Käyttäjän brian2167 päiväkirja

I walked for a little over 30 minutes through the Webster Conservation Area. The weather was kind of chilly—it was in the mid fifties and sunny. I found some different types of moss on rocks early in my walk on the way to the conservation area. I was able to find examples of Bryophyta (nonvascular plants) right away with organisms like Star Moss. I also found Polypodiopsida (seedless vascular plants) with organisms such as the Intermediate Wood Fern. Gymnosperms (non-flowering seed plants) were also fairly easy to find with all of the pine trees in the area, and there were pinecones littering the ground. The only Gymnosperm I may have observed was the Japanese Yew; it had needles and did not appear to have any flowers. Angiosperms (flowering plants) were a bit more difficult to identify, especially with the cold killing most of the flowers, but the White Wood Aster and trees like the Tulip Tree were common. All four of the main types of plants were definitely present in the area, but angiosperms were by far the most dominant if I include all of the flowering trees. However, every type of plant seemed to have its own niche, whether it be Bryophyta on the damp ground, or Gymnosperms towering high in the air.

I walked for about 50 minutes through the Webster Conservation Area, mostly in the Houghton portion. The weather was kind of chilly—it was in the low fifties and overcast. I found some lichens on a rock and dead tree branch early in my walk on the main trail, but it took me a while to find different kinds of fungi like mushrooms. I noticed that there were not many mushrooms until I branched off a bit and reached a stream. In the ground and trees by the stream I found almost all of my observations (I assume that many fungi require very wet environments to thrive). As I walked along this stream, I found all kinds of fungi that vary in shape, size, and color—there was a great amount of biodiversity of fungi even along this single stream. I noticed that fungi have evolved to live on all types of surfaces, whether they be living trees, dead branches, dry soil, wet soil, rocks, logs in the stream, etc. There seemed to be at least some species of fungi that has evolved to take advantage of every aspect of the environment. I also noticed that most of the fungi grew in large groups—there was rarely a single mushroom by itself.

I walked for about 30-40 minutes through the Webster Conservation Area, mostly in the Houghton portion. The weather was very nice—it was in the high sixties and only a little cloudy. I walked along the main trail for a while to get pictures of smaller plants and some moss/lichens on large rocks. I then branched off to get closer to the water and take a picture of some flowers with bees on them (the Goldenrod flowers and New England Asters had the bees on them). This ties in nicely with the importance of biodiversity, as the variety of different organisms I encountered on this walk interact with each other and all serve important functions: the flowers needed the bees for pollination, the bullfrog was hiding in the water chestnut, etc. It also seemed like some kind of organism has evolved to make use of everything in the environment: the water, dirt, air, trees, rocks, etc. There was very little space without life in it—even every rock was covered with lichens. After I found plenty of observations, I decided to relax for the rest of my walk and just look with my eyes instead of the camera. I saw some small fish in the water and two squirrels running up a tree but only took a picture of a Mallard duck because I could not get a good picture of it earlier on in my walk. I was also surprised by how fast comments and species suggestions were made on my observations. Many have already had species confirmed or been declared research grade before I have even had time to make my journal.