amyguggenberger's Journal

I took a lovely evening walk through the Pine Tree Preservation. It was around 6:30 pm just as the sun was setting. The weather was cool, around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, with a slight breeze in the air. It became dark pretty quickly as the trees provided a thick covering that blocked any remainder of sunlight for the day. From bees, to moss, to flowers, the Pine Tree Preservation had a large amount of biodiversity. Lots of the species were co-existing together, growing in an intertwined way. This led me to think there is competition among the species for space and resources. There was lots of dead plants surrounding the living species which led me to think those species were not the most fit for that environment and were outcompeted by the living organisms who were better equip to use the resources around them to survive and produce offspring. Most of the fungi, lichen, and small plants all were very close to the ground, competing for rocks to inhabit. This area seemed to have a high amount of species richness, but a low species evenness. There was a wide range of different trees, bushes, plants, but only a few of each. There was an abundance of what looked to be like Bullseye Lichen found on almost every rock. This biodiverse preservation allows for Earth's natural processes to take place, provide clean air for humans to breathe, and a home for many species.