Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Quadrat (Journal #10)

Our quadrant had mushrooms. Bright. Red. Who has been eating tomatoes out here?
No, don't eat those tomatoes!
The grasses next to them were waxy green. The kind that you would make whistle out of. Thick grass.
We had other mushrooms too. They grew on the stick. They had ruffled edges, like pretty little pastries.
There were brown, crinkly leaves lying on the floor of our quadrant.
An ant scurried over them.
A slug slowly shifted from on edge to another. Its slimy body curling with every move.
The shadows danced on our quadrat. The sun warmed certain spots.
Our quadrant was bright, and dull. Alive, and dead. Smooth, and rough.
The paradoxes abundant. Creating the space. It's own rich and robust little ecosystem.



Presque Isle Blog (Journal #9)

The Presque Isle Park is home to many different species that thrive within its rich ecosystem. It is a beautiful are to walk through, but also observe the vast variety of life within it. Within the park there are many examples of symbiotic relationships. 

While I did not get a picture, and could not find one in the public domain, I was able to spot parasitism on a living tree, termites were feeding. The termites were benefiting from the food, and the tree is being harmed.

Commensalism, I found between moss and a tree. In the picture below, you can also see lichen, which is a mutualistic relationship between algea and fungus, but at the base of the tree, there is moss. The moss is benefiting by having a place to live. While the tree is not being harmed, or benefited. 



An example of mutualism can be found between squirrels and trees. The squirrel benefits by getting food, the acorn. The tree benefits from its seed being scattered, and in place to reproduce. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suneko/95130114/

An example of interspecific competition can be found nearly everywhere you look in the park. As pictured below, different species of trees are competing with one another for sunlight. The picture shows the smaller oak tree shaded underneath the overbearing pine. 

Intraspecific competition is also prevalent within Presque Isle. Deer compete with one another for food. They also compete for mates.
Photo credit: Sarah Day
Just like all living things, deer have a niche in the Presque Isle ecosystem. Deer live in tall grasses, in order to hide themselves from prey. Deer are herbivores and eat plants, fruits, and nuts. Carnivores, like coyotes prey on deer.


An example of a decomposer is a mushroom! Pictured below are several mushrooms growing on a birch tree. 


Micro-habitats are small areas within a larger vicinity (like Presque Isle Park) that have different characteristics than its surrounding area. A micro-habitat could be found within a long hollowed out fallen tree. This habitat would be home to small mammals like a fox, or a skunk. It would also house insects. Its characteristics would be different from the area around it. It would be dark and damp. A great place for bacteria to thrive. It would receive barely any sunlight, so it may be cooler than the surrounding area. 

The examples that show the biogeochemical cycles at Presque Isle are abundant. The carbon cycle is prevalent in the vast among of plant life in the park. These plants photosynthesize and respire, cycling the carbon in the air. The water cycle can be heard from the roaring waves of Lake Superior that surround the park, or in the dew that forms as droplets in the early morning. The water evaporates, condensates, and precipitates. Also, nitrogen is being passed from decaying trees, and other life into the soil, which enriches it and provides the important chemical for the next user- other plants or animals. This cycle is the nitrogen cycle. Below is a picture of a decaying tree that, as it decomposes into the soil, will pass its nitrogen onward. 


The Odyssey (Journal #8)

After reading and reflecting on one of Aldo Leopold's essays from his Sand County Almanac, we were asked to look at another essay called Odyssey. In Odyssey, Leopold takes us on a journey in which we view from the perspective of X. What Leopold does in this essay is show firsthand, through X, the biogeochemical process. First, X is marked in stone (geo). X, is then pulled up into the roots of a tree (bio). Within this tree X helps make a flower, which becomes an acorn, which is eaten by a deer. The deer is then eaten by an Indian. The acorn, deer, and Indian all had X within them, and transferred through them. X is transfered then through many other living things and soil. X, then finds itself within another Indian, who passes near a riverbank. The bank collapses, and X, is pulled out to sea. 


Below, is a picture of the nitrogen cycle, part of the biogeochemical process. The resource listed below is a great source for students to search for more information and application of the carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles.