Niche exercise

Chaparral:
I went up tangle-wood trail. It was a very tough hike for me. Most of the organisms that I pictured were plants because there were lots of people there and many birds were being scared off by people and their dogs.

1. Anna’s hummingbird: One of my observations in the chaparral was Anna’s hummingbird. It was feeding on the nectar of some white flowers and then it went and stood in a tree. I read that the chaparral is the traditional habitat of the Anna's Hummingbird and that they are the only humming bird that produces a song. I believe this is true because I heard a sound coming from it. Here is a clip I found online to show you what I heard http://www.naturesongs.com/anhu3.wav
2. Coyote brush: I saw many of these perennial shrubs on the trail. I saw that this plant is part of the sunflower family, which I find interesting because it looks nothing like a sunflower to me. This plant looks like a bush to me. I noticed the jagged edges of the leaves and the waxiness they have. I believe this is an adaptation for the hot summer days where there is not a lot of water.
3. Vetches: This plant is interesting to me because it is drought resistant. It does well in areas where it is dry and also moist areas. The leaves are quite distant from each other. I think it could be an adaptation to prepare for long periods without water.
4. Scotch Broom: Although this plant is not native to California, I witnessed it in the tangle wood path. I read that it is an evergreen shrub that is invasive in Alameda County. I saw many of these plants throughout the slope. I believe the reason why they thrive in that type of biome is because of the types of leaves and the color. They are able to survive and continue to reproduce.
5. Miner’s lettuce : Another organism that I saw in the chaparral was miners lettuce. I saw a large patch under the shade of some planted eucalyptus tress.

Moist Evergreen Forest:

1. Western Sword fern: I saw many of these in the panoramic path of the moist evergreen forest. It is an evergreen fern native to North America. I noticed that they prefer to live in cool areas and are dark in color which can be an adaptation for plants that like to live in moisture.
2. I also have an unknown fern. I don’t know what it is for sure but I believe that it can be a bracken fern. It also was near the western sword fern except this one is a bit lighter in color. It was at bottom by the pathway.
3. Snowberry: I also saw this plant that looked like it had popcorn or marshmallows at the top of it. I just thought it was interesting. I had never seen anything like it. I think this plant benefits from living in moist areas because they need lots of water to produce the fruit.
4. I also saw a red berry. I am not sure what the name of it was but it was a dry plant and it had two or three red berry like things. I think that this plant will do well in moist evergreen forests because they also need lots of water to survive.
5. Last, I saw this beautiful plant with blue flowers with the centers are yellow and the rest of the plant is a medium green. I titled it kingdom plantae because I do not know what it is called.

Chaparral vs. Moist evergreen forest:
Chaparrals have more shrubs and plants that have waxy and small leaves and sometimes the colors are lighter although they range in color. The large difference is the location of the slope and how the sun hits the plants. In the moist evergreen we also see more darker green, and bigger leaves. Chaparrals have trees but there is not much shade like the moist evergreen forest gives.

Publicado el febrero 21, 2013 03:54 MAÑANA por silvialo