Blog Post #5: Fungi Field Trip Makeup

• Tell us where you visited and tell us about the type of landscape/Ecology in the area you went for your fungi field trip. Take a photo of the location.
  
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I went to the South Gulch trail within Crown Park, a residential neighborhood in Mukilteo. I would best describe the landscape as wetlands, the lower trail is very muddy with standing water on the main path with algae growing within the pools. The upper trail is dense forest with many fallen trees, fungi can be found on these trees.

• Discuss at least 4 organisms (fungi, algae, or plant) that you saw on your fungi field trip. Take a photo of each organism. Tell us at least one thing you noticed about the organism. Note some characteristics and the ecology of the organism. Where did you find it? What is it's ecological role in that location?

  

  Figure 1: This is a fern I saw on the side of the path, I believe it to be a Lady Fern common to wet forests and meadows.

The Fern is a photoautotroph that plays a role in the carbon cycle. Plants fix carbon into simpler forms and while they do also put out some CO₂, overall the they create a net decrease in carbon dioxide.  

Figure 2: I found moss hanging from a tree by the stream, I believe this to be Usnea.

The moss has the same effect as the fern does on the environment it photosynthesizes, therefore it helps reduce the net CO₂ level in the environment. The moss however is much more prolific in the environment than the ferns as it can grow on a wider range of substrates( trees, rocks, even around the ferns).

Figure 3: A Skunk Cabbage I found growing in and near the stream, some were in bloom(Right) others were not(Left).

The Skunk cabbage is different than both the fern and moss as it has a flowering body. It provides pollen to honey bees in the early spring. The pollen helps bees create honey, which is a food source for the hive and bees go from plant to plant to collect nectar and pollen, which provides plants an easy way to fertilize. The brightly colored yellow flower attracts pollinators, unlike the fern that does create spores but no flowering body.

Figure 4: Fungi I found growing on a downed tree near the trail head, I believe this fungus to be Turkey Tail Fungus.

This fungus acts as a decomposer, breaking down the trees tough lignin with enzymes to gain access to the inner cellulose which the fungi can break down with another enzyme to be able to metabolize the sugars for energy use/storage. Without Fungi that can decompose trees, logs would litter the forest floor more so than they do today.

Figure 5: My dog Finn accompanied me on this field trip.

• Spend some time trying to ID your organism. What species is it? Common names are okay. Tell us a bit about what you found out about your organism.

In Figure 1 I identified the organism to be a Lady Fern as it is found in similar environments to the one I was in and the leafing pattern is very similar to the source photo I compared it to. (Ellingboe) The second Figure I used the Wikipedia page for Usnea, it looked like Spanish moss, but we lack ideal conditions for Spanish Moss on the west coast. The Skunk Cabbage, in figure 3, had a yellow flower on the middle of the plant and could grow in the area surrounding the stream and within the water itself. The Fungi was rather difficult to identify as it has not matured fully, but I expect to be Turkey Tail Fungus. Figure 5 was an extra picture of my dog Finn who is part Lab, Shiba Inu, and German Pinscher.

• Did you learn something about fungi or plants that surprised you?

The Fungi wasn’t as plentiful in the environment as I had expected. Fungi can be found in a plethora of locations however from Mycorrhiza Fungi to the Fungi found living on fallen trees.

Reflection: What was something that you observed on the fungi field trip? What was something you learned? I observed that fungi are very specific with the substrates that they grow and thrive on. There was many neighboring fallen trees to the one the fungus was growing on, yet there was no visible growth on those trees, some of which have been down since March. Meanwhile moss was more widely seen growing on trees.

Write at least 3 scientific questions based on your observation.

1. Why do Fungi grow on certain trees, while seeming to ignore others?

2. Does Moss out-compete Fungi for ideal substrates?

3. Do Lilies grow better in conditions that a constantly wet (in the stream) or the ground surrounding a waterway(mud)?

Write 1 hypothesis based on the questions above.

Fungi that grow on trees grow better on older fallen material than newer fallen trees.

Sources:

Ellingboe, James. “Washington Native Plant Society: Photograph of Athyrium Filix-Femina.” Washington Native Plant Society: Photograph of Athyrium Filix-Femina, Washington Native Plants Society, 21 Apr. 2015, www.wnps.org//plants/athyrium_filix-femina.html. Accessed 6 May 2017.

Kuo, M. (2005, March). Trametes versicolor: The turkey tail. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trametes_versicolor.html