Diario de homeformosses

Location: The woods just south of the TESC soccer field.

GPS: 47*04'19.66" N 122*58'01.61" W elevation 164ft

Weather: Raining about 40*F
Vegetation: ACMA POGL POMU

Animals: none

Observations: Ranunculus repens and unknown dicot seedlings are coming up everywhere. Rhytidiadelphus triquestrus on a small piece of ACMA log. Porella navicularis, Metaneckera menziesii, and Isothecium stoloniferum are all robust and producing new growth in ACMA. On a leaning ACMA tree farther back, RHTR is growing with sporophytes (see photo).

Question: I wonder how the growth rates of RHTR differ between the the wet soil of this location and the Alder woodland where it was growing out in the open.

Location: 4 way intersection of the F lot trailhead

GPS 47* 04'38.73: N 122*58'24.27"W elevaton 154ft

Weather less than 40*F It snowed earlier in the day but it has melted.

Vegetation: PSME, THPL, POMU and GASH understory

Observations: either Kindbergia spp. or Isothecium is growing on the ground in a mat.

There is a fallen branch with Antitrichia curtipendula (? see pic) and some awesome lichens. P. navicularis is also growing nearby.

There is a fallen conifer branch that I can't identify with a liverwort growing on it. The bark of the branch is black and smooth. At first I think the liverwort if thalloid, with lobes like Riccardia spp, but when I look closer, the "lobes" have sporophytes growing out of them and they obscure the leafy liverwort underneath. It's very small and my hand lens isn't clearing anything up. It looks brown.

Animals: birds, 1 person.

Question: Is there an evolutionary advantage to making the perianth of a leafy liverwort look like a thallus of a strap liverwort?

Location: Alder woodland next to a ravine, S of the fire pit where we looked for ephemeral mosses with John Villella

GPS 47*0444.55"N 122*58'43.12 W Elevation 108

Weather: a little sun, about to rain

Vegetation: ALRU, POMU Rubus ursinus, Geum macrophyllum, cleavers (Galium aparine), and patches of invasive grass. I think I see colts foot (Petasites palmatus). Leaf litter everywhere, open and full of light. Licorice Fern on ALRU,

Observations: On ALRU Isothecium stoloniferum, Dicranum spp., Leucolepis acanthoneura, with well developed sprophytes, Mnium spp. Porella navicularis on a leaning Vine Maple. I've never seen Porella growing in isolation like that.

Plagiomnium on the ground.
There's a patch of Rhytidiadelphus growing in the open with Kindbergia oregana. They are both very gold out in the open.

Question: I wonder how the nutrient profile of ALRU litter compares to conifer litter and the dust that falls on trees for epiphytic species?

2012 March 9

47*04'40.69"N 122*58*17.71"W 158ft

Location: NE corner of F lot. Walk straight into the woods.

Weather: raining, but it's dry under the trees next to the parking lot.

Observations: Isothecium grows very green at the base of THPL. Once again, I'm noticing an obvious boundary where the understory starts. Only when there are breaks in the tree canopy are there POMU and Mahonia nervosa. The trees adjacent to the parking lot are densely packed and younger (smaller dbh). I don't think there has been a natural thinning next to the parking lot yet.

On a downed ACMA log I see Isothecium stoloniferum, Plagiomnium spp., Kindbergia spp., and Mnium spp. Next to the ACMA log, there is a rotting stump covered in K. praelonga and a few salal (Gaultheria shallon) plants. There is a dicot seedling growing out of the moss which I assume is GASH because there is another stump a few feet away with the same plants growing on it and the are both in sunny, open positions. Is there too much light for Vaccinium ovatum or V. parvifolium?

On my way back to F lot, there is a very dark green (pic is much lighter than the plant) Rhytidiadelphus spp. growin on a rotting stump next to K. praelonga. I haven't seen a Rhytidiadelphus spp. this green. I wonder if it's R. loreus.

Hypnum circinale is growing with Scapania spp. on a mid-decay-stage log of a young tree. I think it's PSME-the wood is light and it the bark looks like it hasn't had time to develop deep fissures yet.
Question: I wonder when the log was decayed enough for the Scapania to establish there and I wonder how long the H. circinale has left on the site since it generally grows on the bark of living trees, not logs.

Animals: cars, birds (crows, I think), and a spider on VAOV.

2012 March 6 16:45

47*04'40.69"N 122*58*17.71"W 158ft

Location: The forest off of the NE corner of Parking Lot F. Just walk straight into the woods. The are open.

Animals: people and cars. I was here a couple of days ago and I saw a caddisfly on Kindbergia. I only know it is a caddisfly because someone in this class pointed one out, the other day, at the giant ACMA where John Vilella stopped to lecture.

Vegetation: THPL, PSME, some ALRU. VAOV, POMU, and MANE understory.

Species of Moss seen: Plagiothecium undulatum and Hypnum circinale.

General Observation: The understory is sparse so that it's easy to see the mounds made by fallen logs that are past recognition in their decay. I wonder if the understory is sparse because it is drier because of the nearby parking lot and road, or because it is disturbed for the same reasons. Despite all the log mounds, the forest is dark, with few canopy gaps, so low light may be responsible for the sparse understory.

Discussion and question: When I walked into this part of the forest a few days ago, the Kindbergia was glowing it was so green. I remember thinking the same thing a couple weeks ago when I saw what I now know is Claopodium crispifolium on an ACMA trunk. Is the same thing that makes the new growth of Kindbergia spp. and C. crispifolium appear to glow the same that makes Schistostega pennata do the same thing?

Location: N Bridge. Parking Lot F Forest. Off the bridge on the N trail.
GPS: 47*05'41.87N 122"58'37.23" W Elevation:121ft

Weather: Overcast. It had been sunny earlier.

Habitat: Stream. ACMA, THPL dominates. Downed woody debris laying across the stream.

Species: No insects observed. I've seen a dog and a few people.

Within 50 yds of the stream, there is a new liverwort that I haven't seen before. It grows on ACMA boles, enmeshed with a feathery, pinnately-branching moss. The moss is producing sporophytes at this time. I the liverwort again next to the stream where it forms rounded "scales/shingles." I assume this is because of the extra humidity. See photo.

South of the bridge, there is a stream-bank micro-habitat at the base of a THPL, where the stream has eroded a bit under the THPL root ball. I wonder how long the tree has before it falls over. A week ago, I collected a moss with appressed leaves that are in one plane. I ruined my sample before I keyed the moss out, so I came back here to for a little more.

This moss habitat is shielded from S light by fallen, well-decomposed, downed-woody-debris. The logs are't falling apart yet, but they don't have bark any more and moss communities are well-established on them. The community I'm looking at has my mystery moss, L. acanthoneuron, and two of the larger-leaved mosses that I don't know yet. There is also what I think is another, appressed-leaved, leaves-in-one-plane moss, with a lot of new growing tips, growing right above the water. However, it turns out to be the mystery moss that I've already collected that is just more robust because of its close position to the water. See photo.

Question: I wonder what will happen to this moss community when the THPL falls over.

Location: 75yards NE of the intersection of Driftwood Rd and Overhulse Rd and 15yds N of the same intersection.
GPS 47*04'36.64" N 122*58'07.98 W Elevation 163ft.

Weather: clear blue skies. Less than or equal to 50F.

Habitat: altered landscape of an apartment complex.

Insects: none observed. People, cars, and an occasional bird in the background.

Mosses: I can't tell if the species that is growing in the grass is the same as is growing in the sidewalk. The sidewalk moss looks like it's making attempts at pinnate branching and the moss in the grass is almost all pinnately branched. Both are similar in color, but the sidewald moss has a distinct gold cast. Both are pleurocarps.

Next to Overhulse Road, there is a moss that has all but taken over the grass near a giant, non-native maple. I thought this moss was an acrocarp, on first glance, but, after pulling up a few strands, I cant tell if it's an acrocarp with innovations or a pleurocarp with few branches. The moss has a distinctly red stem. See photos.

Question: I wonder if the moss that's taking over the grass might be a successful native? It doesn't look like a super-tough Bryum spp.

2012 February 1 16:45

Location: the patch of forest directly across from Wild Currant Route, steps north from the bus stop, just south of Rock Maple.

GPS 47* 04' 32.52" N 122* 58' 03.42 W Elevation 165ft

Weather: overcast with blue patches in the sky. Crisp. Less than or equal to 45F.

Habitat: fragment of ACMA, THPL forest. POMU, MANE, VAOV understory.

Species observed: Porella navicularis and a moss with crispate, papyraceous, appressed leaves growing from a fallen ALRU branch.

Notes: Cars and people are audible all around. A few bird calls. Sad chirping for one and frenetic talking for another. There is downed debris everywhere from the snow breakage. There's a gigantic maple with large patches of broken moss cover on its trunk below and above eye level. Is it pollution from the road or people/animals picking at it? This would be a good site to test pollution because the Wild Currant Rt. bus stop is less than 30ft to the SW. See photos.

27 January 2012 14:46

Location/GPS: McClane Creek 47*00'02.48"N 123*00'13.46"W elev 130ft

At the bottom of the hill around the marsh and swamp.

Habitat: Marsh and swamp. The forest on the way down the trail is made up of ACMA, ALRU, TSHE mixed forest. It's open and sunny, as is the trail nearer to the water. Other plants growing are RUSP, MANE (Manohia nervosa), THPL, RURE (Ranunculus repens), RUUR (Rubus ursinus), and GASH (Gaultheria shallon)

Animal activity: Homo sapiens

Species:
on ALRU: pleurocarp weft. lanceolate leaves with acute tips and waves that are continuous over multiple leaves. Dried out a little bit. 2-2.5feet above eye level.

on ACMA: acrocarp. multiple setae, up to four, growing out of one plant. No capsules. growing on the NW side of the tree at eye level.

on ACMA: pleurocarp weft. Sprophytes present. Medium brown capsule with kakhi calyptra. Eye level. Growing with acrocarp with multiple setae.

on THPL stump: Dicranum spp. with falcate-secund leaves. Also one that looks like Plagiothecium undulatum with long straplike stems that have white tips. Leaves appressed.

On same THPL stump: dendroid, weft. It looks like it has been harvested just below eye level but new moss plants are evenly distributed through the bare patch i.e. the surrounding mats are not colonizing from the sides.

On an nearby down ACMA: pokey pleurocarp.

On downed ALRU near the parking lot: a liverwort and a feathery moss (not pinnate, like individual ostrich plumelets hanging of the branch).

Neaf the same ALRU: the same liverwort and a moss growing together.

Question: I wonder if there is a relationship between POGL (Polypodium glycyrryiza) and the mosses that grow around it. Is it just something in the relationship of the mosses and POGL with ACMA or is POGL more important to the moss growth that makes ACMA home the the most moss species of any other tree in the PNW?

16 December 2012
Location: The woods that are accessible from Parking lot F on TESC campus. I walked in the SW entrance and took the S main trail. Walking into the woods “proper” (out of the parking lot at the SW trail head, onto a grassy patch of trail), you can bear right or left. Going right takes you to a main trail. Going left takes you to a student created trail that has a steep gradient, about fifteen feet long, as soon as you get under canopy cover. Eventually, this trail merges with one of the main TESC trails that is accessible from Driftwood Road.

Locality/GPS: Approximately 125yds down from where the main trail heads from the NW and SW merge at the top of the hill. Coordinates: 47 .04’38,47” N and 22” 58’ 32.61” W.

Route: At the bottom of a slope, on a wooden boardwalk that crosses saturated soil. (Is it a bog, swamp, or fen?) The trees on either side of the trail on the slope are Red Alder and Douglas Fir.

Weather: The sun is out but it is shining through grey snow clouds. The temperature is hovering right at freezing/ There are light sprinkles of snow and rain in the air. The snow is <1.5cm thick. The parking lot lot and boardwalk have ice under the snow.

Habitat: forest.

Vegetation: An alder grove in a larger, second-growth, mixed Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii, PSME), Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum, ACMA), Western Redcedar (Thuja plicata, THPL) forest. Sword ferns (Polistichum munitum POMU) and salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis RUSP) line the boardwalk. There are many THPL seedlings and downed Red Alder (Alnus rubra, ALRU) logs. I see English Ivy (Hedera helix, HEHE) poking through the snow.

Species: Today, I’m curious about what kind of moss grows on salmonberry. I think there might be two or three species. I see a fan shaped moss with definite “fingers.” It might be a liverwort-one plane of leaves, two rows, with one reduced row on the underside of the stem. There is also a feathery species whose leaves are app. 1-6cm long, that hang towards the ground. The liverwort drapes against the salmonberry stem a little but them swings out away from it. I also see a moss that is shorter than the feathery one, that has longer leaves that make the moss look prickly. I might see a fourth moss, but I’m not sure-it’s nested in what looks like the oldest, densest moss growth on the salmonberry, at the crotch of the two main, most upright, stems. It’s browner with obvious sporophytes that are much larger than those on the the other mosses.

Other life forms: Other than people walking on the trail, I haven’t noticed any animal activity. I haven’t been listening for birds, though. There are alder twigs on the ground with catkins.

Questions: All of the moss growing on the salmonberry is roughly the same color. Even the browner one blends in with the dead moss material and the RUSP bark. If mosses are roughly the same color and size and growing together, does it have to be competition? Could it also be cooperation? The alder grove is open because of the ALRU leaf fall. Wind may sweep through here because it’s in a small valley: the trail ascends a bit before the longer, down-slope towards Eld Inlet. The downed alder logs could be from strong wind, or the combination of weaker wind and weaker alder root systems in saturated soil. Could the mosses not be huddled together for warmth?

Bog-grass or other plants, spongy ground, associated with peat.
Swamp-a seasonally flooded bottomland with more woody plants than a marsh and better drainage than a bog.
Fen-produces sedges, grasses, and other aquatic plants.