Blog Post 3: Ecological Survey of Christmas Hill
The organism I chose is Licorice Fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza).
Ecology: Found on wet mossy ground, logs, rock (especially rock slabs like exposed bedrock), it is commonly epiphytic which means its an organism that grows on another plant surface and gets moisture and nutrients from the surrounding air, rain or debris. It grows often on tree trunks and branches especially on maple trees.
fun fact: The little rhizomes (reddish brown dots underneath) were used by First Nations on the Pacific Coast for colds and sore throats
I visit Christmas Hill a lot during the different seasons, and this was the first year that I noticed all these beautiful little baby ferns popping out of the mossy bedrock. I had to pick them as my organism, they looked so brightly green against the orange and reds of fall.
Christmas Hill Sanctuary is a super special place, it has some plant species that you can't find any where else! Another reason why it is so special, is because its a vernal pool ecosystem that is up at the top of a large hill with many peaks, which isn't too common. At the top of each little summit, you can see lush marshland teeming with life. The area is covered in Garry Oak, mosses, lichens, various shrubs, tall grasses, Oak and Arbutus. The exposed bedrock creates bluffs and large rugged formations.
I made my quadrat out of some climbing rope and tied it at roughly 1 yard in diameter.
Here is a map I drew of the site. My transect started in the South East area of the sanctuary and I went in a straight line, directly east.
Quadrat # Organism # Additional Notes
1 164 Clumped to NW side
2 0
3 0
4 57 Grouped together in middle
5 290 Grouped closely together throughout
6 44 Grouped to W side
7 0
8 50 Grouped together on W and E side
9 89 Densely grouped together under exposed mossy bed rock
10 0 No ferns, found little grasshopper friend!
11 235 Clumped together at NW side
12 6 A few little sprouts emerging from mossy bedrock
I noticed the little ferns were present throughout most of the park, but mostly just up high where there is bedrock and grassy meadow clearings. The terrain was kind of difficult along my transect line, some of my quadrats were half on a big boulder of bedrock. It was awkward but seeing how the fern is dispersed over the area was so interesting. Wherever it was dry, the ferns wouldn't grow, but then anywhere there was any moisture present, there they were. I've noticed sword ferns in the park before, but this was the first time i've seen the little sprouting licorice ferns. This seems like a really good way to assess species distribution and populations. It provides random (but not really) samples from a wide range of an area giving you a good idea of what is around every where else.
example of an awkward quadrat
ferns growing from bedrock
Grasshopper!
Sweet little ferns poking out of the moss
Me :)
Panorama at Viewpoint ft Nathan. Downtown Victoria and Olympic Range in the background.
It is so cool that you did your ecological survey in Canada!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great report, I need to get my passport so that I can actually visit Canada! Those licorice ferns look so awesome, I had no idea that the rhizomes were used for colds and soar throats by First Nations, that's so interesting! I have never seen licorice ferns in my experience, just sword ferns. The picture you took at the viewpoint is breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteWow- that takes the cake in terms of awesome places to do a survey. You did an awesome job and really understood the challenges of the survey. LOVE your map!
ReplyDelete