sarahgerlach's Journal

For this assignment, I primarily wanted to focus on the plant life around the Berkeley campus that my peers had been seeing. It was great to look at the map of our project, and see who observed plants that I walk by on a daily basis.
I think my favorite that I observed this week was the Sudden Oak Death that I found on one of the trees. I had always walked by this tree on my way from class, and it was not until I checked iNat that I realized that this was actually a parasitic relationship. Although it looks beautiful, it is actually hurtful to the tree and may infect the surrounding trees.
I also noticed the California Incense Cedar. It is great being able to now notice and distinguish the different kinds of coniferous trees. One distinct feature of the Incense Cedar is the way it sheds its tiny cones onto the ground whenever the wind is too high.
Additionally, I looked to the ground to find the Turkey Tail "mushrooms" and moss. I love noticing how there are many layers to the ecosystems around campus, and how these types of plants are able to thrive in the wetter, less sunny areas such as under intense tree cover.
I originally had a fifth observation of a Honey Bee, however discovered the picture is too blurry for the quality on iNat.

This was a rather challenging assignment. Although a few of the plants were easy to find, such as Gymnosperm and Monocots, some were difficult to find. I was also unable to find three altogether, though I went all over campus and into the hills behind Clark Kerr. For example, I was unable to locate the pea and sunflowers families around campus or on my hike. Additionally, I was unable to find a plant with irregular flowers, though I have seen many potted plants such as these (like orchids).
I enjoyed the assignment because it made me more aware of my surroundings, and now I am capable of identifying the different types of plants that I see when I am walking around. I also loved learning about the differences between the different types of plants, such as the vascular plants and the split between gymnosperms and angiosperms.

Spring to me has always meant warmth, sun and fresh life. However, during these past few weeks, I was particularly inspired by the beautiful blue skies that Berkeley has offered. I spent my free time exploring new places around campus, including the Campanile as well as the Lawrence Hall of Science. At the top of each, I saw beautiful views of the sky as well as the hillsides covered in pines.
Additionally, as I was walking home from class in VLSB, I could not stop staring at the top of the Eucalyptus trees and the sky above them. There were even a few birds perched at the top singing, which only added to the picturesque vision of spring.
Also, on my way to class one morning, I noticed under the morning dew the little flowers popping up. Although they are just weeds, there is something so poetic about new life fighting its way after the winter cold. I was immediately thankful that spring is finally here.

The first species interaction we saw was the eucalyptus being supported by the Coast Live Oak tree on campus. This was interesting because it was as if the eucalyptus was using the oak almost as its habitat, such that the oak was is unaffected. Next, we observed a young boy playing with his dog. This is a very common interaction for the human species. Last, we observed a few ground squirrels at the base of their habitat, the oak tree. This was a particularly interesting observation because it includes intraspecies interactions, as well as the interspecies reaction.

For the redwood exercise, I walked around campus with my sister. First, we saw the giant redwood trees. However, what I found to be the most interesting was the plants and fungi growing on the floor. All of the plants had broad, shiny leaves in order to collect water and prevent the soil from becoming too damp. There was also some fungi growing on the floor, because it thrives in the moist, damp environment.

For the Chaparral, I went to North Berkeley with my sister. The chaparral biome is home to many different plants, however most of the ones I could find were shrubs with sclerophyllous leaves. One plant in particular had spike-like leaves in order to prevent animals from stealing its valuable water. On the walk home, I found a coast live oak, which is fire adapted to survive in dry environments such as the chaparral.

For the Tree of Life exercise, I went to the Strawberry Creek area of campus. First, I saw some ivy for the Plantae taxa. Although it may not be native to the area, it is very common all along Californian including the Berkeley campus. Next, I overturned a log and found an Arachnid. It was difficult to take a picture because the spider was running away from me but it is in the bottom left corner of the image. On the same log, I broke off a piece with Lichen on it, which is a mutualistic relationship between a fungus and a photosynthetic organism. Then I saw a sparrow in a tree and tried to take a picture of it, however it blended into the tree too well. So I had to chase it out of the tree and stalk it for about ten yards until I could take its picture. Finally, I found a squirrel and we had a staring contest. It was epic and I won because it got distracted and ran away.

For the Phenology Exercise, I walked around the Redwood grove area of campus and found three plants. The first, a Coastal Redwood, had leaves on it that stay year round. The second plant I found was a shrub with flowers on it, which is most likely native to the chaparral environment of Berkeley. The final plant I found was a bare tree, which is hard to identify due to the lack of leaves/flowers.