mccartxk's Journal

Today I went on a stroll in Boston College's Pine Tree Preserve on the hunt for fungi! The beginning of my journey was a little disappointing because I could not find fungi for the life of me. Then, I changed my strategy and started to look in the nooks and crevices of stumps and rocks. To my surprise, fungi was everywhere to be found. Even in some small nooks, I could find several species of fungi. The biodiversity of fungi in a small area was shocking. There was one rock where I found multiple different species in one crack. There must have been some advantage to the fungi being in that crack. The area of the pine tree preserve had lots of species diversity with no single species overrunning the preserve (high species evenness) and a lot of species richness. In my observations, I included fungi and some other species of plants and animals that I found. The weather today was in the mid 50s. It was a little drizzly and quite windy. I definitely underdressed with my simple crewneck and sweatpants. I should've brought a rain jacket!

Today I went on a lovely sunset walk at Boston College's Pine Tree Preserve. It was a bit chilly in the 50s, but the wind made it seem much colder than it was. The outside air was a refreshing end to my day. I focused on making observations of different kinds of plants today. Right off the bat, I saw a lot of pine trees. Pine trees are gymnosperms, the first group of plants on my list. Gymnosperms are vascular plants that produce exposed seeds (hence the pine cone photos). I then narrowed in to see some Polypodiopsidas in the form of ferns, a Bryophyta in the form of moss, and many Angiosperms in the form of different flowering plants. Of the different groups of plants, I found the Angiosperms to be my favorite because they always tended to stand out with their bright colors. Overall, my walk was quite enjoyable and I am excited for my next one!