All Things Great and Small

Field Observations

    July 20-25, 2020

    This week I made 2 different visits to Thomas Woods: one during the day and one during the night (more info about the latter later in the blog). During the day trip, I went out at 4:30. The sun was out so I was hot on my walk to the woods but the moment I entered the forest's shadowy embrace the air was much cooler on my face.

    The first sounds I heard were the very loud cicadas who seem to always be present. I also heard some type of woodpecker call and then the drumming of its bill into wood. While walking along the path, I happened to glance up and saw a cute little chipmunk or maybe young squirrel scurrying along the branch of a tree. I lost track of it before I could bring my binoculars up to inspect further. 

    This is my third week in my habitat, and this week I noticed there were a lot less wildflowers blooming than the past two weeks. I had to look a lot harder to find some more woodland flowers to identify as these shade tolerant, hardy species have caught my fascination during my time exploring Thomas Woods. However, I did see notice more grasses with fuller heads now. It seems the time of flowers, for now at least, is over, and the grasses are growing strong. This reminds me of how we all have our strengths and growing seasons, along with times where we store our energy for another day and prepare ourselves for the next part of the cycle of our lives. 

    I also looked at lots of tree seedlings bunched under their parent trees. And then this led me to look at the parents, which led me to noticing how the tallest and thickest trees in the woods here tend to be oaks and hickories. Another cool thing about Thomas Woods is that it is pretty open. The shrubs aren't terribly thick, from one side of the woods you can see the wetland on the other side of it. This probably allows for so many herbaceous flowers to grow, as well as the light availability along the paths that of course don't have trees on them. 

    Some other unique observations was I found a poor Monarch with a bite taken out of one of its wings. I imagine the thing that bit it was not pleased with the poor taste lol as I know Monarch caterpillars store chemicals from milkweed plants in their bodies which predators don't like the taste of. Another butterfly I spotted flying back and forth across the path was a black swallowtail, one of my favorite butterflies. I also found a deer trail leading into the forest so I hope I get to encounter some deer in my habitat at some point. 

Species Identification

Clustered Black Snakeroot (Sanicula odorata)

    

    This forb is a perennial with pale green, red, or purple stems typically 1-2.5 feet tall. Snakeroot has alternate, opposite, or basal leaves. If basal, the leaves have 5 leaflets palmately which are typically 5 inches long with petioles up to 6 inches long. Upper leaves often have only 3 leaflets and are slightly smaller. Each leaflet is very toothed and shallowly cleft. 

    The flowers of the plant occur in umbels which have 20-60 tiny flowers. One interesting adaptation is that the umbels have 1-3 perfect flowers with both male & female reproductive organs. The flowers bloom in late spring to mid-summer for only 2-3 weeks and then produce bur-like fruit that has seeds inside. This plant also has a fibrous root system which means colonies sometimes occur in suitable habitats. 

    Snakeroot's preferred habitat includes partial sunlight, moist to slightly dry soils, and woodlands, thickets, and fence rows. This plant is suprisingly resilient to degradation of its woodland habitats. 

Hilty, John. (2020). Sanicula odorata. Illinois         Wildflowers. https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/cm_blsnakeroot.htm

Upright Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta)

    

    This plant does not grow very tall, and has clover looking leaves with a slightly sour taste that people do eat in salads with other greens. However, not too much can be eaten due to the oxalic acid this plant contains, hence the genus name Oxalis due to Greek oxys meaning sour. This also makes the plant somewhat deer resistant since they cannot consume too much without getting sick. The flowers are of course yellow, the plant has 1 to several flowers. If the flowers have a slight purple tint to them, then it is actually Large Yellow Wood Sorrel instead but they are easy to mix up. 

    The native habitat of Upright Yellow Wood Sorrel is Indiana to Pennsylvania and then south to Louisiana and Georgia. The yellow or yellow-orange blooms occur March and October. The typical habitats this plant are located include prairie, meadows, pastures, savannas, and edge of woodlands. They can live in any soil type, but sorrels do prefer slightly drier soils. 

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. (n.d.). Oxalis stricta. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=OXST

Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)

    

    Common Selfheal gets its name from the fact that it has been used in traditional medicines all over the world. One of its uses historically has been as a fever reducer by the Algonquin of Quebec in Canada.

    You can recognize this plant by its blue or purple (and sometimes red or white) flowers which have five petals and occur on fused cup or tube which makes it quite distinguishable. The petals are oblong shaped and rounded at the end. The leaves are simple and opposite, and occasionally toothed but not always. The whole plant is very small, growing no bigger than 10-15 cm. 

    Common Selfheal's habitat includes terrestrial and wetlands. You can find this plant growing in disturbed habitats  in meadows and fields or along the shores of nearby rivers and lakes. Typical range of this plant occurs along the East Coast such as Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont but it can occur on other Eastern or Midwest States it's just not as common there. 

Native Plant Trust. (2020). Prunella vulgaris. https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/prunella/vulgaris/

PawPaw Sphinx Moth (Dolba hyloeus)

    

    The PawPaw Sphinx Moth is not terribly huge, it has a forewing around 22-30 mm long. The colors are dark gray, black, and brown with lots of white blotching, which occurs mainly on the very outside and inside parts of the top wings. The contrast between the dark and the white parts of the moth can be highly contrasted or very low. The hindwings are generally very dark with gray areas in the center. Their bodies are banded black and white. 

    Caterpillars are known to have various Asclepias species (milkweeds) as their hosts as well as some other plants as well. One plant in particular is the Asimina trilobus or pawpaw tree hence the name PawPaw Sphinx Moth. PawPaw Moth larvae are recognizable by their green bodies with 6 white stripes on the side, and a blue-purple colored horn.

    You can find these moths in between spring and fall months except in Florida you can find it any day of the year, if you can find it :). These moths are native to the entire Eastern United States. 

Sphingidae of the United States of America. (2020). Dolba hyloeus. https://www.sphingidae.us/dolba-hyloeus.html

Question of the Week

Q:What animal species or guilds seem to be abundant and/or influential in your ecosystem? Focus some observation time on those organisms: what are they doing, eating, etc. Also describe at least one animal plant interaction that you saw happening and speculate as to its significance.

    Guilds are species that exploit the same resources, often in different ways. Some guilds that I have encountered in my habitat include: trees, shrubs, graminoids (ex: grasses), forbs (wildflowers), saprophytes (ex: fungi), browsers (presence of deer),  pollinators (moths, butterflies, and bees), etc. The guilds that make up the most biomass are the vegetation: trees, shrubs, forbs, and grasses. The second most common guild seen in my habitat is the pollinators, no doubt attracted by the many wildflowers, tree buds, etc to pollinate. The relationship between pollinator species and the plants they pollinate is an important mutualism found in many ecosystems. Plants provide nectar or pollen resources and pollinators such as bees distribute plant's genetic material to new areas, increasing diversity and plant fitness. I am also sure that the forbs and grasses would attract deer, which I have seen in Thomas Woods before when I lived at Merry Lea. 

    Specifically, one plant and animal interaction I encountered was on my night hike. I returned to this one large tree that I had seen leaking sap during the daytime before, and low and behold there were so many moths licking at that sap!! Their eyes shined in my flashlight's spotlight but they ignored me and kept on licking, although a few then also came to investigate my flashlight and phone's light lol. This would be a case where in the tree's perspective it may not be good that it was leaking sap, but it definitely was a free meal to the moths who found it. And it turns out that these sphinx moths are attracted to pawpaw trees, although the tree I was looking at was not a pawpaw. The sap is probably a very good, rare food source for these moths, and demonstrates how everything is cycled and not wasted in a natural ecosystem. 

   

 

Another interaction I saw on my dayhike was a honeybee pollinating some clover. Honeybees are good pollinators, but they are not as good as native pollinators especially for plants that have evolved to have specific species pollinating them. In some cases, honeybees can even be invasive and out compete native pollinators and cause their populations to decline. It's always fun to see an Apis mellifera at work though, these girls are dedicated. 

Creative Response

Hide & Seek

I stand at the edge of the woods,

binoculars weighing heavy on my neck.

I've yet to land my eyes

on a single bird perched above

yet their beautiful evening songs

taunt me from the tree tops.

My shoes betray my prescence

scrunching on gravel

or swishing the grasses

causing the birds to flee

into their thick canopy bowers

hidden from prying eyes.

Yet, I hear them.

Gossiping about me

to their neighbors.

Pee-wee.

Chee.

Yeep.

Tuk.

Even when I stand absolutely still,

the birds remain ever so elusive.

I bask in their soft songs instead

content to listen

even if I don't understand

what exactly they are saying.