wintermg's Journal

This week I decided to venture into the Hammond Pond Reservation. It was a beautiful space with lots of natural biodiversity, but had clearly been cultivated with people in mind, as there were lots of paths and benches. On my walk, the most abundant taxa I found were the angiosperms, which makes sense as they have dominated in abundance since they have evolved. Since it was a relatively damp and shaded area, I found many Bryophyta along the ground, in crevices in rocks and trees, and most interestingly, along the top of tree branches. That fascinated me because the tree was providing shade to the moss, as they have a tendency to dry out, and moisture. I wonder if the moss provided any advantage to the tree. With a few of the mosses, I was able to spot sporophytes which was cool, as I thought it would be seasonal.

For this week's nature walk, I went to the reservation around Hammond Pond. The scenery there was absolutely stunning, and there were steep rock faces that felt almost otherworldly. The weather was quite chilly and damp, but it felt fitting for searching for fungi. The biodiversity that I noticed there was also remarkable - there were countless types of fungi, trees, flowers, moss, ferns, and animals. Since fungi are a bit more difficult to spot, I first looked at the decaying matter - fallen trees and heaps of dead leaves. I figured this would be the place to find fungi, as they are decomposers. As I was wandering around, I was thinking about the different types of bacteria that would colonize fungi vs plants vs animals. I wonder if the bacteria that colonize fungi, specifically mushrooms, have a higher efficacy of organic matter breakdown, to assist in the decomposition aspect of fungi (and perhaps have a symbiotic relationship). Maybe bacteria can be beneficial to fungi like gut microbes (and other bacteria) are to us.

This nature walk I decided to stick close to campus and explore the Pine Tree Reserve. Unfortunately, many of the plants had been stomped on, and there was litter everywhere. It was sad to see such a beautiful natural space taken advantage of. Even so, there were quite a number of lively plants. It is always incredible to me seeing the vivid green of plants on the Northeast, as I am from Southern California, where plants typically are a more muted green. There was a large patch of ferns on the side close to campus, which are my favorite type of plant as they are reminiscent of a time long before humans. I think it is amazing that they still reproduce in a way that occurred before sexual reproduction evolved. Many squirrels were active during this time, but none of them came quite close enough for me to photograph. Nonetheless, it was fun to watch them scurry about. Next time I think I will go to a larger, less trafficked natural space to fully immerse myself.