View allAll Photos Tagged Sp2017
This photo was taken this past Friday behind Masonboro Island at Myrtle Grove. The lagoon and marsh ecosystems are ecologically dynamic environments, where the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere all meet. One ecological concept I took note of involved the salt tolerance of marsh grass (Spartina alterniflora and patens), which can be seen in the background. excluding, sequestering or exuding. Spartina is known as a halophyte, or a salt-loving plant. Halophytes deal with salt in multiple ways. Some have leaves that sequester the salt in special structures which then rupture and release salt back into the environment. Other halophytes have specialized structures that have evolved to collect the salts which are then forced through pores before they reach the vascular system of the plant. Additionally, halophytes collect the salts and store them in plant cells that are less susceptible to salts than others in the plant. It is interesting to think that only a small portion of plants are salt-tolerant/loving when 96.5% of Earth's water is salt water. In addition to their tolerance to salt, Spartina are also fascinating for their roles in ecosystems as environmental engineers. Spartina grasses grows out into the water at the edge of salt marshes, and accumulate sediment, enabling other habitat-engineering species (mussels/oysters in particular) to settle and thrive. This accumulation of sediment and substrate-building species gradually builds up the level of the land at the seaward edge, and other, higher-marsh species move onto the new land. Spartina are undoubtedly crucial to marshes and fascinating subjects of research.
This photo was taken on March 12th 2017 next to Fisher University Union on UNCW's campus. This image essentially captures the crazy weather that Wilmington and surrounding areas have been experiencing. Warm weather seemed to come early this year, with 80 degree weather as early as late January. The early onset of warm weather initiated the bloom of many species of plants, including the flower pictured above (Hyacinthus orientalis). However, winter was not quite ready to leave and an unexpected snowy storm hit the area in the middle of march. This event had dire consequences for both the flora and fauna that inhabit the Wilmington area.
Climate change, specifically global warming is thought to be the culprit behind earlier and earlier plant blooming in recent years. The onset of warm weather sooner in the year triggers the response within plants to start budding and growing. However, this could cause problems if the patterns continue because plants may reach a tolerance point where they can no longer adapt to changes in temperature, or they may bloom constantly, through increasingly milder winters. Plants also have an upper temperature tolerance which may be affected by increasing temperatures. Plants may adapt to blooming earlier, but the duration of their growth may be stunted by extreme temperatures.
Another threat associated with early blooming is that there is no guarantee of no more frosts or winter storms, which is exactly what happened in Wilmington. These sudden onsets of cold can dramatically harm plants and even stunt their growth or kill them. This in turn would impact all other sorts of things in the environment including animals that depend on the plants as a source of nutrients as well as impacting the carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles.
For more information visit:
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/01/130116-spring-ea...
It's Tuesday the 28th at Flytrap Downs, and the UNCW men's rugby team practice, trying their best to be the fittest team in the league. Some of the Cape Fear men's team old fellas are hanging around laughing and talking about their lives, utilizing this time to relax from the daily grind of work and yell at the young guys. Two dogs trample around, playing and running carefree. At the far end of the field in the tryzone are the posts. A few of us notice something a top the post. One lonely owl. What is she doing there? Owls are nocturnal, shouldn't she be asleep or hiding for a few more hours? Or does she find comfort in the setting sun just as we do? There's no way to know. Maybe this beautiful bird is actually a ferocious predator, and she chooses this post as the most optimal location to pounce on unassuming prey, trying her best to survive. If that's the case, then she is no different from our team. Both are hungry for meat. Both work hard to be the most dominant organism they can be. Both just want to live and be free. So often we see ourselves as distant to our fellow animals, but here, in this moment, I realize we are truly one in nature.
This photo depicts a group of bamboo culms (individual stems) in the Bluthenthal Wildflower Preserve on UNCW campus, and was taken on April 14, 2017. While North America does have one native bamboo genus, Arundinaria, the bamboo in this photo, Pseudosasa japonica, also called arrow bamboo, is native to Japan. Arrow bamboo is considered invasive, and was introduced to North America in 1850 from Japan as an ornamental. In North America, arrow bamboo is commonly found in the southeastern regions of the United States. Because of the dense shade these bamboo clusters can create, seedlings of native plant species rarely survive due to these light limitations. In addition, underground rhizomes produced by the bamboo likely outcompete native species via exploitative competition for soil water, as the bamboo prefers moist soils. The species is considered a "Rank 2 - Significant threat" by the North Carolina Native Plant Society, meaning the species displays some invasive characteristics, but does not pose as much of a threat as "Rank 1 - Severe threat" species. It is also persistent and difficult to eradicate. So, while arrow bamboo doesn't seem to presently pose a major threat to North American ecosystems, countermeasures, such as the avoidance of planting arrow bamboo as well as chemical eradication, are advised.
(www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/arrow_bamboo.pdf)
(www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=7827)
(www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDe...)
Although this Basin Trail at Kure Beach just seems like a lovely afternoon stroll, it entails a lot of ecology components. This boardwalk crosses over a large salt marsh area of Fort Fisher. A salt marsh is a coastal ecosystem between land and open salt water that gets flooded by tides frequently. This salt marsh is a huge part of ecology in the fact that it provides a lot of support and protection for terrestrial wildlife. Smaller animals particularly live in these salt marsh areas because of the shallow and darkish areas which cannot occupy larger fish that could potentially be predators to them. Salt marshes can serve as buffers and pollution filters against flooding and shoreline erosion. Also pictured in this image is cordgrass. This cordgrass plays a big role in vegetation and health to the salt marsh by supplying it with a plethora of organic material that is contributed during decomposition. These marshes get flooded very often and the cordgrass binds to the shoreline and prevents it from being eroded by the tide. Also, when needed, the cordgrass can extract fresh water from the salt water for nutrients for itself. In this sense, I would classify the relationship between the salt water marsh and the cordgrass as being a mutualistic relationship - they both benefit by being in one another's presence.
This photo, taken next to UNCW’s Wagoner Dining Hall, shows a gaggle of Canada geese (Branta canadensis). Canada geese are a K-selected and predominately monogamous species that tend to only find another mate if one happens to die. The young, also known as goslings, are considered to be precocial because they are capable of movement and foraging shortly after hatching. In regards to territoriality, these geese exhibit active defense of their breeding or roosting sites where there can be interspecific competition among different species of Osprey. Fun fact: The inside of a goose's beak, and its tongue, are serrated. This can make it appear as though they have fangs, but the bumps are actually for cutting through succulent grass stems (www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/fun-facts-about...).
A soil core taken from a small long-leaf pine forest on UNCW's campus on February 15th. The forest where the soil core was retrieved underwent a prescribed burn in the spring of 2010. Due to this burn, the soil core is expected, and is shown, to have a relatively small o-horizon (organic) layer when compared to a soil core retrieved from a forest that was burned less recently. Prescribed burning of the long-leaf pine forests results in a decrease in depth of the organic layer of soil, but is necessary to eliminate any competition other plants, such as the loblolly pine, may pose to the long-leaf pine. There seems to be an absence of other soil layers that would be expected such as topsoil (soil layer A) or subsoil (soil layer B). If these layers are present they are diminished. A soil map of the Wilmington area indicates that the soil where this core was taken is mostly composed of Norfolk fine sand, which explains the abundance of sand in the core and lack of other layers. This also seems to be supported by the soil survey performed by New Hanover county in 1977, however due to a lack of general or specific soil maps in the report one cannot be certain. Long-leaf pine trees have a wide distribution, inhabiting both low-level wet, coastal regions as well as dry, mountainous regions in Alabama. This likely means that long-leaf pines can tolerate a variety of soils, however they are most common on the "Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains. (Boyer, 1990)." Soils here are acidic, sandy, and infertile, which are preferred by the long-leaf pine, as bare-mineral soil is required for seeds to germinate. Wiregrass (Aristida Strica) also prefers this soil, primarily because of high saturation levels as well as the grass' reliance on intermittent burning.
(projects.ncsu.edu/project/dendrology/index/plantae/vascul...)
(www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/north_carolina...)
(digital.lib.ecu.edu/viewer.aspx?pid=15946&n=1)
#UNCW #Ecology #bio366 #uncweteal #Sp2017 #image2 #February2017 #NC
I took this video over Easter break, on Thursday the 13th of April, in Myrtle Beach, SC. This video shows the mating ritual of the Green Anoles. The male, on the left, bobs up and down and extends his dewlap (the red skin flap extension) to impress the female. Males are territorial and often times males compete against other males for females. This type of competition is an example of intraspecific competition. The Green Anole on the right is the female. Not all females are receptive to mating but if they are they bob up and down as well and arch their neck showing the male she is receptive to mating. These lizards often reproduce in private more secluded areas to hide from predators. They can change their skin color into several different shades of brown to several different shades of green. This allows them to blend in with their surroundings to help hide from predators. Their skin contains chromatophores which allows them to alter their skin colors.
I went home to Asheville, NC, this weekend and took a walk on the nature trail by my mom's house. This photo was taken at around 10am this morning. What you see above is an Eastern climbing ivy vine (Toxicodendron radicans) going up a tree. During the summer, there would usually poison ivy leaves sprouting from the branch, but you will only see the red roots during the winter time. As we all know, poison ivy is a pest not only for us, but for the trees it grows on. The vines themselves can cause many structural issues for the tree, especially if the vines capture more wind or snow. The added pressure can cause trees to fall to the ground. As I was walking, I saw several trees that had fallen because of poison ivy vines.While poison ivy has many significant drawbacks, it is important to many organisms in the local ecosystem. Animals like white-tailed deer and raccoons consume the leaves for food, and some toads may need it for shelter. This just goes to show that even species that may be pests will also most likely play a very important role in the ecology of other organisms.
References:
midwesternplants.org/2015/02/25/vines-growing-on-trees-go...
bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/ferris_jaco/Poison_Ivy/Inter...
This is a picture of the night lighting of Charlotte from my airplane on the way to my grandpa’s funeral. When we think of ecology, we generally think of lush forestry, beautiful mountain tops, or the circular nature of crashing waves. But in this picture, we see some of the marvelous lighting of a young city. As we learned in class, ecology is defined as the scientific study of the relationship between organisms and their environment. An environment is basically the sum of factors that affect an organism. Usually we tend to think stereotypically, because as humans we like nice, clean examples. We like to think of how prairie dogs live in a prairie environment. We like to think how buffaloes live on grasslands. In contrast to the natural world, we have this dirty, materialistic world that our species has created, day by day, slowing killing our world with no regard for consequences. In the city, skyscrapers and alleyways take place of trees and beaten down paths. Your favorite restaurant is nothing more than an over glorified drinking hole. A human house in a city is equivalent to a bird nest in a forest. Humans are one of the most populous (ignore the plethora of insects and microscopic animals who go about minding their own business) animals that occupy the city environment. But we’re just that: animals. No better, no worse than any other species. We eat, sleep, and procreate, just like any other animal. We were just endowed with the ability to think on a different level than other animals. One crucial ability is that of foresight, which allows us to understand cause and affect differently, but quite possibly at the highest level of all species on Earth. In closing, I ask a simple but yet unsolved question set: what good is our higher level of intelligence if we don’t use it to stop the absolute destruction of our planet? And if we don’t stop this destruction, what will happen to our city environments? Will they be nothing more than a faint reminder of a species that could have been great?
#UNCW, #ecology, #bio366, #uncweteal,
#Sp2017, #image1
On Wednesday April 12, 2017 I spotted these ants on my way back to the Crossing after ecology lecture. This picture is special because it was a time ecology stuck out to me without particularly looking. Ants are of the phylum arthropoda, more species exist in this phylum than any other. My third image also featured arthropods: bumblebees. Arthropods all have an outer cuticle, jointed appendages, and body parts segmented into groups. These ants are exhibiting something unique to them and some other species by acting as a sort of superorganism, a large collective group working for the colony rather than themselves. Many ants are working together here to bring parts of the mostly-eaten apple back to their home. Not pictured were other ants walking with pieces of the apple all in a single direction, most likely the direction of their home. Their are many instances we have covered in class where ants do that such as connecting themselves to make a sort of boat of living ants in water to help the majority of individuals get across, perhaps at the expense of some. We also learned about ants protecting the group by carrying away the bodies of ants infected by the mind-controlling, parasitic fungus cordyceps to prevent others from becoming infected by its spores. In researching I also found out ants can act ecologically by dispersing seeds, since they commonly make tunnels underground their home it is not uncommon for foragers to bring back seeds and put them in the soil which will later germinate since they cannot eat them entirely. This process is something that could happen here if they found any of the apple's seeds. The same source which talked about the seed dispersal also said ants play important roles in soil biogeochemical cycle by aerating the soil and allowing water and oxygen to reach plant roots.
This is a picture that I took while paddle boarding in Wrightsville Beach on January 19th, 2017 during a sunset. Pictured is an oyster reef. These oysters all come from a family of the salt-water bivalve molluscs. The oysters relate to ecology in the matter that they are an example of a keystone species - one that provides habitat for many other species. The shells and "nooks" in-between the shells of these oysters can be used as protection and shelter for smaller animals that may be prey to other larger species. Some of these smaller species could include sea anemones and barnacles. They also play an ecological role in being effective filters in waters. These oysters temporarily open to filter large amounts of water and exchange it with CO2 and O2. One individual oyster can filter about 50 gallons of waters per day, removing plankton, nitrogen-containing compounds, bacteria, and several organic compounds in waters where the co-exist. By being important filters, the oyster reefs can ultimately improve water clarity and quality significantly.
This photo was taken April 5, 2017 at the UNCW Aquaculture Facility on Harbor Island. These are Southern Flounder eggs. These fish spawn in the winter but the facility has the equipment to control the conditions to make the fish spawn no matter the actual season. These fish are r-strategists. They have high reproductive rates at low population densities, rapid development, small body size, large number of offspring with low survival rates, and minimal parental care. Their life span is roughly 3 years. They spawn thousands of eggs but around 20% survive. They typically range from 15-18 inches in length and weigh 5 pounds or more. They are dispersed by currents and tides into shallow waters of bays and estuaries.
One of the strangest specimens that exist in the natural world is slime mold, due to the many bizarre appearances it can take and even in its name. Slime mold is a type of decomposer, meaning it breaks down organic matter for it to be recycled into the environment for use by other plants in animals. It does this through the process of leaching, as you can see it's attached to the bark of the tree. In actuality, slime mold is an amalgamation of amoeba-like cells that collect together to form a visible mass in times when the environment becomes unfavorable, such as lack of food or changes in temperature. Slime molds exhibit fungi-like behavior as they have the ability to emit spores to reproduce. Despite that, because of their animal like behaviors due to their ability to move, almost like a slug, slime mold is not classified as fungi at all.
One of my favorite lycophytes: Selaginella uncinata.
Family: Selaginellaceae
These lycophytes do not require water to reproduce unlike bryophytes. They usually flourish in humid and wet environments. It can change colors from a dark red to a galaxy blue/green. This plant is native to china but can also be found in US zones 6-10.
They also make great ground cover!
Pictured here is a dune system along the coast of Oak Island, North Carolina. Sand dune systems are not typically exploited for any agricultural purpose and so are found often to provide favorable conditions for biodiversity. A unique combination of disturbed, stressful and stable habitats can be present in sand dunes in close proximity to each other. As a result, many of these habitats come to be protected as nature reserves, or are otherwise incorporated into a conservation area. The two prominent species pictured here are likely, Ammophila breviligulata, commonly known as “American Beachgrass,” and Uniola paniculata, commonly known as “sea oats.” These are among the most abundant of dune inhabiting species and play a crucial role in stabilizing foredune areas. They essentially serve as dune-building blocks, supporting sand dune formation along the coast, and in the context of human ecology, they function in a protective capacity by combating winds and waves that could prove intrusive to inland areas inhabited by humans. Shifting sand and high winds are conditions tolerated exceptionally well by American Beachgrass and Sea Oats. Additionally, theses species are particularly tolerant of salt spray from the ocean and adapted to live on little available fresh water. Due to the xeric environment they are able to thrive in, and overall temporal stability, these species, as well as others inhabiting sand dunes, tend to be r-selected.
coastalcare.org/educate/sand-dunes/
www.nps.gov/grsa/learn/nature/plants.htm
Dr. Stuart Borret, class notes and lecture material.
Sherbert the fire worm lives in my dads salt water tank in Davidson NC. In the picture of him colorful, he was around 1 foot long (early spring 2016). He first emerged from the live coral when he was only an inch long. In almost all cases, fireworms are taken back to the store or killed once they are found. They are highly aggressive and have poisonous hair like structures they can eject so many people do not keep them. My family decided to keep him in a tank of solely "aggressive" creatures.
Recently, after 2 years of no issues, sherbert and spike (a long spined sea urchin) got in a fight over a piece of food. Spike pierced through the middle of sherbert. Since my dad and one man in australia are the only ones known to have any fire worms, we were unsure of how sherbert would react after cutting through middle part of his body to free him. It was much to our surprise that BOTH sides of sherbert are living. Each side grew the missing parts (mouth or anus). He also changed color to a much duller brown that blends in. These show the ecological process of adaption. When he was well, he was able to have a flashy color because he was a top predator and could easily fight. when he became injured, his color changed to help camouflage himself from predators and both sides healed and are completely functional making it more likely that at least one part would survive. Without adapting, in the wild he would most likely become prey.
Here hangs my beautifully designed terrarium. Unfortunately these plants will soon be competing for nutrients and space. This type of competition is deemed interspecific (because of the different species in the container), exploitative (not-combating), scramble (resources available, but they have to gather them) competition. The amount of root space they are competing for creates the contest. In this hanging orb there are limited resources (only 6 ounces of soil).
I took this picture on February 7 at the Fort Fisher Aquarium on a Marine Biology lab field trip. While I was watching the blue tang swim around, I noticed it seemed to be eating the coral. Through some research, I learned that the blue tang has a symbiotic relationship with the coral. The fish was actually eating the algae off the coral which helps to keep the coral healthy.
surgeonfish.weebly.com/defence-mechanisms-symbiotic-relat...