Diario de christian731

On January 17, 2019 at Sullivan's Island, SC from the time of 12:30pm to 3:00pm (2 1/2 hours), I made observations through the iNaturalist app and posted them to my account. I began the Sullivan's Island Nature Trail at station 16, where you can access the beachfront via this route. The temperature was fairly warm, being 70 degrees and reaching a high of 76 for that day. In addition to this, the wind speeds were at a constant of 8-9mph for the day and there was a clear sky.
Beginning my tread on the trail, I was surrounded by native trees of the low country such as live oak (Quercus virginiana), loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), and Sabal palmetto or cabbage-palm. Walking down the trail towards the beachfront I discovered hairy bracket (Trametes hirsuta), a type of fungi found year-round in the southern region of the east coast. This fungi is commonly found on dead wood of deciduous trees, such as oak trees, that of which I believe is what it was growing on. Relatively close to where I observed the hairy bracket, I saw bushy bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus ), a species of grass that can have an average height of two meters and is typically crowned with crème-colored flowers. While the grass is typically green and has the flowers mentioned previously, due to the time of year still being in the midst of winter, the grass was brittle and of a rust color. The same grass was found all across the trail and in the sand dunes closer towards the beachfront. Also along trail, I came across what I believed at the time to be false golden asters (Heterotheca), but now know to be camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris). Camphorweed is a flowering plant that is common along the southern part of the east coast. The plant branches out from a single stem and can reach several inches above the ground. Much like the bushy bluestem, the plant wasn't as vibrant as it would commonly be during the spring time.
As I made my way closer to the beachfront, I could begin to notice the ecological succession where there was a transition from maritime forests, to shrubs, to the dunes. Upon reaching the dunes, I observed the exoskeleton of an Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus ) that appeared to have been decaying for quite some time. My conclusion that the organism was an Atlantic Horseshoe Crab, has since been recognized as a research grade observation. Moving away from the dunes and walking along the shore I discovered, what I had previously believed to be a hairy seaweed crab, a Pilumnus sayi, another species of crabs with the distinguishing factor of "hairy claws." Heading once again towards the sand dunes I came across a decaying Raccoon (Procyon lotor) that had been dead for about 36 days, due to the bloating of the animal. In addition to this, I came across Greenbriers (Smilax), made research grade observations of a pecan (Carya illinoinensis ) and sea oats (Uniola paniculate), and found Indian Blanket flowers (Gaillardia pulchella). My exploration of Sullivan's Island Nature Trail was very interesting, especially when I observed the mass of plant diversity within the sand dunes, from prickly pear cacti to poison oak. Overall, my time on Sullivan's Island helped to create observations insightful to the biodiversity of the island and more broadly the low country region.