Pack Forest 3/31/12

Pack Forest Lat: 46.83 Long: -122.295 March 31, 2012

Today we drove to Pack Forest and explored the area there, then went to Mount Rainier National Park. Before Pack Forest there was an open grassy field, then some scotch broom, then the trees began to thicken and it became the woods. What initially surprised me was the amount of lichens, moss, and liverworts covering the trees, plants, and ground. We began by identifying trees. The first step is to determine whether they are deciduous or coniferous. Then you see if the tree has leaves, needles, of scales. Then you look at if the branches and/or leaves are alternating (switching from left to right side of trunk or branch) or opposite (symmetrically diving off on both sides). Some other determining factors could be arrangements, pairings, and order around the branches. Previously I thought you could just look at the bark and the leaves and it would be obvious what kind of tree you are looking at, but I learned you need to look much closer. After that I began using the Pojar guidebook to identify some of the many mosses and lichens surrounding me. I learned that there are two kinds of mosses: peat mosses and true mosses, and that peat mosses have stem leaves. I also learned that lichen are part of the fungal kingdom, and there are over one thousand different kinds in the Pacific Northwest. On our trek through the woods we discovered a few mushroom, including a morel, as well a centipede, snail, wild rose, and squirrel. The majority of trees were Douglas Fir and Western Hemlock, as well as some Bigleaf Maple covered in a dense layer of moss. The understory was largely Salal and Sword ferns. Pack Forest was slightly damp, with a few light showers and gray skies and about fifty degrees.
Around 3 PM we got back in the vans and drove to Rainier. Here it was much colder, with a few inches of snow still covering the ground. This area was more old growth, with bigger trees. There were fewer shrubs and deciduous trees, and the area seemed less diverse (perhaps due to the snow cover). I learned about nurse logs, and how Hemlock seedlings grow from these to use nutrients of the decaying tree. There were some interesting sulfur and/or other chemical pools in the area. They made the water warmer and different colors including blue and orange.

Species Identified
• Tall clustered thread moss- Bryum pseudotriquetrum
• Douglas Fir- Pseudotsuga menziesii
• Moss: Menzies neckera
• Red flowering currant- Ribes sanguineum
• Sword Fern- Polystichum munitum
• Western White Pine- Pinus monticola
• Western Hemlock- Tsuga heterophylla
• Snowberry- Symphoricarpos albus
• Red Alder- Alnus rubra
• Frog Pelt- Peltigera neopolydactyla
• Wild Rose- Rosa arkansana
• Liberty Cap- Psilocybe semilanceata
• Salal -Gaultheria shallon
• Morel- Morchella esculenta
• Tree Ruffle Liverwort- Porella navicularis
• Beaded Bone- Hypogymia enteromorpha
• Shelf Mushroom: Fomitopsis pinicola

Posted on April 23, 2012 10:43 PM by brooke