karenchongs's Journal
I walked around campus and observed animals/plants in the spring as compared to the winter. The main difference is the presence of flowers, and the leaving of trees that were bare during winter. However, there is no big difference in other animal species, I expect it is due to limited migration happening in the Berkeley area. There are still birds and squirrels, and year-round ferns. I do observe some weeds/plant growing near bigger plants, such as a tree, that were not there during the winter. However, I think that there is not too much change in plants around the Berkeley area.
I like to observe flowers in particular, as they are colorful and spring up everywhere.
I observed 5 different wild flower in the same area around Mccone Hall, it is amazing how many different varieties of flowers there are just in a small area.
I saw a yellow flower, that lays low on the ground. I saw another white low laying flower.
the white flowers grow in a batch, seems to have a strong vascular system, but their shape is like a dandelion.
I saw another bush like flowering plant with big red flowers.
Lastly, I observe some purple flowers on a mini bush. The whole plant is a miniature version of a big regular bushes I see, but everything is in a smaller scale, with small leaves and flowers.
In my first observation, I saw a bird/ pigeon near Lincoln school in Oakland. The bird seems to be picking at worms or other bugs from the ground.
My second observation is a fox squirrel eating something, which I assume is an acorn. Because of the shade, I couldn't tell whether it is an acorn or just some other fruit.
My third observation is near Lake Merrit BART station, I saw a group of pigeons picking on the ground. I did not see any bread crumbs on the ground, so I assume the birds are eating the grass. I am not sure if this is the same species as I have observed before, because these birds act as a group and they have some pattern on the feather.
The first plant I observed is low that has think leaves, it is very branched out. I am guessing it is strongly anchored to the ground due to its weird branching out, and that its roots must be very deep or stretch out to get water in the dry environment.
the second plant I saw is not as branched out, but has needle like leaves, but it is a shrub. the narrow leaves prevent evaporation of water in the dry area. It does have a lot of leaves though, which I think is evolved to absorb as much sunlight as possible, but leaves in needle shape to minimize water loss.
then I observe some spiny weed, which fellow inaturalists identified as Italian thistle. It looks like some very tough weed that can survive in harsh environment, just by the pattern of growth. It is not organized, just spout out everywhere, unlike other plants that require certain habitat or nutrients. I think its non-specificity allows it to grow wherever condition permits, thus, it can survive in dry environment like the Chaparral.
I observed a plant with feathery needle like leaves. again, the thin leaves minimize water loss, and the way it is spread out can prevent leaves overlapping on each other, thus maximizing light absorbance.
lastly, I saw this short tree tilted heavily to one side almost lying flat on the ground. I think it is trying to get to the sunlight that's blocked by other taller plants around it. and the leaves are small and fan out like leather, to minimize water loss.
The first tree I observed is different from the ones around it. It is not as tall as the other trees, and I think it has adapted at this height to avoid competition with other trees because the area is so moist. it also has leaves in all directions, in order to maximize contact with light, given at a lower height.
the Second tree I saw has fan-shape leaves and a lot of leaves. this might be due to the abundance of water, so this plant does not need to worry about evaporation.
I saw a pine tree that has needle like leaves. I know that needle like leaves are evolved to limit water evaporation, yet I am not sure why this would be necessary in a moist evergreen forest. My guess is that though the forest is 'moist', trees still need to conserve water in order to remain green all year round. and also, the weather in northern California is colder than a tropical rainforest, so needle leaves are evolved.
then, I saw a coastal woodfern. It is small, close to the ground, and have broad leafs. Broad leaves help it receive more sunlight given it is so low to the ground, yet it does not worry about water evaporating with its broad leaves, since it has access to moisture.
my last observation is this super tall tree, that has a canopy above all other trees. This is because of competition, it needs to grow taller to receive sunlight, when competition is fierce in a moist environment. its leaves are restricted to the canopy area, where not blocked by other trees, making photosynthesis more efficient.
For all my observations in this exercise, I went to the area next to LSA. There is a river, some logs and very tall trees.
flowering plant
I observed a yellow flower plant among some weeds
Plants with leaves+ plants without flower
I observed a plant that does not look like a tree, nor a shrub, that has leaves and no flowers. I am not sure what it is except I am sure it is a plant, and it looks pretty wild.
Plants without leaves
This tree is still bare, it looks pretty old too.
Fungi-- I saw this orange stuff inside a tree hole, at first I was wondering if that is just the interior of the tree, but at a closer look this looks like some fungus growing and eating away the tree.
Birds- I saw a brown bird, which bloggers on inaturalist help me identified as California Towhee. Its brown color nicely camouflage into the leaves on the ground. Also, when I saw it, it was digging on the ground.
Insects- I saw a bug, segmented, brownish, and round on the ground. I look at others post on inaturalist, and found something similar to it, so I ID it as isopodes.
Mammals- Fox Squirrels are just everywhere on campus, great representation of mammals
Plants- I saw some patches of yellow flower among grasses, and it is identified as Bermuda Buttercup.
