Wandering off trails in the Woods to see new things. (No ticks November.)
Ecological questions floating as I wander, some old, some new:
The variegated leaves of Smilax green briar, does variegation correlate with non-preference for herbivores? Do females laying eggs avoid leaves with more variegation because the light patches resemble feeding damage from previous insects? Same question for other plants with variegated leaves like "wild ginger" Hexastylix arifolia. Someone has probably investigated this question and may have published some data.
What is the effect of forcing floodwater upstream west of the old beaver dam - where it can remain trapped for weeks, or longer? Nairn asked, Do the soils show developing wetland character? Old bur oaks have been drowned and killed by floodwater remaining too long. Green ash tolerate floodwater better. Can the amount of green ash butt swell be correlated to the longevity of flooding around the tree? Maybe a normal curve?
In dry summer months when 3-6 inch deep (or deeper) crevices open in the soil what communities of invertebrates and other species take refuge there? What happens when floodwaters rapidly fill and inundate the crevices?
Why do some species have very clear boundaries circumscribing their population? (Question similar to one that motivated former OU Prof Katie Marshall). Linda Wallace, late OU Botany Prof, and I puzzled together over the very distinct patches of the Carex hystericina sedge in the southern and western Woods. Patches of this are bordered so sharply. Linda had the same question about what limits the population of green ash in the Woods.
What is the community of insects associated with Solidago goldenrod galls on the SE border of the Woods? I've not seen the galls in any other nearby field, but there are several galls together in goldenrod in one small 3m x 3m patch in the SSE section.
Future projects for student teams: pick-up of old beer cans and other from western boundary? Styrofoam cups, pieces of paper blow in from Chautauqua. More of the same pick-up along the south boundary.
Two quick observations today: (1) the flow of water in the Western Wash is way down.. almost a trickle. There is still lots of water in the Wash but the continuous inflow appears to have suddenly stopped. Upstream leak may be repaired? and
ReplyDelete(2) I walked up on an armadillo as it was foraging, with its head buried under the wet leaves. I stood for a few minutes and watched it working, 12 inches from my shoes. Wonderful to see how they use their snout to detect and vacuum up their food, grubs, ants, other invertebrates. Eventually it looked up at me, seemed to realize that I was something different, and slowly moved about 5 feet away. Then when I turned to watch, the armadillo took off running for about another 30 feet.