Presque Isle

The class took a trip to the beautiful Presque Isle forest on Wednesday morning. We found examples of the different types of relationships between organisms.

Parasitism is when one organism benefits from the other by doing harm to it. We saw plenty of mosquitoes, which are a great example of a parasite. We also found a tree with a gull. A gull is a big hump of wood that has encased itself around fungus to keep it from hurting the tree. The fungus is a parasite to the tree.

Commensalism is another relationship where an organism benefits from another without doing harm or good to it. We found a big spiderweb on a tree. The tree is a place for the spider to set up it's web so it can catch food. The spider isn't hurting nor helping the tree.

Another relationship is known as mutualism. In mutualism both species benefit from eachother. We found a tree with a big hole in it from a Pileated woodpecker. It looks as though the woodpecker is hurting the tree but in reality it's eating insects that harm the tree. The woodpecker benefits from the insects in the tree and the tree benefits from the woodpecker killing the harmful insects.

We also explored competition between species. An intraspecific competition is between the same species. We saw deer who compete for food, water, and shelter. In this case these two are a mom and baby who aren't exactly competing but they do with other deer.

We also found interspecific competition. Interspecific competition is between two different species. This baby pine was competing for sunlight with the big striped maple next to it.

We found a micro-habitat under a rock. There appeared to be ants and some kind of fly wandering around. It was hard to tell if they were competing or working together. The soil under the rock provided nutrients. The rock posed as the protection/shelter for the insects.

As mentioned earlier we saw two deer wandering through the woods. The picture below shows the baby following mom.

They wandered through the tall grass. They eat the long grass, saplings, and other vegatation. They also lay down and sleep on the tall grass under trees that provide shade. Below is a picture of what appears to be a resting place for deer.

Decomposition is an important part of Presque Isle's biogeography. Wood is decomposed when trees fall from storms with strong winds or even weakened from occurrences such as disease. Decomposers such as moss and mushrooms break down the wood releasing the nutrients into the soil. Rain helps the nutrients travel into the roots of plants around. Other factors in Presque Isle's biogeograhy is the sun and wind. The sun produces energy for photosynthesis within the plants. Wind carries seeds and buds from trees and plants to spread out the population. Animals feed off the water and live under the shade of the many mature trees that live there.

 We learned that the shore of lake superior use to be where this lineup of trees are below:

We picked an area and placed a circle of string around it. We observed it for 30 minutes. I noticed there was a mushroom and an abundance of moss working to decompose wood. There was also grass growing on the wood.

 I wrote a poem about the little community.

The tree that fell once was well

It now acts as home for some unknown

Mushroom, moss, and grass

Have found a sacred home at last

Mushroom and moss decompose

As grass grows and grows

The small community works together

As the wood becomes weathered

As time continually passes by

The tree will no longer be seen by the naked eye

I really enjoyed wandering around the woods of Presque Isle. We encounted many animals and pretty orange  mushrooms. Below are the rest of the pictures our group took.

The Odyssey

The odyssey was an essay about nutrients (made of chemicals) that are passed from one organism to another. It starts out with X in the lime stone. The limestone is eventually pulled out by the tree that decays the rock. X is tuned into a flower, then an acorn. The deer eats the acorn where X is stored. The deer is eaten by an Indian. The Indian passes away and X lays in the ground waiting for the cycle again. Y begins the cycle within the water. X is represented in the soil cycle.
Bio-geochemical processes are represented by this essay.The picture below shows the processes chemicals go through.

When animals die and decompose the nutrients are passed through the soil or water. The picture below shows the simple cycle of the nutrient's host.

The moral of the essay is that nutrients are made up of chemicals that vary in geographical location. Each living thing carries chemicals that are passed on to other living things. I have nutrients that I gained from other living things such as fruit and meat. It's a cycle I am proud to be part of.

Think like a Mountain Essay

Aldo Leopold wrote an essay in the Sand County Almanac about an event he encountered when hunting for deer. A pack of wolves were playing beneath where they were sitting. The group of men unloaded their rifles on the wolves with the objective to kill. Aldo says it was then when he noticed a green glow from the wolves eyes disappear as it died. He began to question and think like a mountain. Thinking like a mountain means to to keep a balanced ecosystem around the environment to keep it healthy. Competition and predation are parts of theses processes. Aldo was raised to shoot each wolf he encountered so that the deer would strive. If there is nothing to control the population of deer then the vegetation on the mountain will deplete into a bare mountain.
I was very sad to think of a bunch of men shooting innocent wolves for no apparent reason. I felt that these men were stupid about their belief in controlling the deer population. We must think before we believe in trying to control a certain aspect of a population. The mountain would go bare and the deer would eventually die off. Succession would begin all over again and species would evolve again. Either way we try to control a population, there is always a way a new community will arise naturally.
Marquette is having a wolf issue on Isle Royale. That last alpha female died when she fell into a hole. The population will be wiped out after the last male dies. Marquette and Upper Peninsula biologists are talking about adding wolves to Isle Royale. My opinion on this topic is not has not been made. I would need to research and imagine what would happen if we left nature alone. We can't save everything and have done a large amount of damage by introducing a species to save another. Ecology is a sensitive world of connections.

Bog Blog

We had a wonderful trip to the Presque Isle bog last Friday morning. We learned about the bog and it's plant life. We learned about specific adaptations plants have evolved enabling them to survive.
Bogs are composed of plant material not able to decompose all the way due to cold climates. Bogs lack nutrients and oxygen and are very acidic.

I thought it was very interesting to learn that two carnivorous plants live in bog territory, Sundew and the Pitcher plant. I was not able to spot any Sundew but did find a pitcher plant. It had flowers on it this year which apparently is a rare sight. Pitcher plants have cup like leaves that catch water. Insects get trapped in the water and are ingested by the plant's enzymes. The insects provide the plant with nitrogen. The arrows in the picture below are pointing to the pitcher plant.

This is a picture of the pitcher plant's flower:

The trees that grow on bogs are usually able to deal with the harsh conditions the bog has to offer. I found it very interesting that a baby maple tree was growing smack dab in the middle of the bog. I looked into the distance and noticed a large tree, unable to tell what it was. I assumed it was the mother maple of the one I was looking at. It's leave were bright red which insisted that the leaves were dying. Is the tree dying because it can't stand the acidic conditions of the bog? How is it living there?

I also have always loved two type of trees that bogs have to offer. Willow trees remind me of when I was a little girl. I use to play under the willow tree because it seemed so big and comforting.

I also love tamaracks because of their unique ability to drop their needles in the fall. Deciduous trees such as maple and oaks drop their leaves but conifers usually don't. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture.

 The beach was at the end of the bog walk. It was a beautiful windy day.

 A crow scavenges for food next to the rip tide danger sign.

 I found a little treasure left behind by a seagull.

 The bog contained many cranberry plants and arrowleaf plants.

 There were two bucks crossing the bog when I took this picture. The deer are very protected in this area. Why do deer seem to be attracted to swamps and bogs? Can they drink the bog's water?

 This section of the bog was filled in by humans. Grasses grew on it. Grasses adaptable to bogs include tansy, thistle, goldenrod, and burdock.

I can't wait to go back to Presque Isle and explore some more!