you know instantly what flaws there are, and you can correct them easily. 3. Straying off the outline if you get a better way. If you are writing and then suddenly get an inspiration and think that the outline was poorer, you are entirely free to stray off the outline. It’s just that, an outline. This way you can compare the two ways, and decide which is better. You couldn’t do this if you didn’t have an outline. 4. Writing with a sense of flow. You know how this will go on. After finishing this, you know you’ve got to do that. Then there are no messy unorganized chapters and scenes (or whatever you’re else you’re writing). You get a sense of flow, and your work will be finished faster. The Disadvantages of Outlining 1. Spoils the mystery and the fun. Okay, sometimes you may not want mystery and you may not want any fun. In that case, you should ignore this point. But for fiction writers, some don’t want to outline because they feel they cannot use their creativity and it takes away all the fun if you just fill it up. To solve this problem, Randy Ingermanson revealed a new method – the Snowflake method. It does let you outline, but doesn’t let it spoil your story. 2. May not be as good as you first thought. If you get a complete different idea for your story later, your outline is pretty much useless work. Therefore, you should try to get all the best ideas from your brain and commit them down to paper to avoid this problem. 3. Just doesn’t seem to agree with your writing style. Some people find it hard to write from an outline. They want their writing to be creative: as creative as possible. I’m one of those writers, although I sometimes write few of my ideas so that I don’t forget it. Lengthy outlining doesn’t work for some, although it does for others. It’s useless to find a one-size-fit-all outlining method, simply because there’s no such thing. Conclusion: Undecided, no right answer for everyone It all comes back to square zero. There are ton of different writing methods and processes, even different outlining methods. But don’t just try to use one because it happens to be popular or famous. It may not work for you, and cost you a whole load of precious time. Only use the method which your brain seems to like. My writing method is a bit of a mix: not an outline and not a SOTP. Maybe yours is too; or maybe you like outlining in its most literal sense. Or maybe you hate it and just like to write freely. Take your pick and have fun. No reason to write if you don’t even like your writing method. Outlining works for some people. Some famous authors can’t write without a lengthy synopsis. If you’re an outliner, you’re in good company. And of course outlining doesn’t work for some people. If you’re a SOTP, you too are in good company of famous authors. Finally, if you choose to be creative and mix it up a little, you’ll find plenty more authors with your method. Just write with which you’re most comfortable. So that’s it. After having learned the advantages and disadvantages of outlining, it’s your choice whether you choose to use it or not. It doesn’t really matter as long as you enjoy writing. Write and love it. About the Author: Idrees Patel is a 13 year old blogging about creative writing tips at WritersTreasure.com. Check out his free series, Creative Writing 101: a beginner’s guide to creative writing. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! 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