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This is a Drosera species, common name is Sundew. This is a carnivorous plant and it was found on the side of Cameron hall near the forest line. This plant is known for its ability to lure prey using its mucilaginous glands to produce a "sundew" like droplet that attracts small insects. In this photo, the sundew is exhibiting a functional type 1 response. This is because the sundew is a passive predator that produces a mucilage substance at the tips of its tentacles and waits for small prey to land on it. This response is linear due to a constant consumption rate and all time spent feeding searching for prey.
The purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea). is the most common and widely distributed of all the pitcher plant varieties. This one was found in the Bluenthal Wildflower preserve on UNCW campus. The range of the plant is distributed to the north and along the east coast. This plant uses specialized leaves to capture and digest insects. This is an adaptation to living in nitrogen poor soil. This plant also has to use insects for pollination, which is a problem for a plant that eats insects. To overcome this problem the flowers of the pitcher plant are highly modified to attract pollinators without leading them to the pitcher traps. The flowers are physically located away from the rest of the plant. They form an umbrella like structure with the leaves. The leaves and petals will shed quickly, and will shed after spring, leaving the rest of the structure in tact. This flower is still mostly in tact. The yellow stamen that surround the base of the ovary still haven't all fallen off yet. Somehow a large mosquito has managed to get itself stuck in the flowering part of this carnivorous plant providing an interesting example of predation.
I stumbled across this little guy a few weeks ago outside of Friday Hall. After some observation and research I believe that it is a Brown Anole. Brown Anole are native to The Bahamas and Cuba, however they have been introduced to parts of the US through the pet trade. They are highly incase species, it is able to reproduce and expand its range very quickly. They also outcompete other lizard species for resources and have been known to even consume other lizards. The Brown Anole is carnivorous. Its diet partly consists of small arthropods, cockroaches, spiders, mealworms and other lizards. As a defense mechanism, the anole may detach its own tail when captured in order to escape fatal predators. The tail will partially regrow.
This is a birdhouse located near Fisher Union on the UNCW campus grounds. The main purpose of birdhouses are to help local cavity nesting bird populations by giving them a place to build a nest when their preferred places are in low availability. These houses also help migrating birds in the winter as they provide a warm place to rest. Having a birdhouse does impact more than just bird populations, as it also introduces a higher population of insectivores, thus reducing the populations of insects like mosquitoes.
gundersenenvision.wordpress.com/2014/03/14/the-importance...
Also known as "Geothlypis trichas," this New World warbler is known for their specific song "twitchy, twitchy, twitchy," and the clear distinguishing feature among male and female Common yellowthroat. The male has a black mask on their face while the female does not. The Common yellowthroat is distributed widely across the United States when in time for breeding, but this warbler tends to inhabit the southeastern region of the US to live (and unfortunately met it ends at a gas station). Though not endangered, the Common yellowthroat has seen a decline due to losing its favorite habitat.
The black mask shown in this dead Common yellowthroat has two purposes, both examples of intrasexual competition. The first purpose is to mark which warbler is a male. Because of the black mask, identification of who is a male is made easy, and therefore, much more likely for the warbler to know who to be way off, or who to challenge should the rival attempt to woo the female. The second purpose is to help the male warbler woo the female. Along with their ritual dance of shaking their tail feathers and singing their twitchy song, there has been a correlation with the preferred choice of a mate being the male with the largest black mask.
Common yellowthroat Identification: identify.whatbird.com/obj/156/overview/Common_Yellowthroa...
Black mask benefit for finding mates: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347201917580
Distribution of Common yellowthroat:
From pictures that I have compared online, I believe that this is foliose lichen. Lichen is considered a symbiont because it is composed of an algal part that performs photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation and a fungus part that provides structural support. They can only grow in temperatures fifty degrees and below and thus go dormant in the warmer spring and summer months. Lichen is also considered to be a good indicator of air quality because of its sensitivity to sulfur dioxide. They tend to be more sensitive than other plants because the get many of their nutrients from the atmosphere as opposed to the soil. Crustose are the most resistant to low air quality but leafier lichens like foliose require higher levels of air quality to grow.
Sources:
www.nps.gov/articles/lichens-and-air-quality.htm
www.uaex.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/plant-week/foli...
The sundew (Drosera aliciae) is a carnivorous plant that lives in areas such as swamps, bogs, and marshes. They need a moist area that's not too wet with a lot of sunlight. Different species of sundews can be found on every continent except Antarctica. There are at least 194 different types of sundews. This plant has a constitutive defense, they have a sticky gel that looks like dew on the surface of their leaves which is used to to trap insects. There are enzymes in the gel that breaks down the internal organs of the insects which allows the sundew to absorb the nutrients. They feed on insects because the soil that surrounds them is usually acidic and nutrient-poor.
www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/5-st...
This is a Sarracenia purpurea, common name is the purple pitcher plant. This photo was taken at the Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve on UNCW's campus. In this photo, the ecological process I identified was the evolutionary trade-off of the plant's anatomy to accommodate both the pollinator and prey. Since the pitcher is there to consume prey, it can not act as a place for pollinators to land safely. This constraint lead to the allocation of resource to develop a flower separate from that of the pitcher.This addition keeps the pollinators out of harms way, which in turn promotes the return and continuation of pollination.
This beautiful sunset photo was taken in early April on the UNCW campus. Although this photo is on a large scale, it is representative of ecology nonetheless.
We might consider the overall biogeochemistry occurring in this photo: even though it's not visible to the naked eye, we know that this photo includes particulate matter, photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, and atmospheric gases (and their cycles) like carbon dioxide and nitrogen. We might think about the fact that Earth is an open energy system, demonstrated by the colorful, warm rays of sun that are ever so slightly fading from the scene. We can consider the organisms of the area in UNCW's longleaf pine forests and the Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve: what nocturnal species are beginning to stir? I sometimes wonder where all of the geese that seem to plague campus go in the evenings when they're not grazing on the grass outside of my apartment window. How close is the area in the photo to being a wetland? Will it ever become a wetland in the future? How will the vegetation change over the years, with human development, climate change, and natural processes?
In short, this photo encompasses so many aspects of ecology that it's impossible to name them all. What I've learned throughout this course is that ecology is omnipresent, and it's also always shifting. There are so many possibilities, so many species interactions, and so many changes that can occur in a seemingly dull place; one just has to look for them.
This picture was taken on the UNCW campus on the path behind the recreation center next to the tennis courts. From time to time I see these hollow cavities in trees and I thought it would be interesting to so what caused them and if living creatures are able to occupy them. This is what I found, a tree hollow is a cavity that forms in the trunk of a tree. Reasons for the cavity can be due to injury from external stressors such as wind, fire, heat, rain or insects. Another cause can be due to a branch falling from the tree. Usually older trees are more susceptible to these injuries, so tree hollows are rarely found on younger trees. These stressors then expose the sapwood of the tree. Fungi and bacteria consume the sapwood, leaving a hollow cavity in its place. These cavities can act as a shelter or habitat for living species. Tree hollows contain valuable resources and are vital for some species. An animal can use the cavity for multiple reasons. They can use it as a nocturnal shelter site, for feeding, temperature regulation, or nursing. The animals that reside in these hollows depend on the environment where the tree is located and the size of the cavity opening. If the tree has fallen into a stream or other body of water it can be used for aquatic animals to lay and shelter eggs. When the tree is terrestrial the hollow can be occupied by echidnas, lizards, birds and other reptiles.
Resources
www.wires.org.au/wildlife-info/wildlife-education/tree-ho...
I took a photo of this amazing creature at North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro over spring break on March 9th. The polar bear is at the top of the food chain. There are three levels in food webs; basal species, intermediate species and top predators. He would be a top predator, also his functional response is type 1. Functional response is the relationship between per capital of consumption and the number of prey. Type 1 has a consumption rate that is constant. The reasons for that are passive predators, sit and wait or ambush, and all their time is spent feeding/ searching.
Polar bears are not effected by many parasites but they are affected by a few like Trichinella, roundworm. These species have a parasitic relationship. The polar bear is its' intermediate host.
There are also some viruses that have been detected in polar bears like, canine distemper, dolphin morbillivirus, phocine distemper, and porpoise morbillivirus. "Scientists believe that some polar bears will be more susceptible to disease due to the cumulative stresses of reduced prey opportunities from climate change, combined with a weakened immune system from pollution." Also global warming is causing the ice caps to melt which kills many young polar bears due to not being able to swim as long.
This is a picture of the sunset at Wrightsville Beach on Friday around 5. Sunsets are caused by scattering. Scattering is small particles and molecules of light that change the direction of the sun's rays in the atmosphere. The different colors of the sunset are caused by how much atmosphere the wavelengths have to travel through as well as where the sun is in relation to your location. Sunlight passes through more air at sunset which has the effect of blue and violet wavelengths being deflected from your vision and focusing on colors such as orange, yellow and red. These have longer wavelengths and are as a result more prominent at sunset and sunrise. Also, the time of sunset is dependent of the tilt of the Earth on its axis and your locational relation to the sun's path.
this picture of two fiddler crabs fighting for the same hole in the sand. the ecological significance of this would be the competition. the whole was bigger and had a straight shot to a shallow water source for resources. making this hole a prime spot to want. these crabs were found pushing each other out of the hole until the bigger crab, the one where u only see its larger claw, beat out the smaller crab for the hole. This was taken in the salt marshes near wrightsville beach.
The past weekend I visited Shakleford Island in the Outer Banks of N.C. Humans are not allowed to interfere in the survival of these horses, as they are a wild population. The herd is descended from Spanish horses that swam to shore from ship wrecks. They have no natural predators on the island. The island is about 8.5 miles long and a mile wide at its thickest point. Due to the Islands size it supports the ecological principle that the larger the island is the more niches are created, and more species are able to live on it. The disturbance hypothesis states that the populations on small islands are more likely to go extinct. To protect the heard on Shakleford it is important that no other horses come to the area t potentially introducing disease.
At Fort Fisher Aquarium, I viewed many different aquatic animals. There was one thing that caught my eye; it was the sea turtle. This sea turtle was in a large tank with many other large fishes. The sea turtle was swimming around and playing in the air bubbles. I was on a lab field trip and we were supposed to document the locomotion types of the animals. The sea turtle uses its flippers to lift itself through the water column. As I was in the aquarium I thought about the niche of this sea turtle and a niche of a sea turtle in the wild. I knew it had to be different. Animals in captivity are not exposed to certain dangers or environmental stress that animals would encounter in the wild.
This is a longleaf pine tree that is located in the forest on the back end of campus. You can see that the tree has evidence of being burned. Fire is an important role in the longleaf pine ecosystems so they show the ecological process of resilience towards fires and even thrive off of them. The trees have a type of bark that is a almost asbestos-like bark that makes the trees fire resistant. Once the fire has burned out, the grounds surrounding the trees hold more nutrients and necessary materials for the longleaf pine forests to revive itself.
This picture displays an example of parasitoidism which is when an insect larva kills its host by consuming the host's soft tissues before pupation or metamorphosis into an adult. We learned about this ecological concept in class on February 20th of 2018 during the spring semester. You can see the tiny holes in the leaves where it has taken place. I'm not sure what the species of this plant are but it has oblonceolate leaves that grow off of a stalk so it could possibly be a Water Oak tree (Quercus nigra L) because these trees are commonly found on the eastern coast of North Carolina. If anybody knows the exact species please feel free to leave a comment and enlighten me! I took this photo while walking home from class on Racine drive between Campus Evolution and the water tower at UNCW on February 13th of 2018.
This plant pictured above is Cnidoscolus stimulosus, however it is more commonly known as Tread Softly. As the name suggests, it can be quite painful if someone were to step on this thorny shrub accidentally. This plant is displaying an ecological process known as constitutive defense. Constitutive defense is where an organism, such as this plant, has fixed features, such as thorns, in order to protect itself from predation. This type of defense is extremely effective. Very few animals or insects will be interested in a plant that physically painful for them to touch, thus protecting the plant in the long run.
One main principle that I have learned from the environment is to never be tricked by an organisms appearance. Although the plant above may display beautiful, petite, white flowers, be warned. It has actually evolved throughout the years to have a very successful, yet painful, defense mechanism.
This is an image of an auger test being performed on the soil of UNCW's Forest C on campus. As you can see the majority of the soil is essentially sand, with only the small portion on the top being the organic layer. This can make it difficult for certain types of plants to thrive in this soil. Longleaf pines (Pinus palustris) are adapt at living in this type of soil because they have a root system that spreads out wide laterally rather than vertically. This allows the Longleaf pine to utilize as much organic layer as possible without diving too deep into the sandy layer.
Here is a lovey little wild blackberry vine growing in an azalea bush right outside my front door. Vines typically use a hosting structure to allow themselves to grow vertically at a rapid rate to afford themselves a greater gradiency of light radiation from the sun. The blackberry vine has small ragged cut-edged leaves that appear to be a somewhat darker shade of green than the leaves of the azalea. This would denote that the color pigments used for photosynthesis for the blackberry vine may differ somewhat from that of the azalea bush. This is also a trade-off for survival. The vine produces sweet berries to entice organisms to act as a method of dispersal. The trade-off is that this requires a great deal of energy, and thus small leaves with a darker color pigment would have access to different gradiencies of light radiation. The vine is using the azalea to support its primary stalk and major extension branches as the vine itself does not posses the rigidity to support itself alone. The blackberry vine, while not parasitic to the azalea, does interfere with the root system of the azalea. It steals resources, water and nutrients, from the surrounding soil. This leaves the azalea at odds with the blackberry vine and in competition for resources in the underlying area. Wild blackberries can be crucial parts of ceratin organisms' diets, such as various mammals and birds. These consumers of the blackberries ingest and disperse the seeds, usually in similar areas, like other bushes supplying berries, and thus typically appear in clustered dispersion.
My brother’s house in Wilmington has a multitude of foliage. These bushes and trees are primary producers. They use the carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients to help maintain their structure as well as grow. Now that the temperature has increased and rainfall is more frequent these plants have started to become more productive. This means the rate they create and store new matter within themselves increases. This energy stored in plants, as a variety of carbon sources, can be used by animals (secondary producers), but is not fully transferred to the next trophic level. Some of this energy is lost as waste and respiration. As you continue up through the trophic levels more and more of this energy made by primary producers is lost, forcing the higher trophic level organisms to have to consume more organic matter.
Even though this photo doesn't look like much, there's a key ecological concept to be demonstrated here. I found this cut down plant outside the Seahawk Landing and although they cut off the tops of the plant, I was thrilled that it had one of the concepts that we talked about in the lecture that day. The plant has thorns to try to defend itself from certain species that try to make it their home. The stems of the bush exemplified constitutive defense, where the features on the organism are not triggered by predator interaction and instead are present on the organism at all times. In a way I think this is better than induced defenses because with induced defenses, the predator has to trigger the defense, but with constitutive defenses, the organism doesn't have to be triggered by a predator. After searching for a long time, it was apparent that without the top of the bush, it was going to be close to impossible to identify the species. However, I came to the conclusion that the closest species was "Caesalpinia decapetala", an ornamental species of bush that use to be popular to decorate gardens.
Sources: keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/Html/caesalpi...
Sarracenia purpurea or the purple pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant native to Canada and the east coast of the united states and west to Louisiana along the gulf of Mexico. This picture was taken in the Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve on UNC Wilmington's campus. Even though they are native to the area the ones I saw in the Preserve were planted for education purposes. Pitcher plants are carnivorous which means they are able to digest meat. The Purple pitcher plants rely on rain water to fill its base that is open on the top. After it collects water, it secretes a digestive enzyme into the water so, it can breakdown anything that slips into the water. When insects go to drink the water out of the pitcher, they slip into the water and stiff downwards pointing hairs keep the insects from escaping. Flying insects can usually find a way out of the water before they get digested but crawling insects and some flying insects get trapped and cant escape their fate.
The purple pitcher plant is special because it is an accentual part of at least two species of insects. a species of mosquito and a species of midge lay eggs inside the pitcher plant. When they hatch and become larvae, they feed off the nutrients from the decaying insects. Because of these larvae it helps create a small ecosystem inside of the purple pitcher plant. For some reason the enzymes produced by the plant doesn't have any effect on the two species of larvae.
This picture was taking around 11:30 PM on April 15th in the courtyard of the Seahawk Crossing. As much as everyone hates stepping in animal waste, nobody seems to understand how important animal waste is to the environment. Animal waste, such as the Canadian Geese' (Branta canadensis) feces shown in the picture, supplies the bacteria with a lot of nitrogen to keep the nitrogen cycle moving along. Without the nitrogen cycle, organisms would not be able to grow because nitrogen creates amino acids, which in turn is used to build protein in all plants and animals. One of the steps in the nitrogen cycle is the decomposition of animal waste, both feces and urine, into the soil. From there, bacteria found in the soil can convert it into nitrogen, and plants can use it to create proteins. So next time you see the flock of geese on campus, say thank you!
Sources:
I caught this Urchin with a cast net close to Fort Fisher and the aquarium.
Arbacia punctulata are not venomous and range from Maine to Cuba. The color varries from in purple, white, and brown. Visible in this picture are the urchins 5 teeth called aristotle's Lantern. Because the Urchins are omnivorous the aristotle's lantern is used to consume algae and pull off pieces of dead organisms. These organisms are primary consumers. One of their ecological roles is as a food source for birds and big fish. Urchins make their exoskeleton by using calcium carbonate and magnesium. Because of the exoskeleton composition fluctuations in ocean water chemistry due to human influences can cause a decline in Urchin populations.
This video was taken in Raleigh, North Carolina. After removing some rotting foliage the local decomposers, mostly earthworms and pill bugs, can be seen. Through their decomposition processes of fragmentation and excretion, they put valuable nitrogen back into the soil for plants to use.
This photo was taken over spring break at my house in Raleigh. In the photo are 2 Carolina Wren's (Thryothorus ludovicianus) cuddled up on a sub 40 degree night. The 2 birds began to sleep near our front door on top of a column around December/January. My mom noticed it and decided to place some white cotton for the birds to see if it would help keep them warm at night. The birds have been sleeping in this small 'nest' every night that it reaches approximately 45 degrees Fahrenheit. This shows a positive interaction between a human (my mom) setting up a place to help keep the Carolina Wren's warm and safe. A reason why the Carolina Wren's have chosen this area is most likely because they make their nests only 3-10 feet off the ground and the top of this pillar is approximately 8 feet off the ground.
This photograph was taken at the Onslow Pine Park on the 20th of May, 2018. When I first noticed this hollowed tree, I was thinking of the Niche concepts the first week we learned in class. Later after speaking to the professor and doing more research I have learned that Tree Hollows can be considered their own habitat. As you already know, many birds and mammals may nest or hibernate in tree hollows. There are some conservation efforts in creating artificial tree hollows as deforestation is a cause of concern. While the creation of tree hollows can be either by the loss of a tree limb or by some organism doing, this may not happen as often as we think, or become an immediate use for future inhabitants. An artificial tree hollow is created by humans with the use of power tools to create a hole within a tree. Artificial tree holes may become sanctuaries for endangered birds or mammals species that may use tree hollows as a nest, reducing the time and energy to find a home, and more time courting. (Sustainable Gardening Australia.org.au)
Tree hollows can also vary. This picture was taken after a Spring shower that had passed through. During the week it had been raining off and on in the Jacksonville region. Notice how this tree hollow is retaining water. This made me think of how mosquitoes, frogs and perhaps squirrels are making use of this small ‘well’. In "Habitat pH Characteristics of Tree Hole Culicoides,” they collected data of 166 tree holes of varying degree of wetness, in 20 varying regions. They found that tree holes that contained water had a pH mean of 7.46, tree holes that were dry had a pH mean of 8.60. With the varying pH, they also found that different families of Culicoides can be found between dry and wet tree hollows.
References:
www.sgaonline.org.au/artificial-tree-hollows-for-animal-h...
This picture was taken behind Friday Hall on UNCWs campus. Sitting on the limb of the tree is a grey eastern squirrel. Squirrels are known for hiding seeds in the ground during the fall season and recovering them in the winter and spring season. The seeds are ripe in the fall when they bury them. This form of hoarding is termed "caching". This behavior is vital for the renewal of some plant species due to the fact that not every seed gets rediscovered by the squirrels. Seeds range in size and weight, making some more easily transportable.The heavier a seed the harder it is to disperse far away from the parent plant. The squirrel then without realizing it is benefiting this plant by carrying the seed farther away from its parent increasing its chance to germinate. Due to the fact that squirrels benefit from trees and trees can also benefit from squirrels they appear to have a mutualistic relationship. Squirrels rely on trees nuts and berries as a food source and certain trees rely on animal transportation as their only form of seed dispersal. Squirrels don't benefit trees individually, rather they help them on a larger scale acting as an intermediary for reproduction and survival.
Source:
The Dogwood Tree is a flowering plant that is within the family Cornaceae, and goes by the scientific name Cornus florida. This tree is native to Northern Mexico as well as Eastern North America and is the state flower in North Carolina, Virginia, and Missouri. There are many different ideas for the reason why the Dogwood Tree is so called that range from the branches sounding like dogs barking when the branches knock together in the wind. To it being used in many skin conditions such as mange. In Europe the Dogwood tree wood is used for arrows and rackets. While it is used by the Native Americans for toothbrushes, daggers, and like the Europeans, arrows. while the Dogwood tree berries was often used in religious ceremonies, the sap of the plant is toxic and is even sometimes used in poison. The use of the Dogwood trees started around the 1730's due to compact size. As well as to its blooms that appeared in pink, white, and red. Dogwood trees prefer partial shade and while being able to tolerate the full sun, actually prefer the dappled shade during the day. This makes this plant a very uncompetive light competitor. When in the wild they prefer the shaded hardwood forests, and will adapt to whatever type of soil is found there, even if it is sandy or heavy in clay. The dogwood tree does however also prefer slightly acidic ground, and while being drought tolerant, do prefer a moist soil. As a whole the Dogwood tree is very uncompetitive for where it must live, but makes up for it by having many different types of adaptations in order to survive in may different types of situations.
This photo was taken on March 14, 2018 in the forest next to Cameron at UNCW. My lab class and I were measuring the diameters and heights of long leaf pine trees on campus. While trying to measure the diameter of one tree, this spider scurried to get away from me. I of course screamed, but when I tried to look at it again, I could not find it. It took quite a bit of time to find it again because it blended in so well with the tree bark. After doing some research, my best guess is that this is a Carolina wolf spider, Hogna carolinensis. These spiders have been found among long leaf pine trees in North Carolina. Carolina wolf spiders are distinguishable because of their large size (3-4 inches), and their 8 eyes that are unequal in size. I had such a hard time seeing the spider at first and then finding it again is because it uses camouflage, or cryptic coloration, for protection. Cryptic coloration is when an organism’s physical appearance allows it to blend in with the environment around it to help hide from predators. This long leaf pine tree was a great place for this spider to be because of its ability to blend in.
Sources:
www.jeffpippen.com/arachnids/wolfspiders.htm
southcarolinaparks.com/see-and-do/wildlife/carolina-wolf-...
This image was taken on January 12, 2017 at the Carolina Beach State Park. This image depicts a brackish marsh that provides a unique buffer to help moderate global climate changing conditions. The plants and organisms are a part of global cycles for water, nitrogen and sulfur. The marsh is similar to a carbon sink as it holds the carbon in its plants and soil instead of releasing the CO2 into the atmosphere.
Azaleas are a native species on the Eastern coast of the united states. They are also apart of the global water cycle because they use the water that gets cycled in the atmosphere and then rains on the plants. There is also the energy flow, because when the flowers receive water they gain energy.
I took this photo on Wrightsville Beach in the morning last week. These beach grasses along the sand dunes have adapted to the salt spray from the ocean. They are low lying plants that help with erosion. They are tolerant of the salt because of the way the plant can hold moisture and can live in the sand.