Clarke Middle School |
|
Prepared By: Leslie Cagle, Shawn Kuriger, Gwendolyn M. Motz, D. Ryan Pahl, and Chrisshon Webb |
Legal Description of Clarke
Middle School
After a thorough search, it became obvious that a legal site description is not available. The latest official deed, although, was discovered and can be viewed in its completeness. |
||||||
(Click Image to View the Page in its entirety.) |
||||||
A small-scale map was located and can be viewed in its entirety by clicking on the image. |
Large-Scale Quad Map for
Athens-Clarke County
Courtesy of United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Aerial Photographs of Clarke
Middle School
Description of Clarke
Middle School
Clarke Middle School, located on 200 Alps Road, is on the corner of two busy streets,
Baxter and Alps. Located in the small urban area of Athens, the site
consists of a single small split-level building and a few trailors. There are pine trees
scattered out in front in the grassy area between the school and Baxter Street. Planted
shrubs and other trees make up a majority of the landscape around the school building.
There are a few small gardens on the left side of the school that do no appear to be
readily successful. A forest area lines the back of the landscape. No streams are present
on the site. Although the Oconee River flows nearby, the vegetation does not appear to be
affected. Baxter Street and Alps Road (which later dead ends into the Atlanta highway) are
heavily trafficked roads. The pollution from the cars likely affects adversely affects
the vegatation on the site. For instance, it is likely that the high degree of pollution
decreased the growth of herbs, as we had a very difficult time locating the desired number
of herbs.
Trees |
Native/ |
Planted/ |
Forest |
Grassy |
Other |
|
Cercis |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Castanea |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Ginkgo |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Elaeagnus |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Acer |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Quercus |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Quercus |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Pinus |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Magnolia |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Cornus |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
Herbs |
Native/ |
Planted/ |
Forest |
Grassy |
Other |
|
Robinia |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Campsis |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Hydrocotyl |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Daucus |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Hydrangea |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Trifolium |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Hosta |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
[No Picture Available]
|
Digitaria |
Native |
Natural |
No |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Trifolium |
Native |
Natural |
No |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Trifolium |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Polygonum |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Tragopogon |
Native |
Natural |
No |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Viola |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Rhus |
Native |
Natural |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Tulipa |
Native |
Planted |
No |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Plantago |
Native |
Natural |
No |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Plantago |
Native |
Natural |
No |
Yes |
No |
[No Picture Available]
|
Taraxacum |
Native |
Natural |
No |
Yes |
No |
Ant Analysis
The results of our experiment showed that five ants are prevalent in our habitats. We found
that only 58 of the 277 ants collected were not fire ants. Fire ants have proven to be very
invasive predators with large colonies that can have multiple queens.
In our results we observed that more ants were captured in the forested area rather than
the sunny area. 189 or our 277 ants were located in the forest. This came unsuspectedly, because
fire ants are expected to be prevalent in sunny areas. However, there appeared to be a steady
amount of traffic through the sunny area of the site. Human activity likely helps disperse
the ants to other locations.
One vial contained only black ants. It is believed that the ants send out certain pheromones
to inform other members of the location of food. Pheromones are species specific.
However, we did find differenct morphs amongst the fire ants. This could be a result of
several different ecological factors. Ecological factors are important in shaping the
disbursement of ants in the environment. The rate of growth of colonies is a result of the
availability of resources such as food and nesting. Other factors effecting the growth
of colonies are predation, disease, parasitism, and competition. Disruptive selection is a
result of competition. This type of selection calls out individuals most common in a
population. In this situation, polymorphic species are likely to arise.
Interactions between species are density dependent. In dense populations of ants there,
mixing of nonnestmates occured (1). This may accelerate the breakdown in discrimination
ability. A major result of this is an increase in polymorphism. In the dense populations,
there is a greater tolerance of foreign queens and allowance of queens to be born in the nest
to mate at home. In addition, workers may be willing to accept multiple queens or may have
a faulty system for detecting chemical cues. Ants use pheromones as a method of communiction
(2). On the other hand, it could be said that the cues are the result of the founder effect.
With this, there could have been a reduction in the diversity of chemical cues. And lastly,
it may be explained that faulty chemical cues are simply cues that are not as effective
as other cues in the environment because of the high-density of the colonies.
1) Ross, Kenneth G. April 1996. "Social Evolution in a New Envirnoment: The Case of Introduced Fire Ants."
2) Ross, Kenneth G. January 1992. "Strong Selection on a Gene that Influences
Reproductive Competition in a Social
Brockman, C. Frank. Trees of North America. New York: Golden Press, 1968.
Niering, William A. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
Petrides, Geore A. A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1958.