avasantamaria's Journal

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!

This afternoon (Tuesday, October 18th) I took a nature walk along the Chestnut Hill Reservoir path around 4pm. The sun was shining, and it was a crisp fall day with a temperature of about 60 degrees. As this week's theme was plants, throughout my nature walk I kept an eye out for examples of all four of the main groups of plants. In the woods abutting the reservoir as well as along the reservoir path, I was successful in doing so! For Bryophyta or nonvascular plants, I found a strip of moss on the trunk of a tree. For Polypodiopsia (seedless vascular plants), I found some ferns growing in the woods. A Gymnosperm, (non-flowering seed plant) was found in the woods, as I located a pine tree. Lastly, an Angiosperm was located along the reservoir pathway, as I recorded white flowering plants otherwise known as American Asters. I also recorded some other organisms throughout my nature walk that I found to be unique! Overall, I really enjoyed my nature walk this afternoon and expanded my knowledge upon the four main groups of plants and specific examples of each!