Diario de gabbyp

Today, I went on a hike around the South side of Berkeley and I identified these 7 plants from last year's observations. Quite a few times, I found the plants at some distance from the previous observation, but it was great to see another generation of the same plant someone saw last year. It made me think of how resilient these species are and how, despite all the barriers that mankind creates against the propagation of their kind, they continue to thrive.

My observations today led me to this awesome short video on the change over time of a dandelion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ_QqtXoyQw
Although this observation is an extra (not part of the 7 relocated observations), it was one that I made on my hike and I wanted to share this video I found about it. I really enjoyed my hike on this sunny day.

My natural history story will focus on the Pipevine Swallowtail. The one I personally saw was located in Brione's regional park and what led me to become interested was that this butterfly was dying from a natural cause from what I could see; old age, so I wanted to learn more about its life history. How did it live and arrive to this station of its lifetime?
The Pipevine Swallowtail is usually black with iridescent blue hind wings, dotted with bright orange spots (on the wings). Their larvae are black or red and only feed on one type of plant, the Pipevine family, which include Dutchman's Pipe and Virginia Snakeroot. They are native to North and Central America, mostly found in forests.
These plants have chemicals in them which makes them toxic and as the caterpillars feed on them, they store the poison in their bodies which then prevents predators from trying to feed on them. This is one clear example for possibly why butterflies developed such vibrant colors as they evolved, to warn predators of their true toxicity and protect their species. For example, there are other species of butterflies that mimic their vibrant colors and size, without truly being poisonous, to fool predators so that they will avoid them as they will think them to be the Pipevine Swallowtail. This is one of their big ecological impacts, to help other species of butterflies similar to them survive with more success. Although they do damage leaves from its host plant, they also help to pollinate other plants as butterflies,
When they are ready to pupate and form a chrysalis, they craw away from their host plant and start their process. As adults they will feed on nectar from plants such as thistles and petunias. When they mate, they will lay their red eggs on a Pipevine plant, passing along its toxins to the eggs to protect them, and begin the process once again.

Here is a very cool video on their life cycle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2cE86AA1q0.

Throughout the hike at Brione's Park, one of the characteristics we most practiced identifying were dicots, which can be described as have reticulated veins in the leaf and producing flowering parts in multiples of fours or fives, vs monocots, characterized by parallel veins in major leaves and flowering parts in multiples of threes. For example, the California bay is considered a dicot. Other characteristics that I focused on where color. The California bay tree had multiple spots throughout its leaves, which marked it as a fungus. Flowers also stood out because of their bright colors, and sometimes fragrance, such as the buttercups, california poppy, and the shooting star. It can be hypothesized that their appealing colors and smells can be so that they can attract insects and other animals to spread their seeds and pollenate each other, therefore spreading their species for greater survival success. As for butterflies, bright colors may indicate key characteristics to attract mates, serve as camouflage within the vibrant colors of flowers as well as warnings against predators that, for example, they may be poisonous. Most diversity of plants and animals was located on a north facing slope where more shading and thus more protection against hotter and drier climate, was present.

This past week and this week I visited two different ecosystems, a grassland and an estuary. They both included a variety of organisms. The grassland, located in Concord, was quite hilly and I was only able to obtain data from plants because birds were to far or too fast. I noticed that most were still pretty green and leafy, especially since it had rained that very morning. They seem to be adapted to absorbing a lot of moisture, but at the same time, prepared for dry seasons (as there had been a lack of rain for many of the previous weeks).
As for the estuary ecosystem, I visited on a time period when the tide was somewhat low and I was able to observe organisms that definitely require a very moist habitat, including mollusks, kelp, and a crab. The mollusks and kelp are quite immobile, meaning they stick to one location, and so I think the movement of the bodies of waters probably brings them most, if not all, nutrition. I was able to capture a picture of a gull, which are pretty abundant at the marina. They are adapted to living off of seafood and human scraps. I was able to see the clear differences between both environments.

As I took a walk Tuesday afternoon, I had my eye out for flowering/bare and/or leafed out/bare plants. The first observation I made was of a plant with dried up leaves and lacking flowers, so I identified it as 'bare' under flowering phenology. Next, I found a tree with very bright, pink flowers and completely covered with large, green leaves so I identified it as 'flowering' under the flowering phenology (and which I could also identify as 'leaved out' under the leaf phenology). The following plant was also extremely leafy, although lacking in flowers, thus I identified it as 'leaved out' in the leaf phenology. My final observation was of a very dry-looking tree which falls under my 'bare' identification for leaf phenology. I tried to observe plants that seemed to be wild, without direct and constant human control. It was very interesting to see how different plants respond differently to their surrounding environment, including climate. We have this stereotype that spring is supposed to bring up all flowery plants, but this shows how amorphous plant form can be depending on the type they are and their surrounding environment.

This week, I went on a walk in Northside Berkeley. It felt good to be out like an explorer. I came across some white flowers which I now know are called alyssum and were probably introduced anthropogenically to this area. They fall under the 'plant' iconic taxa. My second observation was of a foraging bird, the California towhee which falls under the 'bird' iconic taxa. It is a very small, agile bird. The last observation, which I did not expect to see at all was a mule deer, which falls under the 'mammal' iconic taxa. Unexpectedly, even though I've heard stories of people seeing them all the time around the Berkeley campus and near their houses, I saw a group of 3 deer, my first deer sighting in Berkeley, foraging in a very green and somewhat secluded space of the Northside hills. It was a very exciting first expedition as an inaturalist explorer. I felt, possibly, like Darwin felt with his discoveries.