View allAll Photos Tagged Sp2017
This photo was taken two weeks ago on my trip down to Charleston. Taken at Boones plantation you can see oak tress draped with Spanish moss. Spanish moss absorbs its nutrients and water thought its leaves which allows it to live on the oak trees without killing it. Spanish moss uses the oak as a shield from the sun because direct sunlight it detrimental to the plant. While this is not a symbiosis relationship the Spanish moss uses the oak to advance its growth. #UNCW, #ecology, #bio366, #uncweteal, #Sp2017, #image1
I found this little fellow hanging out on the stairs beside me while I was waiting for class to start. This wasp species is also known as Polistes Carolina, or red paper wasp. Because this wasp species is a social species, they undergo extensive grooming using their mandibles to clean themselves and each other. This grooming process removes debris and parasites from the organism, which in return helps maintain a disease-free nest. These nests are usually found in protected areas, like tree cavities or man-made structures. To build their nest, they chew on plant fibers and use their saliva to create a paper like substance, hence their name. When finished, these nests look like an upside-down umbrella. Also, Polistes Carolina’s diet consists of smaller insects and plant nectar, making it economically important. Not only do they rid the plant of parasites (e.g. caterpillars), but also assist in the pollination process by flying from plant to plant trying to retrieve their nectar.
This photo was taken in my back yard in Cary, North Carolina. My family composts bio degradable food items like egg shells, coffee beans, etc. In the picture there is a earthworm, Lumbricina. The earthworms are decomposers so they, ingest the food material and excrete it out as waste. The waste produced by the earthworms is a nutrient rich soil that can be used in gardening. The waste produce from the worms is full of carbon and nitrogen. The plants are able to get the nutrients they need to grow from this waste product.
This photo was taken on Monday, February 27 as I walked from the gym to hawks! This creek is located on the left hand side of the road if you look over the bank. Pictured is said creek, however, the thing that caught my attention was the almost frothy, orange scum floating on top of the water. After some research, I learned that this colored scum is formed from sheathed bacteria named Sphaerotilus natans. It turns out that this color scum is common in streams with a high iron concentrations. The bacteria has iron oxide accumulated within the sheath which is the reason for the orange coloring. The sheath acts as a protective layer from predators as well as allows for anchoring in flowing water to absorb the nutrients and food. This bacteria is also common in streams that receive de-icing fluids (ethylene glycol) which is toxic. If this is the case then it would be harmful to any animal trying to use the creek as a habitat or simply drinking water. It is common for water with this scum to have low levels of oxygen which would most likely not suit most animals and plants fundamental niche requirements.
This picture was taken this February, and the featured creature is a Common Wood Louse. They are Crustaceans that live on land. In Ecology, these small creatures with armored plating usually live out their lives in damp or moist areas such as under bark or amongst the leaf litter, eating dead organic matter. This relates to the first layer of soil: the Organic Layer, which is primarily composed of undecomposed or partially decomposed dead leaves and other plant materials.
As the weather starts to warm up, the grey squirrels come out of hiding to start their year of foraging and eating food. These squirrels commonly consume nuts and seeds of plants and well as the leftovers of us humans in urban locations.
This little critter is a Desmognathus ocoee, or just ocoee salamander. I found him in a creek bed behind my house which doesn’t experience a lot of water flow and is mostly dry. Thus, I was surprised to find a salamander species that is usually found in freshwater streams close to the Appalachians in my backyard in Matthews North Carolina. Due to a giant log in the creek bed and the high clay content in the soil, a barrier allowing the water to sit at the surface of the soil long enough to protect the salamander from desiccation until the next rainfall formed. Because ocoee salamanders are susceptible to desiccation, their home range is confined to a very small area. It also seems that the ocoee salamander is very aggressive protecting its territory; It bit me multiple times and spun around its own axis. Furthermore, the ocoee salamander’s diet consists of small invertebrates, larvae, eggs, and even smaller salamanders. While they do spend most of the year in or near the water, they seek refuge underground in the winter to avoid extreme temperatures.
This photo, taken outside of Building 6 of the UNCW Landing apartments exhibits a group of pink Azaleas (Rhododendron Pentanthera). A prominent factor that influences interspecific competition with Azaleas is the environmental condition in which they are grown. According to the Middle Atlantic Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, Azalea seeds germinate best with temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Azaleas are also prevalent defenders against predation. These plants contain grayanotoxins throughout their entire surfaces which provide a chemically constitutive defense. Ingestion of these plants can cause: a burning sensation on the tongue followed by excess saliva, vomiting, lethargy, and mild paralysis to name a few dangers. Through all of these hazards, multiple pests such as caterpillars, weevils, and whiteflies display herbivory and defoliate portions of Azaleas.
Estey pipe organ console in Gunnison Chapel at St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY. This will be the site of the Eighth Annual Bach Marathon Saturday, April 1, from 1-6:30 pm. The concert will feature organist and musician-in-residence Sondra Goldsmith Proctor as well as musicians from SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, Organist Rebecca MacKellar from Trinity Episcopal Church in Potsdam, and other invited guests and soloists.
This photo, takes outside of UNCW’s Morton Hall, features a fully blossomed Sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua). The yellow strands stemming outward from the center are stamens, the male reproductive organs of the flower. As we have discussed in lecture, energy allocation and plant form influence Net Primary Productivity (NPP). Plants like these exhibit growth in the form of a positive feedback loop where an increase in carbon in the plant’s photosynthetic tissue will cause an increase in net carbon gain which will induce more plant growth (Borrett’s Ecosystem Energetics and Organization slides). Furthermore, these plants also participate in nutrient cycling which transfers carbon inorganically from the decomposition and mineralization of nutrients within the plant soil. Did you know that camellias can survive from 100 to 200 years old in the wild? (www.softschools.com/facts/plants/camellia_facts/1452/).
This photo depicts a cluster of barnacles (Cirripedia) on a pier support column near Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington, NC on March 26th, 2017. There are currently more than 1,400 species of barnacles that have been identified, but the most common ones, or rather those that we're most familiar with, can be found on the undersides of boats or, in this case, underneath piers. Barnacles are generally harmless crustaceans due to most species being filter feeders. Some species, however, are parasitic, and benefit at the expense of another organism. A quintessential example of a parasitic barnacle belongs to the genus Sacculina. These barnacles attach themselves to the undersides of crabs and prevent the crab from reproducing or molting while deriving nutrients from the host. Unlike most barnacles, which are hermaphroditic, Cirripedia Sacculina is dioecious, meaning the male and female reproductive organs are located on separate individuals. Many species of barnacle, such as the one pictured above, prefer habitats with a lot of activity. The columns underneath the pier are located in the intertidal zone, the section of the coastal ecosystem that is both submerged and above water depending on tide level, is one of these habitats, and acts as an ideal location for barnacles to settle. During high tide, barnacles open their shells and filter the water for food with their legs. When the tide goes out, barnacles close their shells to conserve moisture. Barnacles mostly eat plankton, and are rarely preyed upon in their adult forms, as their shell protects them from most predators (except humans, which eat them in Spain and Portugal primarily). In their juvenile forms, however, barnacles are free floating (prior to settling on a surface), and have numerous predators. Reproduction is simple, and requires the fertilization of a nearby barnacle. A retractable tube is extended to fertilize the other barnacle, and newborn barnacles are released to feed, grow and eventually settle on a new surface.
(a-z-animals.com/animals/barnacle/)
(<a href="https://www.whoi.edu/science/B/people/kamaral/Barnacles.html")
I took this photo Thursday afternoon while walking down a trail through the woods at home. It is, in my opinion, one of the most peaceful places on Earth. It's far enough away from the road that you can't hear any cars, all you hear is the nature around you. There is a lot of different wildlife in our area, and the most prominent would be the deer and coyote populations. These two populations share the same area and have a predation relationship. Coyotes will hunt and eat a large amount of deer, to the point the coyotes populations are having to be regulated. The larger the population of coyotes the less deer you will see in that year, and at the same time the less coyotes the larger your deer population is something that I have watched happen for as long as I can remember, and I think it's amazing to watch the two population densities go back and forth and how they affect one another. It is also interesting to not only see how they affect each other, but how the human element interfering also affects them.
"Heaven Hill," oil painting. Artist: Nancy Brossard. This work is on display as part of the solo exhibit "Looking Up" on display through May 30 at The Adirondack Artists Guild in Saranac Lake, NY
This image may not seem exciting when initially viewing it but it is actually full of life. I took this photo on March 10th on Ireland's rocky coast near Kinbane Castle. I have been able to identify three plant species in this single close up picture. The purple moss like stuff is a red seaweed called Endocladia muricata. It is common in high to mid intertidal zones and is exposed to protect the outer coast. The periodic dark green moss like stuff intermixed in the Endocladia muricata is another red seaweed called Rhodymenia pacifica and it is abundant on rocks in the low intertidal zone and subtidal zone. The visible large seaweed in the water is actually Irish Moss or Chondrus crispus. It forms in dense turfs around the base of the kelp in the lower rocky shore.
This picture was taken on a bridge that crosses the Albemarle Sound. The shimmering sunlight on the water is caused by the sunlight altering its course when it hits the water. The water slows the course of the sunlight causes some of the light to reflect and creating the shimmering effect on the water.
This photo was taken on January 12th, 2017 at the Carolina Beach State Park. It depicts a dead leaf that will soon drop to the ground to begin the decomposition process. Decomposition and decay of the leaves provides the nutrients essential for the growth of new organisms. Bacteria, fungi, and various invertebrates draw nourishment from the decaying plant material. According to the EPA, dead plant leaves and stems break down in the water to form small particles of organic material called "detritus." The nutrient filled material feeds many small aquatic insects, shellfish and small fish. These organisms are food for larger predatory fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals.
This picture was taken right outside my front door on the morning of February 23, 2017, here in Wilmington, NC, up in Kings Grant. The birds are what appear to be a flock of robins (Turdus Migratorius). The birds seem to be competing for a resource on the ground. The resource is most likely sustenance in the form of seeds or dew for water. From the looks of it, the birds were performing scramble, exploitative, intraspecific competition. This is because the birds were not interfering with each other to access the resource (exploitative), all of the birds had access to all of the resource, therefore leaving resource allotment up to individual ability to consume the resource (scramble), and all of the birds seemed to be of the same species (intraspecific).
Title unknown, photograph. Artist: Manuel Palacios. This work will be on display as part of the exhibit "A Sense of Place: Photography of the High Peaks Region," opening Friday, June 2 in the Rosenberg Gallery of the Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown, NY with a reception from 6-8 pm.
Mimosticus sp. (family Staphylinidae, subfamily Staphylininae, tribe Staohylinini, subtribe Quedina) with SIX pale antennomeres, certainly a species new to science says researcher revising the group. Landed on my outdoor photography table as I worked with other beetle specimens. Cosanga, Napo, Ecuador, ~2100 meters elevation.
This photo was taken on April 6th at the maritime forest near Fort Fisher. Maritime forests play an important ecological role for local species and migrating species. These forests typically consist of a dense canopy and shrubs are very abundant. Some of the plant life provide important habitats for various aquatic species; in swamp maritime forests, cypress trees create habitats for insects and fish. The dense canopies provide habitats for birds migrating through the area. Maritime forests also play an important environmental role because they act as estuaries and also prevent erosion. Certain invertebrate species, such as certain insects and spiders, are very abundant in these forests and are important in certain ecological processes like mineral cycling and energy flow; they can greatly impact the dynamics of the local environment and are crucial to the ecology of maritime forests.
I took this photo of some green goop at Halyburton Park here in Wilmington on March 23. It looks super gross, but what is it? Since it is green, does it photosynthesize? Yes! This pond scum is mostly comprised of green algae, probably a mix of Spirogyra, Mougeotia, and Zygnema. These three genuses of algae are each a different kind of freshwater phytoplankton. You can tell it is green algae (and not cyanobacteria or some other plankton) because of the beautiful green color and the silky, slippery texture of the mats. These blooms can completely cover ponds, sometimes causing them to appear dead, so what good are they? Humans and algae are a perfect example of commensalism. Whenever we go outside, we often see green plants and trees, and give them credit for the oxygen that we breathe. In reality, most of the oxygen in our atmosphere is the result of hard working ocean phytoplankton, the close cousins of the pond scum seen here! We benefit from the oxygen produced by these green algae, but we do not directly affect them. These small, gross-looking, and sometimes foul-smelling organisms have an important role in the ecology of our area. They may even help us on every breath, without us knowing, even if we have very little to do with them.
References:
Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonius undulates)
The Atlantic croaker is the smallest member of the Sciaenidae family of drums. The species gets its name from the croaking sound it makes from the voluntary contraction of muscles attached to the air bladder, which acts like a resonance chamber. It’s unclear whether the croaking is a form of communication within a school of fish, a means of depth sounding or a mating expression, but croakers tend to make the sound most often during breeding season.
This photo was taken at Fort Fisher, along the side of a boardwalk. Pictured are the footprints of shorebirds that come into the marsh at low tide searching for prey. Commonly spotted birds in this area are egrets, ibises, oystercatchers, and herons. They are looking for small fish, mussels, clams, and oysters. These predators have many adaptations that allow them to search for food in the mud. Their long and jointed legs make wading through sticky mud an easier task, and their beaks are long and pointed to help them pry open shells of mollusks.
Safe nesting habitats for seabirds, and other migratory birds, is rapidly declining with human activity on beaches and in marshes. Protected shorelines like Fort Fisher and the Mason Inlet waterbird management area are becoming increasingly more important to the survival of these birds.
This picture was taken on April 14 in Manteo, North Carolina. Oyster shells, once eaten, can be recycled and used to restore oyster reefs. The shells in the picture were from an oyster shell recycling site, which were then bagged to be used. In the past, these shells were used in construction - used for building roads and houses. Now, the Oyster Recovery Partnership has created the Shell Recycling Alliance (SRA) dedicated to creating awareness of the oyster shell, which is considered a limited natural resource. Many of the shells come from restaurants that partner with groups such as the SRA, though the general public is also encouraged to recycle shells as well. The shells are taken and used to create habitats for new oysters to grow and develop, and one half shell can provide a home for about 10 baby oysters! In addition to creating habitat for other oysters, oyster reefs can provide homes for a variety of marine life, including fish, shrimp, and crabs.
Sources: oysterrecovery.org/sra/, saltwaterfishing.sc.gov/oyster.html
This beautiful water tower was built in 18th century to deliver water to the city of Mannheim. The amazing park is an addition to the tower. Photo by Assad Sharifi
I was in New York City over spring break, when I saw what I assume is a fairly common occurrence, considering the speed at which the accumulation pictured occurred. Picture was taken 9 March, 2017, at about 3:45 in lower Manhattan. A person walked up to the side of the street and discarded the bird feed pictured, seemed to be crumbled crackers or large bread crumbs of some kind. Pictured is the process of interspecific exploitative scramble competition. The larger birds are pigeons (family Columbidae), but I could not get close enough to identify the smaller birds. Upon closer inspection of the picture (to the right, closest to the bicycle), one might see a further concept I noticed viewing this in real time. The larger birds can consume more of the resource at once, so the smaller birds have learned to take larger pieces of the resource away from the feeding ground and consume it before the pigeon can get to it.
I took this picture of a red daylily (Genus Hemerocallis) outside Honors House at UNCW. This Hemerocallis is an example of primary productivity or energy production by photosynthesis. Based on trophic efficiency, only about 10% of energy is transferred to the next trophic level so if this flower received 1000 g/m^2 of sunlight radiation then a primary consumer that consumes Hemerocallis would receive 100 g/m^2 of energy. Productivity is different from biomass. Productivity is the rate at which organic matter is created (rate of energy storage) while biomass is the amount of organic matter. Compared to the nearby Longleaf pines, the Hemerocallis may be more productive because it is involved in pollination and photosynthesis but it has less biomass than the large, tall pine tree. This Hemerocallis also show the ecological concept of nutrient cycling. Plants and a forest ecosystem are key to the carbon cycle. Beedlow et. al. explored how carbon is transferred from Rubisco in leaves to woody tissue to fine roots to soil organic matter (SOM) and detritus. Even a beautiful flower such as Hemerocallis can be involved with some of the most important ecological processes on Earth.
We're going to discuss a couple things seen in this photo. First I want to touch on the purplish pigment of the male gamete and seed of the longleaf pine found on the UNCW campus. Purplish pigments are often caused by Flavonoids (most often found in fruits) or, more likely, Betalains (most often found in plants and flowers).
The seeds have what appear to be a wing-like structure. This shape works like a sail and facilitates travel through wind.
The male "pine cones" are the pollen producers. Because pines are not pollinated by insects or other animals, the trees rely on air currents to spread their pollen. This contributes to yellow cars and allergy aggravations.
So it turns out that pines are very reliant on wind for reproduction, both for pollination and seed disbursal.
This photo was taken on February 23 at the Carolina Beach State Park. This is a picture of one of the most exotic native species in southeastern North Carolina, the Venus Fly Trap. This carnivorous plant feeds primarily on small insects and arachnids. The North Carolina coastline provides the optimal environment for the plant to grow in; it needs the nutrient poor, swampy environment that the Carolina Bay has. The Venus Fly Trap, also known as Dionaea muscipula, uses its brightly colored leaves to attract its prey. The plant has small hairs that trigger when an insect comes into contact with the leaves, and then the leaves turn into a trap. It takes anywhere from 7-10 days for the plant to fully digest. It is currently considered a highly vulnerable species as its environment is prone to change.
This is a photo I took yesterday (Feb. 26th) at my friend's house in downtown Wilmington, overlooking the Cape Fear River. The main ecological concept that I noticed in this picture was tree species' adaptations to winter (even though I find it hard to call the past couple of months "winter"). As you can see, some trees have shed their leaves (I couldn't identify the species of these), a process known as abscission, to conserve moisture and energy in their trunks and branches. Other trees, like the the palms (which appear to be either Chamaerops humilis or Rhapidophyllum hystrix), don't exhibit abscission and instead have adapted other methods of survival in the winter months (e.g. having a thick, waxy cuticle on their leaves). The palms bring up another important ecological concept: species range, which is heavily influenced by temperature. As a northerner, when I think of palm trees, my mind thinks of places like Florida, Central America or the Caribbean, where winter isn't really a season at all. However, there are a group of cold-hardy palm species, some of which are able to inhabit the winters of areas as far north as Seattle and Connecticut, and even in parts of Europe. Lastly, it can most likely be assumed that there is some degree of inter- and intraspecific competition occurring in this photo, as the lower vegetation may be outcompeted by the taller vegetation for light.