First Nature Walk
I began my nature walk in Pine Tree Preserve on campus and made my way towards the reservoir where I was able to walk on/along some more wooded paths. It was a cooler morning (47ºF), but sunny nonetheless. When I first began my walk I was sure that I would only be able to find plants, so I was surprised when three of my observations ended up being fungi. Something I noticed was that even in cultivated areas, non-cultivated species are present. For example, the poison ivy that I observed was on a tree that could have been planted by landscapers, but the poison ivy itself would not have been planted (and was thus wild). One way that my observations can be connected to recent lectures is that many types of fungi act as decomposers (a niche that came up in our discussion of living on a microbial planet). (Fungi are eukaryotic and are not classified as bacteria, but the role that they can play as decomposers is comparable.) Additionally, fungi represent a monophyletic group (or clade) on the tree of life which connects to our discussion of interpreting phylogenetic trees (as well as to our introduction to the tree of life). Therefore, the three different types of fungi that I observed share a common ancestor at some point in their lineage. Moreover, my observations demonstrate the phylogenetic diversity of the areas that I explored because, despite thinking I would only be able to observe plants, I ended up observing plants, animals, and fungi. Finally, my nature walk represents cultural ecosystem services, including aesthetic, educational, and recreational benefits.
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