Week 10

9 Jun 2014
Partly cloudy, partly sunny
68-70 F
1:30PM

Start

PART 1 PHENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS:

It's already week 10 of the quarter and the last week of blogging- hard to believe! Here is a picture of my site when I started, an intermediate picture, and a picture of it now (left).

Intermediate

End

There is clearly much more greenery now, which is really cool to see in a concrete, comparative manner. Along with the greenery, there seems to be more pollen and invertebrates too. Today I saw more invertebrate activity than on the day that we were supposed to focus on invertebrates, perhaps because it was nicer weather, or maybe because I sat at my site for about an hour and a half. Time really does pass quickly in nature and when there is so much to observe!

Going back to my first post, I see that I was noticing mostly larger things, like the blackberry bush and the apple tree. Both have gotten fuller in foliage and it seems like the blackberry bush in general has grown as well. The pond seems to have flooded a bit more- the mud starts closer to the trail than I remember in the first week. The lily pads in the pond by now have covered quite of a bit of surface area-- today I saw another red-winged blackbird land and walk on top of them. This confirmed my observation a few weeks ago that my eyes hadn't been tricking me! It sort of seems unlikely that the lily pads would be strong enough to support the weight of a bird, but apparently they are.

Like Kiana mentioned in lecture one day, it's interesting to have no control over what you see and consequently what you have to report. Today for example, I saw two really interesting things on the way to my site that I hadn't seen before.

Northern Flicker on trail

The first was a Northern Flicker on the trail. It was pecking the gravel, picking up ants in its beak. From far away, I hadn't realized that there were so many ants around, but when I got closer, I saw five or six ant tunnel holes/entrances with a crazy amount of ants swarming around. I was able to get pretty close to the woodpecker, maybe about 7 feet away, and I was surprised it didn't fly off. It didn't even move when a jogger passed it on the trail. I am not sure if Northern Flickers are naturally less human-shy than other birds, or if this ant-feast was worth it to him to stay.

The second thing that I saw, or rather heard, distracted me from the Northern Flicker. I heard a whole cacophony of crows further up the trail and a bunch of individuals all flying toward the same point. Even though crows are naturally loud, it sounded like something extra important was happening, I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, the main tree they were in was far from the trail, but I was able to observe their behavior. A few of them sat in a tree near the trail, above my head- it seemed like they were acting as lookouts or backups while the others in the area of action were taking caring of business. I think I counted at least a dozen of them. Sometimes a few of them would fly away, which I assumed meant business was being taken care of, but then sometimes they'd come back. Unfortunately I never figured out what was causing this activity, but I assumed that it was another bird that had intruded into their territory.

PART 2 DESCRIBING ORGANISMS:

1) From the perspective of someone who's never experienced nature:

It stands tall, like a dancer with its single, skinny leg touching the earth and grass around it. This could easily be a vulnerable position but it is a solid connection, and you can see that from far away. Its strength you can see when the wind comes to push it around. It moves slightly--accommodating-- and returns to its original stance. Its lower part is bare and a gray-brown color while its upper part is larger, fuller, and decorated with green shapes-- each individual one is almond-shaped and curls into itself. You see this curling up close, but not so much from far away. These green shapes are like ridged pieces of fabric that grace the stick-like frame and turn sharp angles docile. The whole structure is balanced carefully, each side equal and complementing the other.

2) From the field notes of someone who's never seen this organism before:
A large shadow crosses before my feet and suddenly I see and hear a swoop in the sky. Something lands in the pond and I sit up so I can see it better. It is a large creature--grayish blue with a yellow point protruding from its face. It watches the water, very still, while I watch it.

The neck and head form a curvy s-shape, and the back rounds into a hump. Suddenly it stretches-- horizontally, like an accordion, and dark, finger-like projections point out from two fans. As quickly as it expanded, it folds back in into a concise, effective oval. I am amazed at its simplistic beauty.

After some time, the neck stretches out and the head darts down into the water. It comes back up and shakes its head so quickly, I can only think it's instinct. The head dives in again. This time a fish is in the air--but not for long. It quickly slides through the maw--the pointy maw-- and deep into this creature's gullet. I watch the creature repeat this action for some time, until it leaves. Back in the air, it brings its stilts together to form a straight line--a streamlined body from head to toe-- and it coughs a hoarse goodbye.

3) Poem:
It crawls through the air,
bright body a surprise to see
among the grasses and purple flowers.
The body is shaped like a cherry pit
and is yellow with transparent head and legs.
Pairs of them cling to a safety-line
I cannot see.


Answers:

ANSWER 1: OREGON ASH

ANSWER 2: Great Blue Heron (http://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Great_Blue_Heron_Wading_2.jpg)

ANSWER 3: YELLOW CRAB SPIDER


PART THREE:

1) How has your perception of your observation site changed through the quarter?

Over the course of the quarter, I have come to appreciate my observation site as a unique place that I can care about and understand on a deeper level. My intial thoughts about the site were mainly that I wanted a place easy to get to from campus and my apartment, since I didn’t want to take up too much time commuting to it. When my friend suggested the Union Bay Natural Area, I agreed, but once we got there, I chose a site that was close to the head of the trail so that again, it wouldn’t take up too much of my time. Now, while I don’t regret chosing this site, I feel like if I did this type of project again, I wouldn’t mind going out of my way to find a really cool site with lots of biodiversity to discover. My growing knowledge and familiarity of UBNA and my specific site makes me want to continue returning to the place and documenting changes, although perhaps not on my blog. It has been really cool to see the same things change, and although it’s a cliche, it’s a little like watching a little kid grow up. I feel like I am part of UBNA’s experience and growth, and that makes me care for it and feel attached to it. Since some things about the place are still mysteries to me (for example, for some reason I haven’t been able to find mushrooms, though I would like to, and I am curious to know what the place is like in winter or fall) I am excited to witness these changes.

2) How has your sense of the Puget Sound Region changed through the quarter?

I think that experiencing the Pugest Sound Region in person has made me feel more connected to it. Going to Eastern Washington for example, was pretty cool for me. Since I really only remember going there once before (a long time ago, back in 7^th grade), most of the time it feels like an abstract place that I know is supposed to feel dry and hot. Seeing and feeling that experience I think helped connect my academic knowledge to my innate knowledge. I do wish that I had a better sense of geography however, and of what the landscape transitions are like between places like the UBNA area and the Umtanum Creek area we were in. While the course wouldn’t have time for it, I think it would be really cool traverse this journey on foot.

The first field trip we took to the Olympic Penninsula also helped me gain a better sense of the Pugest Sound Region. My experiences there made me more aware that all of this vast forest is out there, and for some reason they gave me a sense of ownership and some stewardship of the place. Such a variety of environments was pretty amazing to see, and I think that as a whole the experiences have brought the Puget Sound to a more central and concrete part of my life.

3) What does it mean to intimately know a natural place?

I think that intimately knowing a place involves the process of learning about and caring for a place by spending time observing it, experiencing it, and interacting with it. For me to intimately know a place, learning involves a combination of hands-on learning and academic/scientific study (i.e. latin names and characteristics of organisms). For others, learning might take a different form. Children for example, might tend to use a trial-and-error, hands-on approach. For example, a child might learn through play that Western Red Cedar has bark that peels easily for ropes, but that Douglas-fir doesn’t. While this child might not know the names of each tree, he/she still has an intimate knowledge of the place that was built through close connection and interaction with it.

For me specifically, being able to name and identify organisms has a certain empowerment to it—after this course I have felt less lost in nature (i.e. trees are not “just” trees to me anymore; instead they are specific species with certain qualities/traits that I actually know) and I also feel more on par with it. I feel like I am on nature’s level when I can identify parts of it, and that feeling only increases the more I find out about it.

Field Trip

31 May 2014
Hot, sunny, breeze
Yakama Canyon, Umtanum Ridge, waterfall trail (East of Cascades)
Low-mid 70's

On the trail, looking for birds

Our first stop at Yakama Canyon had a noticeably different landscape than what I am used to on the west side of the Cascades. It was very dry and shrubby looking and had many rock cliff formations that I associate with desert areas. We learned that the area gets approximately 10-15 inches of rain every year. As a result, the vegetation has had to adapt to low moisture levels.

Same area as above but with train in background;
it was interesting and somewhat surprising being in
 a place that felt so remote from civilization and then seeing
this train pass by. I had not realized that the train tracks were
in current use.

For some reason I had not expected to see so much green around. I have not been to Eastern Washington very much, and had only heard that it's very desert-y, so I had been expecting more sand and dark green shrubbery rather than light green shrubbery. That was was the type of landscape I had experienced on a trip to Jordan, and my mind had decided to connect the two. I think that there is a difference in photosynthetic efficiency between dark green and light green foliage, but I am not sure which one is more efficient. I wonder if this color adaptation may also be an adaptation for water conservation (dark colors attract more heat which would increase water evaporation; thus it would be advantageous for plants to be a lighter colored green).

Interestingly, while the landscape and feel of the place was different from Western Washington, we saw many of the same species that we see around Seattle. For example we saw willows, ponderosa pines, cottonwoods, barn swallows, and bald eagles. While some of these species may be slightly different in each region (for example, birds in Eastern Washington may have different dialects than the same birds in Western Washington) I thought it was cool to see familiar flora and fauna around. The cottonwoods and willows were actually in more moist areas of the place (near the river) and the increase in greenery was very noticeable 

At this site we saw various types of birds that I had not seen before- I learned that these are called life-birds. For example, we saw lazuli buntings, which have a blue head, rusty orange breast, and white stomach; Bullock's Orioles, which have an orange breast and face and black head and wings with some gray. One thing I noticed about the birds specifically though, was that their flight patterns seemed different than what I've seen before-mostly they were slower and seemed to move in slow motion, something that I thought would be interesting to experience if I were a bird. I figured out later though, that this was probably caused by wind currents, although I am not sure why this area is more conducive to those types of wind currents than areas around Seattle. Perhaps the open shrub lands and tall valley sides channel smaller wind currents into larger, stronger ones.

Tall sagebrush

My favorite part of this area was the tall sagebrush, since I have heard about sagebrush before but had never experienced it in real life. It was surprising to realize that it has such a strong scent that I can now identify as sagebrush. I also didn't know that this species grew so slowly- the plant pictured on the right (about 5-6 feet tall) is likely around 100 years old. Sagebrush has both deep taproot systems and shallow root systems, which allows for the plants to access as many nutrients and moisture as possible. Such adaptations are clearly useful for extreme climates and ecologies. With so much steppe (grasses) around, the root systems of such plants must be very useful to get moisture from, as grasses tend to quickly soak up any water that is present.

Tall sagebrush up close; you can see the three-pronged
leaf edges

Interestingly, sagebrush is very susceptible to fire, and I wonder why it hasn't adapted to not be, since a fire would be able to spread quickly in this area (sagebrush plants seem like easy fuel sources that would simply help the fire spread).

In comparison, we also saw bitterbrush, which is similar to sagebrush and also has three-pronged leaflet ends.

Bitterbrush 

Our second stop at Untanum Ridge also had a few species that I normally do not see around Seattle. For example, snakes, scorpions, and short-horned lizards. Short-horned lizards are also known as "horned toads" and are in the iguana family. Their color depends on the habitat's soil color in order to blend in. They have white spiny edges and are active during the day. Northern scorpions are a sort of brown color and are not dangerous to people. They eat insects and are mostly nocturnal, so it was interesting that we saw one on the field trip. Like other sites in Eastern Washington, this place had lots of shrubs and steppes adapted for hot climates. Not many plants grew very tall; likely because it would be disadvantageous to do so. I speculate that it takes more energy for plants to grow tall, and that doing so would only help the plants around it, which would benefit from its shade.

Areas like these receive less than 12 inches of rain. Shrubs like sagebrush are common in them, and a variety of reptiles, mammals, and birds rely on such plants for their habitats and for food. This is an example of how organisms have adapted to such dry areas and the vegetation found in them.

The waterfall trail was our last stop. On the trail there were lots of quaking aspen (I found out that this the the largest species in the world since they form connected communities through their roots) and cottonwood trees. Quaking aspen usually live in low areas where there is plenty of water; they are shade-intolerantOther familiar species included Doulgas-firs, red-winged black birds, and American Robins. We also saw mule deer, or black-tailed deer, which have black tails.

We hiked up the trail to the water fall and as the elevation increased, the vegetation and features did too. I commonly saw a plant that looked a lot like red huckleberry, but its leaves weren't alternate- they were opposite. I did not figure out what this was, but it was an interesting connection for me to make, and one that I would have not made before taking this class and learning plant identification.


We also saw/heard a snake in the bushes--multiple attempts are catching it failed, however, so I never found out what type of snake it was. A brief glimpse of it told me that it was brown though.

Up above the waterfall, I had a view of the vegetation above me and below me. Above me and above the waterfall, there seemed to be a significant increase in evergreens; I think they were ponderosa pine trees. Below the waterfall were more deciduous trees. In the waterfall's immediate surroundings, there was much more dryness than I expected. It seemed to be a little lacking in water, although perhaps the flow is stronger in the early spring, since this is when ice and snow begins to melt.



I also went up to the top of the cliff, which was mostly loose dirt and rocks. There were a few plants nestled into some rock nooks that I thought were cool, and I wondered what type of predators they had. The yellow flowers is an example of one plant I saw (picture above). It doesn't seem to be in my guidebook but perhaps that's because it's not native, or perhaps it's currently in a stage of life that looks different from the pictures in the Audubon. There were also some interesting rocks that look like they'd had holes drilled out by giant, heavy raindrops. This may be air bubbles that popped when the rock was forming and cooling, but I'm not sure. You can sort see one of these holes in the flat, light colored rock below the yellow center flower in the photo above.

Also in this picture you can see crustose lichen (possibly white paint lichen; it looks similar to the lichen I found at my site, although this one is located on a rock and not a tree branch)-- it really can grow anywhere! The location of the lichen here especially makes me wonder what makes it able to hold on to the rock so tightly that a colony of lichen can successfully grow. It seems like a small speck of lichen that was just starting out here could easily be blown away or brushed into the dirt by hikers or animals.

Week 9

30 May 2014
Sunny, nice weather
68 F
2:45-3:45pm

The first lichen I found:

ID: Whitewash Lichen (Phlyctis argena)

The second lichen I found:

ID:Xanthoria parietina or yellow scale

Third lichen; possibly same type as 2nd, not sure:

ID: ???

Fourth lichen:

ID: Parmotrema perlatum, or black stone flower

Fifth lichen:

This lichen was a fruticose lichen. and about an inch tall. It has little branches coming out of it and is a pale green/white color. It tends to grow in patched clumps like this one on branches. This was found on an apple? tree I believe.

ID: Evernia prunastri, or oakmoss.

Sixth lichen:

This foliose lichen is a white color and spreads itself in large, round patches on tree trunks. They edges are irregular and look like snowflake edges. Seems to be made of little flakes sort of overlapping or built on top of each other; they are stiff and do not yield to a light touch. Diameter is about 3-5 inches. This was found on a bush (picture below)

ID: Parmelia , Shield lichen

Week 8

19 May 2014
Interspersed clouds and sun, mild-ish weather
~58 F

UBNA site changes in vegetation

Overall my site at UBNA has gotten greener since last week. The grasses are now 5 feet or taller, and the cattails that I can see are about evenly divided between green and brown (alive or dead). The cottonwoods have released their cotton-like seeds, which are strewn across the trail and have accumulated in long white lines. The Oregon Ash trees have more leaves out--they're bigger and it's harder to see the opposite branches. There were also bunches of yellow irises that were out and blooming. A photo of my site is to the left. The apple tree is mostly green (leaves) now, instead of white (petals).

As for bird activity, there seemed to be less activity in the air than last time, when there were lots of swallows swooping around in the air--there were still some tree swallows, but not many. I heard and saw lots of crow activity on my way in, as well as robins, but I didn't stop to observe them since they weren't at my site. I heard a bird that sounded a lot like a loon, but I don't think those are native to around here (this was around the pond at UBNA).

For the bird observation we had to do this week, I observed a red-winged blackbird that normally sits on the Oregon Ash near my site. I am pretty sure he's the same one that I have been seeing this whole quarter, so it was neat to observe him for an extended period of time. I got a sense of where his territory is, and it seems to be pretty well situated.

For the first five minutes or so, he was by himself on a lower branch of the Oregon Ash. He chirped a little and I got to hear a conversation between him and another bird in another tree that I couldn't see. This didn't escalate though, and he stayed on the lower branches of the tree. He hopped around a little, still on the lower branches of the tree, and I wondered if this was more of a relaxed time for him, since I think if he were looking out for other birds, he would be perched up higher to see the competition more easily. His chirps were intermittent with about 2-4 seconds in between each one.

Two Oregon Ash trees that seemed to be in
the red-winged blackbird's territory

I was wondering if my presence was affecting any bird behavior, as I was quite close to the tree, but the male seem unperturbed and after a while he hopped up toward the top of the tree, continuing to chirp and sing. Soon a female red-winged blackbird came along to his tree and stayed for about 4-5 minutes, which I took to be a sign that I really wasn't disturbing too much in the environment. She excreted and then flew into the cattails where I presumed her nest was. She only preened herself though and I didn't see any nest-building action, although I'm not sure what that would look like exactly.

The male continued to chirp (one of his calls sounded like a muted beeping smoke detector) and he got responses from at least two other birds. After a little bit, he flew through the cattails and glided down close to the gravel path. For a minute or two he disappeared from view to go to talk to another male bird nearby, probably to confront him. Then later he came back to the tree and landed on the top. His activity started looking more like active watching for other competitors. At one point he flew into the grasses and circled around, again to confront another male red-winged blackbird perhaps.

When he came back, he perched on a nearby tree on an even higher branch. A small bird that I think was an American goldfinch (yellow body with white speculum), came into the red-winged blackbird's tree, and the red-winged blackbird flew down to scare it off. The goldfinch returned though to a lower branch, and the blackbird left it there. The goldfinch sort of hop-fluttered from branch to branch, only resting at each place for a few seconds. It hopped closer to the blackbird, which did not like the intrusion and flew down to chase it away again. Finally the goldfinch made its way to the cattails, and then back into another tree from where it dive-bombed down toward the grass, and then pulled up quickly to land on another branch. Its flight path looked like a jump/fly, like a large bumble bee. Its chirp sounded like a laser.

Towards the end of my observation, the red-winged blackbird circled around the field again and it looked like he landed on some lily pads on the pond--I was wondering if there was a log that he was perched on but it also looked like he was able to hop from lily pad to lily pad.

Overall, this was competitive behavior that seemed mostly to be territory-related (defending). I did not see any feeding behavior nor did I note mate-attracting behavior. No other birds seemed to enter this red-winged blackbird's territory during my observation.

Week 7

11 May 2014
Mild weather, 65 F
Sun, blue sky, some clouds
18:00-19:00

This week I visited my site on a nice day, when there was a lot of activity in the air. I saw a lot of birds- a female and male Gadwall, red-winged blackbirds (including the one that likes to perch on the Oregon Ash near my site; they also seemed to be doing a lot of activity to protect their territory, with lots of chasing), swallows with white underbellies (these were very active too), and a Great Blue Heron. The composition of bird species has slowly changed over time. Two weeks ago, there seemed to be more Great Blue Herons around; now there seems to be more swallows.

On my way out of UBNA, I also saw two Canada geese and four young chicks- they are still yellow/brown and fuzzy at this point. The chicks were looking for food by the edge of the trail and the parents were looking out for them. After a few minutes of this, the parents crossed the trail to go to the other side of the grass, and the chicks scurried after them, which was cute to see.

As for vegetation, the grass has grown much taller since my last documented observation-- it is now about 3-4 feet tall. The new cattails are growing in as well and are replacing the dead ones. The blackberry bush at my site is now more prominent and is somewhat taking over the cherry tree's air space-- the blackberry branches are growing over the cherry tree branches. I also noticed some new vegetation in the grass (see picture on left) like this thistle-y, green plant that was growing among the grass. Its leaves are stiff and pointy. Its leaves look like elongated, narrow, and curled oregon grape leaves but I don't think they're related.

*Correction note: also one tree at my site, I identified as a cherry tree, but it is actually an apple tree.






This week the focus was on invertebrates. I found them difficult to observe since they were so small and moved around a lot. Some of them moved quickly too, and to places where I couldn't follow them (across water, for example).

Observation 1: Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens, Beetle Order

Observation 2: Blue Bottle Fly, Calliphora species, Fly Order (uncertain)

OR POSSIBLE

Green-blue Long-legged Fly - Condylostylus (uncertain)

Observation 3: Hymenoptera Order

 

These ones were found in shorter grasses. The one that was looking get off its blade of grass, I eventually rescued, but then accidentally dropped him into the water. I couldn't find him in it, so had to leave hoping that he would be able to make his way out...

Observation 4: Order Plectoptera (stoneflies) 

Observation 5: Order Odonata (dragonfly)

If it is a Striped Meadowhawk, Sympetrum pallipes, these ones tend to live near the edges of ponds, which is where I saw it. However, the guide mentions that their season runs from July-October, and it's only May now.

Other invertebrates I saw included a white gnat-looking insect (maybe a stonefly?), and a small thin fly with narrow wings longer than its body (again maybe another type of stonefly).

Week 4

Date: 28 April 2014
Weather: sunny, few clouds, about 65 F
Time: 3:30pm

My observation site was pretty active today- lots of people and dog, and of course wildlife. I saw some new species, including cinnamon teals, great blue heron, and a type of swallow maybe a barn swallow (not sure). In general there seemed to be a lot of bird activity. At one point there was a murder of crows that took over a tree by my site. They seemed to be chasing away the other smaller birds that had been there before.

It seemed like the area in general was more verdant; more/taller grasses and more buds growing.

I heard generally the same bird calls as I did before, though it seemed more active. I was able to listen to a conversation (call and response) between some birds (couldn't tell how many were involved) which was pretty cool. I heard the varied thrush and the red-winged blackbird as well as the great blue heron, which was pretty interesting. The heron sat on a log in the water for a while and then flew away. It was interesting hearing his/her squawk-like call and seeing him/her fly- the movements looked a little clumsy/awkward, which for some reason I wasn't expecting to see.

Other bird observations I made included seeing how some other species flew. One that I noticed (not sure of the species) had a way of flapping its wings and then shooting off for a short distance in a very aerodynamic way. Another one (brown body, small) had to flap somewhat frantically and then wasn't able to glide very well or gracefully on that momentum, so it seemed like it had to flap its wings more frequently.

I also noticed many more gnats and insects in the air. The bees seemed to like the scotch broom shrub quite a bit. Since the water in the pond is pretty still, I started wondering if it was good mosquito habitat, and when/if they would start coming out...

Look to Plant ID tab for more details on what I observed.

Week 3

Date: 19 and 20 April
Weather: rainy and cold; then cloudy and cool
Location: Olympic Peninsula, specifically Lake Crescent and Salt Creek

Over the weekend we went up to the Olympic Peninsula to visit Lake Crescent and the surrounding forest as well as the Salt Creek tide pools.

Thumbnail sketch of Lake Crescent

To the left is my thumbnail sketch of the landscape at Lake Crescent. Although the fog made it a little difficult to see the hills in the distance, the valley is U-shaped, which is typical of glacially carved valleys (this particular area was shaped by the Fraser Lobe of the Cordilleran icesheet). V-shaped valleys are usually carved by rivers. Since glacial movement went from north to south, any geologic formations in this area run north-south.

The section of the lake I was observing had vegetation (coniferous trees) down to the waterline, which indicates that the water level at that point has stayed pretty constant. Lack of vegetation near the edge of the water would have indicated previous flooding that would have killed off vegetation close to the waterline. The water was pretty clear, still, and very deep, up to 1000 feet deep in some places. Because the lake contains so much water, it has too few nutrients to support very much life. However, there is one species of fish endemic to it that is also landlocked into it-- the beardslee trout. The trees in the foreground of my drawing are red alders.

Young forest, characterized by little development of the understory.

We also went into the forests and observed the different types of flora and fauna (black-tailed deer, pacific wren, varied thrush, townsend warbler, to name a few) there. The area we were in was almost technically a rainforest but not quite(only 10 inches under the definition's threshold). We saw a clearly distinct line in the forest where trees were not mossy, and then where they did become mossy, indicating a change in forest vegetation and thus structure and processes. I thought this was pretty cool and interesting that the divide would be so pronounced, rather than gradual. Various tree species we saw included western red cedar, douglas-fir, grand fir, big leaf maple, and western hemlock. In general, the phenology of the plants here was behind that of the ones in Ravenna because of lower temperatures in the National Park than in the city. We were also able to see the difference between young and old forests, where old forests are characterized by B.U.N.S., or big trees, understory development, nurse logs, and snags.

Western red cedar with cool moss/lichen, not sure what type it is
(this is not the tree that went through the fire disturbance). This tree species
is well adapted to fire and has high changes of surviving fire disturbances.
It also is decay-resistant.

One particular western red cedar we saw near the trail had survived a fire disturbance. Its trunk was hollowed out and blackened but the overall tree was still living. While its support structure is less stable, it can still cycle nutrients through its length and thus remain living. Fire disturbances like this cause drastic effects not just to individual trees (Douglas-firs that have gone through fires will often have charcoal fire-scars on their trunks) but to the overall forest structure as well. Sometimes fire will go through the forest in a mosaic pattern, leaving behind biological legacies like nurse logs, which provide habitat. Immediately after a fire disturbance, early successional species like red alders, shrubs, and opportunistic species will begin to grow. While old-growth habitats are key to the survival of many types of organisms, early seral conditions are also important as they provide diverse habitats to important species. Middle successional species may include douglas-firs, which are not shade-tolerant, and thus take advantage of the sunlight they can access in this stage of forest development. In late seral conditions, douglas-firs may die off perhaps because of butt rot or wind disturbance. After this happens, western hemlocks, which are shade-tolerant, take advantage of their new access to sunlight and begin to take over the stand. Douglas-firs cannot grow back after this point, unless another disturbance fells the western hemlocks.

Limpets (oval-shaped shells; organism is
inside) and barnacles on rock.

The second day we went to the Salt Creek tidepools where I saw some pretty cool organisms. For instance, I saw fingered limpets-I don't think these are common in Maine- so it was interesting seeing them everywhere. They are pretty much wherever dall's acorn barnacles are, although the two species do compete with each other for space. Bob Paine mentioned that limpets will bulldoze barnacles out of their way and that sometimes you can see the trail they leave behind. This was interesting to me because I have always thought of barnacles as non-mobile, stubborn creatures, and because limpets look like they wouldn't necessarily need/want to move around either.

Dall's Acorn Barnacles; the bigger ones
in here were about 3/4 of an inch long

The barnacles here are up to two inches in length--this size is not common in the places I frequent in Maine, so it was cool to see such large ones. Their shells have adapted to become sharp for protection against large predators. Some snails can drill through their shells however. They also close up so that during low tides when they are not in the water, they can preserve their moisture.

Pacific rockweed algae

Green ribbon algae

Though I didn't see any oyster-catchers, I learned that you can tell where their territory is by where algae grows. Oyster-catchers eat barnacles, and barnacles eat algae. So if a barnacle population on a rock is eaten by oyster-catchers, there are no more algae predators, and the algae can grow more. This is an example of a ripple-effect in this ecosystem.

Unsure of this algae too,
but it has a cool texture that reminds me of
tire tracks, or textured plastic

Sea lettuce in foreground, unsure of algae in background,
perhaps deflated Pacific rockweed algae?

Unsure of what algae this is

Further out on the beach there was a huge pile of broken and empty mussel shells which was evidence of predation. Sea birds that eat mussels will often fly above rocks and drop mussels onto the ground to break the shells to access the meat inside. This seems to have been a prime location for such activity.

Other organisms we saw included mossy chiton, emarginate dogwinkle, pacific littleneck clam, edible mussels, california mussels, red crabs, pacific blood star, ochre sea star, and tidepool sculpin.

Finally, I think I may have also seen a false sea lemon, but at the time I didn't know such a creature existed, and I thought it was just an actual lemon under a rock- this would be common in the nature that I experienced as a child, where people threw away their food scraps on the beach for the seagulls to eat. Consequently, I didn't think about it too much and didn't bother to investigate- it was partially under a rock too- but flipping through my Audubon book later made me wish I had!