Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center Native Plant Walk
A guided tour of the native plants that grow along the trails of the Portland Community College Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center.
Introduction
The purpose of this project is to create an app that can be used as an educational interactive guided map tour by visitors who want to learn about the habitats, plants, and wildlife found along the walking trails in the Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center (RCESC). This app may also help faculty members provide instructional alternatives for students who may not be able to walk the trail themselves.
Native plants found in the RCESC: western trillium, vanilla leaf, red-flowering currant, camas, wild ginger, and osoberry (photos by R. Bonnette).
Habitats and Plants of the RCESC
The ~95-acre PCC Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center is a protected area and outdoor educational facility with a one-mile trail leading through several different habitat types which provide a home to hundreds of plant and animal species.
Rainbow over RCESC habitats which include Oregon white oak woodland, upland coniferous forest, and wetlands.
This natural area includes approximately 28 acres of upland conifer forest. The westside and eastside upland forests have a closed canopy forest dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), the most common conifer, and bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) the most common deciduous tree. Many shrubs, flowers, and ferns grow here including red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), sword fern (Polystichum munitum), and western trillium (Trillium ovatum).
Upland conifer forest in the RCESC
Eleven acres of ash forested wetland, a bottomland forest that has saturated soil for much of the winter and spring and into the summer. This habitat is dominated by trees like Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia) and beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), as well as several species of shrubs like vine maple (Acer circinatum), western serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), and osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis), as well as fern and wildflower species.
Ash forested wetland in the RCESC
Two acres of Oregon white oak woodland. Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) trees provide habitat to dozens of species of birds and mammals. This habitat is being actively restored to reduce competition between oaks and existing ash trees, and encourage regeneration of young oak trees.
Oregon white oak in the RCESC
Fifty-four acres of wetland habitat including scrub-shrub wetland, consisting of native wetland-adapted shrubs such as willows (Salix spp.), red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), Pacific ninebark (Phsyocarpus capitatus), twinberry (Lonicera involucrata) and others were planted as part of our restoration efforts, and emergent wetland, which receives water from Rock Creek during high flows and from adjacent springs. The wetland is undergoing active restoration, focused on reducing the invasive reed canarygrass, and encouraging native rushes and sedges. The emergent wetland provides breeding habitat for amphibians, including the northern red-legged frog. Adjacent to the emergent wetland, is wet prairie habitat, which is home to native camas (Camassia spp.) species. This formerly grazed habitat requires disturbance, such as mowing or controlled fire, to promote native grasses and forbs (small flowering plants).
Emergent wetland in the RCESC
Four acres of meadow habitat are located in the ecotone between actively grazed pasture and wetland. This is home to a variety of grasses and forbs, including native species and introduced agricultural grasses. Community planting projects with Friends of Trees have added native flowering plant species that benefit pollinators, like red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum), Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium), and Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana), as well as Willamette Valley ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa var. Willamettensis).
Back-tailed deer in the meadow in the RCESC
Methods & Data Sources
Workflow diagram for the project.
Compile data and gather resources
We identified existing hosted feature layers (trails, wildlife cameras, photopoints, points of interest) that were relevant to our project. We created view layers linked to the original hosted feature layers so that this information could be shared widely without enabling public data collection. Additional photographs (attachments) were uploaded to provide more information about the views from the wildlife cameras and photopoints. We created a custom base map using ArcGIS online vector tile style editor to modify open street maps vector tiles. We put together a list of native plants that we expected to find along the trail in the RCESC based on knowledge of the site and the plant list provided for the PCC Native Plants of Oregon class (LAT 262).
Collect data and add attribute information
Using a iPhone paired with a Bad Elf external GNSS unit, we used the Field Maps app to collect data points for native plants. As plants were identified in the field, georeferenced data points were collected with photographs, habitat, and notes. Additional information on plant families, identification features, ecology, and uses was added to attribute tables after field data collection. When data collection was complete, a linked view layer was created to add to the interactive map.
Create an interactive map and web app in AGOL
To create a public-facing interactive map, we added the 'view' versions of our hosted feature layers to our custom base map using Map Viewer. We set the geographic extent for each layer, centered on the Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center. After symbolizing each layer, we created a web app using the Instant Apps tool. We selected the 'Attachment Viewer' style and chose 'map-focused'. We added the 'Find my location' tool which allows users to enable their phone to share location and see their position along the trail in the Web App. Users can select which layers they would like to view, and may select either points on the map or photographs to learn more about a feature.
Results
Interactive Map and Native plants Web App
Our interactive map is shown below. Interactive maps are best viewed on a computer screen and allow the user to explore the map by zooming, panning, and selecting features.
Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center Interactive Map
A web app was created from this map to provide the public with user-friendly interface that is easily viewed on a mobile device. In the web app, users can select a layer of interest from the drop-down menu or layers icon. When users click on a photograph, the point associated with that photograph is highlighted and the customized pop-up appears. Alternatively, the user can select a point on the map and see associated images and content.
The QR code below also provides access to the Web App on mobile devices.
Scan QR code for access to the RCESC Native Plant Walk Web App.
Our goal is to share this Web App widely within the PCC community and with our partners. The QR code will be posted on the signs at the entrances to the RCESC trails, and link will be provided on the PCC Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center website.
While the focus of our work was adding a native plant layer to the map, users can also view locations of wildlife cameras and photopoint monitoring sites in the Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center. Exploring the images of the different habitats, as well as the mammals and birds that call them home, is a great introduction to this protected natural area.
Animals observed with wildlife cameras in the RCESC include: coyote, black-tailed deer, river otters, racoon, great blue heron, and elk.
Conclusion & Next Steps
We have learned a lot about interactive mapping and plant identification during the process of creating this app, which will continue to be updated over time. We hope you enjoy our map and that it will help PCC students and community members learn more about the native plants in our region. Please share the QR code for this app with anyone who who is interested in learning about plant identification, habitats, biology, or the traditional uses of native plants.
We want PCC faculty members, school groups, and community partners to come visit the site in-person as well. If you would like to bring a group to visit the site, please submit the Google visit form shown below ( https://forms.gle/wMCc8Kxy8dZgHvym8 ).
Interested in a bringing a group of more than four people? Please fill out the group visit form.
Group visit form for the PCC Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center
