Observations:
This week when traveling out to my ecosystem in Wysong
Loop I began thinking about what I would focus on. Last week I focused on
the intricacies of spider webs and forbs and as soon as I got into the site I knew
what I would focus on, so this week is all about insects and the great insect diversity that is found, even in just
this relatively small area. My other
focus in corporation with that was taking time to just sit and close my eyes
and listen. The reason I choose this was
when I arrived into the site I could just hear and see some of the thousands of
insects; dragonflies flying overhead, bees, butterflies, and moths pollinating different
flowers, as well as cicadas and crickets in the background. I also heard a great plethora of birds in the
area as they were both in the field and in the surrounding forested areas, so if your interested please select the link below to hear a short sound recordings from Saturday July 16, 2016.
When first arriving in the area I noticed that everything
just seemed so brilliantly green, which I think could be contributed to the
recent rainfall and beautiful lightning storm that occurred the evening
before. When comparing photos from last
week to this week everything just seemed brighter. The wildflowers themselves didn’t seem to be
as prolific with the grasses being the most dominant color across the
landscape.
One of the most unique aspects I found this week was regarding some scratches in the sandy soil that I original thought
were from the turkeys scratching around or roosting, but as it turns out is
actually areas where turtles came to lay eggs.
Unfortunately many of the nests were preyed upon by predators such as raccoons
but perhaps a few did survive, which I might found later this summer if some emerge. Also the cleared sandy soil provides a very important mini ecosystem with many species but birds especially taking
advantage of the open ground both scratching for insects as well as dusting
themselves. It seems as if every time I come
out here something new has occurred, just waiting for more forbs to make some colorful
appearances.
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Species Identification:
Queen
Anne’s Lace (Daucus
carota)
Also
known as wild carrot or bird’s nest these large showy white flowers are hard to
miss in the summers growing up along gravel roads and across dry fields (Figure 1). It is a biennial plant
which means that it take one year for the plant to establish itself and grow
with blooming occurring the second year (Newcomb 1977).
This plant is not native to North American but was naturalized from
Europe and the taproots are edible, but be careful as the leaves can sometimes
cause skin irritation, and make sure you positively
identify it, as it can sometimes be mistaken for poisonous hemlock. Some people consider this an invasive weed,
because depending on where it is growing it can easily out compete native
plants (Study of Northern Virginia Ecology, n.d.).
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| Figure 1. Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) Shown in relation to the size of common milkweed behind it. (K. Bradley 7/16/2016) |
It is commonly seen upon first glance at as one large
flower head, when in fact it is hundreds of tiny flowers in umbels forming what
looks to some as bird’s nests as it progresses later into the year (Figure 2). When you
crush the stems they have a carrot odor, which makes sense as these are a relative
of our modern carrots. The plant can
grow up to 3 feet high, or more depending on the soil conditions with the stem
covered in bristly hairs (Newcomb 1977).
Queen Anne’s lace is flourishing in this old field setting due to the
lack of active human intervention, with just occasional prescribed fires
running through the landscape. Also the sandy soils where it is actively growing are perfect for this large seeding
plant to reproduce as there is sufficient moisture available.
 |
Figure 2. Queen
Anne’s Lace (Daucus
carota) Demonstrating the many small flowers that make up the one large one (K. Bradley 7/16/2016)
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|
Wool
Grass (Scirpus cyperinus)
Wool grass is a tall perennial and an erect grass-like
plant ranging from 3-5 feet in height. It has triangular or nearly round stem
and has leaves that are flat and smooth up to ½ inch wide. The flowers are found at the top in dense
round clusters of brownish spiklets (Figure 3) (Thieret
et al., 2001). Historically the stems of wool grass were used to make mats and
ropes as well as the fruiting bodies (spiklets) were used to stuff things such
as pillows (Wool Grass,
2003).
 |
| Figure 3. Wool Grass (Scirpus cyperinus) The dense round clusters of brownish spiklets. (K. Bradley 7/16/2016)
Commonly wool grasses are found in mesic to hydric
ecosystems such as wet meadows, swamps, and marshes, also it is an indicator species of restored wetlands (W. Mitter, personal communication, July 13, 2015) In this old field it is found on the eastern
and western edges of this old field which makes sense as that is the area with
the sandy soil as well as high water table, thus providing sufficient water
resources. Also based on historical
information about the site being a lake shore it would make sense why once this
area was converted to farmland there were some remnant seeds or seeds were
brought in from nearby hydric areas.
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Eastern
Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Eastern redbud is also known
as the Judas tree and is found throughout the eastern half of North
America. It is a relatively small tree
usually less than 30 feet tall and the mature trees normally form a vase like
shape. This is a native tree to Indiana
and is also perennial and deciduous as one of the first trees to bloom in the
spring in March-May with brilliant reddish purple flowers. Not only does it reproduce naturally it also
is a very common ornamental tree for landscaping due to its small stature and
showy flowers. When the leaves emerge they are characteristically heart shaped and connect onto the zigzag twigs. When looking up at this tree from the ground
you can easily see the zigzag twig pattern which is a defining characteristic,
even on small seedlings like the one below (Fig. 4). In the fall it produces
clusters of flat pods that change from green to brown when mature (Eastern
Redbud, 2010 and Jackson, 2003).
|
 |
| Figure 4. Eastern
Redbud (Cercis canadensis) A small seedling coming up in the herbaceous layer. (K. Bradley 7/17/2016)
Historically and ecologically
Eastern Redbud is a unique tree.
Pollinators such as butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees are especially
drawn to this tree in the spring for some of the first nectar of the year. Historically Native Americans used the bark
to boil and make a tea that they used to treat a wide array of ailments such as
dysentery, whooping cough, fevers, vomiting, etc. This tree is found very commonly beginning to
grow among the forbs layer due to the moist sandy soils in the bottomland. Also
as you walk along the trail you can see many older Eastern Redbud trees thus
the seed source for many of the seedlings.
Interestingly enough this tree is also fire tolerant and will sprout
after a fire which could be why there are so many seedlings that survived and
have thrived following the prescribed fire in spring of 2016 (Eastern Redbud,
2010).
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Large
Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus
fasciatus)
This insect is considered a true bug since it is in the
order Hemiptera and it is found
throughout North America. This insect is
usually 10-15 mm and is characteristically black and orange-red with 2 triangles
converging into one black line across the wings.
This insect has a long proboscis and is a piercing sucking insect which
means that it feeds primarily on the milkweed (Asclepias) family so commonly seen on the stem, leaves, and seed
pods (Figures 5 and 6). Given the large
quantity of milkweed sap consumed they contain a toxic compound which helps
reduce predation (Milkweed Bugs, n.d.). They have also been seen feeding on other species of plants in both gardens and crop fields but do not cause any major damage.
Figure 5. Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) (K. Bradley 7/17/2016)
The
large milkweed bug goes through incomplete metamorphosis and grows in stages
called instars which mean that it exhibits small changes throughout
development. They go through five instar
stages before reaching adulthood. During the nymph stage they are red with black antennae and legs. Within
just a few days of reaching adulthood the females are able to be sexually
reproductive and are able to start producing eggs and can have between 20-35
eggs per clutch. In any given year
depending on the ecological conditions they can have up to three clutches of eggs
and they are laid in the milkweed pods or crevices; also the adults only live
for about a month thus quick reproduction is essential for the survival of the
species (Milkweed Bugs, n.d).
|
 |
| Figure 6. Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) on butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa).(K. Bradley 7/17/2016) |
Here in the old field provides perfect habitat for these
large milkweed bugs, also this week was the first week that I saw them in the
area. This is a perfect habitat due to
the large abundance of milkweed species such as common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) all within a small
distance. With this large abundance of
milkweed it not only gives the bug plenty of foraging space but also gives them
ample time and interactions for successful reproduction. Interestingly enough they are able to migrate to the southern United States to overwinter before returning northward (Aldrich et al., 1999, Lygaeoids,
2007).
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Response
Question:
This week for the blog the theme is succession. Succession can be defined as an observed
change in species structure or composition of an ecosystem community over
time. There are two different types of succession. Primary succession occurs when there is only
bare rock exposed and the community starts from there, for example following a
volcano or glacial activity. Secondary
succession occurs when there has been a disturbance in the area that does get
rid of some species composition but doesn’t take it all, for example following
a wildfire or agricultural production.
Secondary succession is able to move along quicker than primary
succession because there is a base layer of soil to work with that doesn’t have
to be built up from rock.
Wysong Loop it
is an example of secondary succession both due to prescribed fire occurring this
past spring in addition to historically being an agriculturally productive
field. Following the agriculture
production when the land was left fallow it was prime habitat for pioneer
species due to the large availability of light and soil nutrients. Pioneer species such as ragweed and crabgrass
(or other “weedy”) species came in due to their long lived seeds, long range
dispersal of seeds, as well as the ability to utilize the resources to grow and
reproduce rapidly (Old Field Succession, n.d.).
Without disturbances it was then able to transition into a
more perennial forbs and herbs stage which is where it is at today. This can easily be seen in the species
composition including goldenrod, bunch grasses (big bluestem), sumac,
multiflora rose, poison ivy, wild grape vine, and black raspberries. So at this point there is a clear mixture of
the perennial grasses and small shrubs.
If disturbances do not occur (for example a prescribed fire) on the site
the shrubs will continue to expand and out compete the perennial forbs. At that point then there will start to be
many tree seedlings starting to emerge, currently there are a few seedlings
such as eastern redbud but over time there will be more and more. Also an important consideration in that area
though is the high water table and mesic soil conditions so some trees may or
may not adapt to having “their feet wet”.
Also if some trees do begin growing they would be more susceptible to
disturbances such as large wind events. Eventually
if left undisturbed it will begin to resemble woodlands with trees dominating
the landscape, with a large composition of mesic to hydric loving trees.
Given the current management plan they will continue to run
prescribed fire though the ecosystem thus “re-setting” the system every three years
on average. This last time though there
was a six year gap which allowed for more shrub growth and thus more intensive management
had to be done, and as explained by the land manager Bill Minter they will
continue to remove and treat many of the shrubs and species such as sumac, bittersweet,
sweet clover, and autumn olive. Some of
the tree species are fire adapted and are able to have a very deep and intricate
rooting system so even when the top is burned off they still have plenty of
reserves in the ground to produce viable seedlings once more. Also many of the forbs are fire tolerant and some
even thrive on fires in the ecosystem so they will not be negatively affected
by this sort of disturbance.
~~~~~~~~~~
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| Creative Contribution with photos and acrostic poem by Kaitlyn Bradley. ~~~~~~~~~~ |
Citations:
Aldrich, J. R., J. E. Oliver, T.
Taghizadeh, J. T. B. Ferreira, & D. Liewehr. (1999). Pheromones and
colonization: reassessment of the milkweed bug migration model (Heteroptera:
Lygaeidae: Lygaeinae). Chemoecology,
9, 63-71.
Eastern Redbud, USDA:
NRCS Plant Materials Program, Plant Fact Sheet. (2010). Retrieved July 19, 2016
from https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_ceca4.pdf
Jackson, Marion. (2003). 101 Trees of Indiana: A Field Guide.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Lygaeoids: Seed Bugs and Their Kin, University of Kentucky
Entomology. (2007). Retrieved July 19, 2016 from http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/bugs/seedbug/seedbug.htm
#milkweed
Milkweed bugs, Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.) Retrieved July 19, 2016
from
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/insects/plant-bugs/milkweed-bugs.aspx
Newcomb, Lawrence. (1977). Wildflower Guide. New York, NY:
Little, Brown and Company.
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