Nature Walk along Chestnut Hill Driveway Woods

This past Sunday, I exited my dorm and walked down the street towards the Reservoir, entering the woods that abut Chestnut Hill Driveway. It was a cloudy and chillier afternoon, about 54 degrees, and the air was crisp. Throughout my walk, I saw many different plant species as well as wild flowers that I took pictures of. Given the fact that this week was Fungi themed, I additionally found many different types of fungi, although difficult to locate at first. The fungi I found were in different forms, some being the traditional mushroom shape and some growing on tree stumps or the sides of branches. I thought that it was interesting to observe all of the potential different kinds of fungi, as I didn't realize how many possibilities there were! Some fungi were notably darker-colored, (indicating that they had rotted), and some had small holes inn them, (indicating that an animal had ate them.) Comparing my findings to class material, I wondered if certain mushrooms that survived longer possessed specific traits that increased their fitness compared to the rest of the population, promoting a longer-lasting life. An example of these traits could be if a mushroom was considered poisonous compared to other non-poisonous mushrooms, they would survive longer due to animals avoiding eating them compared to the non-poisonous mushrooms. Overall, I really enjoyed my nature walk and exploring the different wildlife areas of BC!

Posted on October 4, 2022 09:21 PM by