guiltyascharged's Journal

The natural history story I will be describing is about the Common Greenshield Lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata) which I observed on the bark of a coast live oak tree up in the hills above campus.
This is a very common type of lichen, which as we discussed in class is an amazing thing because, although it sorta looks just like a normal plant, it is in fact a mutalisitic relationship between two very different organisms, a fungus and either an alga or a photosynthetic bacterium.

The lichen's body is actually made up of fungal strands, but under the upper surface there is a layer of either one-celled green algae or bacteria. Most lichens, including the common green shield lichen, have green algae. The algal cells are able to photosynthesize, using the energy of the sun to provide sugars for themselves and for the fungus. As one scientist described the situation, "Lichens are fungi that have discovered agriculture."

Lichen fungi are never found growing alone, without their algae. They are thus dependent on the algae for survival and cannot get food in any other way. The algae on the other hand are perfectly capable of living on their own. This leads some scientists to describe the relationship between the fungus and the algae as a parasitic one, where the fungus is exploiting the algae but not giving another back, or at least as an asymmetrical mutualism.

However other scientists disagree, saying that inside the lichen the algae are more protected, and so do get some benefit from the relationship. Lichens can often grow in habitats much drier or more exposed than the algae can survive in alone, another benefit for the algae by expanding the possible niches in which it can grow.

This lichen also has a mutualistic relationship with the oaks that it lives on, helping the oaks ward off fungal infections and invasive insects. They also have a symbiotic relationship with humans, with archeological investigations finding that the Tarahumar of northern Mexico used powdered Flavoparmelia caperata to treat burns.
This lichen is interesting for these reasons, for the vast number of interconnections, biological, adaptational, and cultural, that this structure has within itself, with the "wild" ecosystem that surrounds it, and even with the humans who harvest it and use it medicinally.

Sources: http://www.radfordpl.org/wildwood/today/species_of_the_week/SOW32_greenshieldlichen.htm
http://www.californiaoaks.org/ExtAssets/OakLichensFinal.pdf

I got a bunch of great observations while exploring a riparian zone/oak woodland that is one branch of strawberry creek. over an afternoon i walked all the way to the top of that water shed, near Grizzely peak.

Some observations that I concentrated on traits/characters.

The lichen I observed was growing on the coast live oak tree that was the unique type that only grows on oaks, it is a beautiful natural history story in itself. Lichen is actually two species, a fungus, usually an ascomycete cup fungus, with a layer of algae within. The algae is photosynthetic, producing carbohydrates
that the fungus can absorb. As one scientist has put it, "Lichens are fungi that have discovered agriculture."
Lichen are also in a unique partnership with the oaks themselves, helping stave off fungal infections and invasive insects. They encourage the presence of animals by offering food, or material they can use for camouflage or nest building.

Anyway, i also observed a mushroom sprouting out of the ground. it had cracks along the outside of its shell, and had sponge like gills on the bottom on the mushroom. it was short (1-2 inches) and they were growing in patches in moist places in this oak ecosystem.

The sticky monkey has the cool trait of you guessed it, being sticky! the leaves are sticky on the bottom, giving the plant its unique name.

I also saw some newts of some sort. one had a white glob in its mouth, and was the smaller one. maybe its young? the female? some food in its mouth? the newts were small (1-2 inch) and thin (2 cm) and red with some subtle lines along its ribs.

The scotch broom i observed has a yellow flower, one that has bilateral symmetry, with a shield or cover that protects the pistol and stamen. The flowers are small and very recognizable. The scotch broom has small green leaves, round and oblong, entire margins.

I also found a nice big pine cone, from some sort of conifer. I included my hand as a scale reference, and have various photos, so hopefully I can get an good ID on that. The individual scales of the pinecone were bent down (or up, depending on perspective). It is oblong and roughly 8 inches long and 4-5 wide. see photo for more details/characteristics.

I took observations from two ecosystems (well two predominantly, they always bleed into each other, sometimes I was in a redwood ecosystem located in a riparian zone for example).
the first ecosystem was an OAK WOODLAND.
The live oak stand, the pine cone, and the douglas fir and california poppy, and scotch broom are all in this ecosystem. this ecosystem was part of/near a river in north berkeley that flows through many parks, including some private land that has wild habitat in it. The oak is well adapted to this climate, so much so that it gives its name to the ecosystem. the douglas fir is another important part of the trees in this ecosystem, with small needles for little transpiration? The scotch broom, an invasive, has somehow found a nitch in almost all the ecosystems of the bay area, and has the evolutionary advantage of being very quick to rebound in disturbed areas, and its quickly grows to a large height, shading out any possible competition. The pinecone perhaps reveals an adaption of fire adaptation, as it will only open when fires come through, and then it releases its seeds into the fertile and sunny new soils that are created by wild fires. I also observed a mule deer in what i would consider to be transition zone of this same oakland ecosystem. Deer have evolved into human made niches (at least with their attitude if not their bio-physical characteristics) a lot and are now common and comfortable in urban periphery zones such as this golf course. They are taking advantage of many of the niches that humans create with regional parks, golf courses, large backyards with landscaping, etc. and seem to be flourishing in the berkeley hills.

The second ecosystem was a RIPARIAN FORREST. In it I found Raspberry (or black berry perhaps), common ivy, california bay trees, white clover (an invasive), nuttalls scrub oak and another plant i believe is a type of lupine? In and around this zone I also found a large stand of coast redwoods, although this was a bit farther down the riparian valley. I also found western swordfern.
The sword fern is adapted to the wet conditions of coastal valleys and riparian zones like this, they often live in and around rocks and areas that are too vertical for other plants to get a foot hold in. They are gimnosperms right?
The nuttall's scrub oak has the adaption of hard and spikey leafs which keep animals from munching on it. This is important because it is always pretty short so it is right at the height of easy munching for deer, etc.
The coast redwood has the adaption of fire resistance and indeed fire symbiosis. When fires happen, the bark of the redwood protects it, and it is helpful in its reproduction. Fires also open up new areas of sun by burning down undergrowth and boosts soil fertility.
The berry bush (whether black or raspberry) has spikes on its stems, protecting it by discouraging any animal from eating these neccesary parts. Its seeds however, are imbedded in sweet fruit which any animal (including us) is more than happy enough to eat and spread around when we move and defecate. Pretty ingenious move there, berry.

My observations were as follows:

The unknown "tree" species is an example of a flowering phenology that is not in flower.
the Beach blum is an example of a flowering tree that is in flowering stage.
The blue gum eucalyptus is an example of a tree that is leafed out, and the mountain ash is an example of a tree that is bare.

The first observation is of a wild turkey, part of the iconic taxa "birds." It was located in the north berkeley neighborhoods below the labs.

My second observation of this set is an unknown tree/bush which is in the iconic taxa of "Plant". It is in the watershed of the creek directly to the south of strawberry creek.

The third observation is of a honey bee, which is part of the iconic taxa of "insects".