Pack Forest 3/31

The Pack Forest area on Mt. Rainier had a large, grassy field lined with scotch broom, large trees and other plants like Indian Plum or salal. In the afternoon our group took a walk through the forest on a trail that led in to a more dense forest with a thick canopy. The ground was muddy from rainfall that morning and there was a cloud cover. It was shocking to me how lichen could be found on almost every tree and the several species we identified were intermixed. In the northwest alone there are over 1,000 species of lichen. Some of the species I identified of lichen were Evernia, Usnea and Crustos lichen. I learned that lichen is composed of fungus and algae and represents a symbiotic relationship. The fungus protects the algae and gets nutrient while the algae gives sugar. On the deciduous trees red column shapes hung vertically off the branches and are called catkins; these were also very common in the Pack Forest area. The majority of trees we saw were Douglass Fir and Western Hemlock with the occasional Big Leaf Maple. Also while examining the pinecones from these trees I was told that female pinecones are longer than male pinecones. For the ground cover the most commonly spotted plants were salal, oregon grape, sword fern, and himalayan blackberries. There was not one plant that seemed to dominate over the others and at least ninety percent of the ground was covered. Pack Forest had several invasive species, including the himalayan blackberry, scotch broom and english ivy. The people working at Pack Forest told us they were working on low-impact removal projects to take these species out of the environment.

Species Identified:
Salal
Evernia prunastri
Douglass Fir
Western Hemlock
Big Leaf Maple
Western Swordfern
Catkins
Red-flowering currant
Custose Lichen
Common Ivy
Western Lady Fern
Scotch Broom
Usnea lichenoconium
Mushroom
Osoberry
Indian Plum

Posted on May 1, 2012 01:11 PM by karavanslyck