Mt. Hood Forest Hike, June 28th, 2022

I started my walk in the woods near Mt. Hood, Oregon, however, I had to relocate after a short time due to some unforeseen circumstances. I still decided to include these observations as I believe they are valuable. It was a nice day with lots of sun and a light breeze. It was about 70 degrees, which is much cooler than the 95 degrees it was yesterday. I enjoyed observing the differences between the organisms present here and the organisms present back in New Hampshire. I found that while there were slight differences in terms of leaf shape or other minor differences, this ecosystem looked quite similar to New Hampshire when viewed in a broad sense. I believe this is the case everywhere as most ecosystems have a large base of primary producers (which makes sense in terms of trophic level thinking), which give the ecosystem a distinct look. One specific interaction I noticed was the interaction between a type of moss and many trees. This moss-covered the branches and trunks of many trees in the area. The trees appeared to be healthy, so I think this may be a mutualistic relationship. Another thing I noticed was that there appeared to be some sort of disease killing a certain type of small shrub, and another type seemed to be taking over. One possible reason for the shift in shrubbery is that this part of Oregon is currently in a transition from a very wet period to a very dry period. Therefore, one of the shrubs could be better equipped to survive in a wet environment, while the other is better equipped to survive in a dry environment. My coolest find was probably the spider, which I didn't get a great photo of because I did not want to get too close. Overall, I enjoyed exploring nature in different parts of the country, and I want to continue to observe nature in every new place that I visit.

Publicado el 28 de junio de 2022 por bencharleston