Mt. Rowe Hike, June 10th, 2022

I hiked up Mt Rowe this morning, which is about a 2-mile hike. It was a warm and windy day in which we finally got a break from the humidity. I picked this location because it has two rivers and a wetland area along the way as well as drier environments towards the top. I have hiked this route many times, and one thing I noticed this time was that there were no mushrooms anywhere, which is unusual for this location. I suspect that the recent dry(ish) conditions did not provide a good environment for these organisms to grow. I did notice, however, that (especially towards the top) there were clusters of plants (both trees and shrubs alike) that appeared to be infected with some sort of pathogen. However, some plants, such as ferns, seemed to be immune to this pathogen, as they were surrounded by infected plants, but not infected themselves. This could be an example of a situation in which a pathogen can only infect certain species, but not others. I also saw a few birds, however, I was unable to get close enough to get a clear picture. Overall, I was very surprised by the diversity present on this short hike, and I couldn't believe that I had missed so many fascinating organisms on my previous visits to this location. This hike reminded me to look around from time to time and just realize and appreciate the biodiversity that surrounds me every day.

Publicado el 10 de junio de 2022 por bencharleston