Observe Ravenna Park: October 2014

October 25^th, 2014

8am- 7:30pm

East of the Cascades

Light Rain and Sun throughout the trip

Location 1 (Yakima Canyon)

Panoramic of Yakima Canyon

Landscape of Yakima Canyon from atop a hill.

Yakima Canyon is located on the East side of the Cascades and is in the shrub-step zone. Shrub-step zones tend to be in the rain shadow of mountains, which means that they get very little rain. This type of landscape is declining. Yakima Canyon is an area with many cliffs, dry climate, and shrubs. Many of the cliffs have volcanic rock formations, was formed after one of the major eruptions in the past. The most prominent type of tree in the area is the ponderosa pine because it is drought tolerant. The two shrubs that are common in this area are rabbit brush and tall sagebrush. Tall sagebrush is the characteristic species of the shrub-step zone. It has tridentata leaves, or three toothed leaves. Additionally, tall sagebrush is endangered due to increased agriculture. The river going through Yakima Canyon brings many trees that would not otherwise grow in the shrub-step. Many black cottonwood trees and willows can be found next to the water. The weather changed rapidly when at Yakima Canyon. Within the time we were there, the weather went from rain to warm sunny weather in a matter of minutes.

When we first drove into Yakima Canyon, I felt a rush of nostalgia. There were shrubs everywhere! I am from San Diego and the main landscape type is a shrub, specifically coastal shrubs. Immediately, I knew I would enjoy this trip. We walked into the ecological area over a swaying bridge and with each step on the bridge, it creeked and rocked. I doubt the bridge has ever had as many people on it as there was on Saturday. The group was immediately allowed to explore the area. I found rabbit brush with some dried out flowers growing on it. Also, I examined the tall sagebrush. The brush had many dry leaves and branches. We continued to explore, walking up one of the trails to the top of a hill on the canyon. The views were amazing all around us. I could stay at the spot for hours, watching the weather change rapidly in the canyon.

Tall Sagebrush (characteristic plant)

Flowers on the Rabbit Brush

Song Sparrow that was caught on the trip.

Location 2 (Umtanum Ridge)

Landscape of Umtanum Ridge

Umtanum Ridge is a lithosol community, or a rocky soil area. The rocks are jagged volcanic rocks that formed after ancient lava flows. It is also a bitterbrush community. This type of brush area is a migratory place for deer and elk. The animals come from the mountains during the wintertime. An important plant in the area is the Thyme desert buckwheat. The buckwheat puts most of its energy into the stem and has small leaves. Each plant can live for many years at a time; some of the ones we saw at the site could be up to a hundred years old. Other plants that can be found at the site are greasewood and sagebrush. Greasewood has trident leaves and has a different scent than sage. The sagebrush in the area can be either tall sagebrush or stiff sagebrush. The differences between the two are the size of the plant and shape of the leaves. During the spring, the area can be covered in flowers.

As we arrived at location 2, I looked around with confusion. The landscape had changed dramatically from location 1 to 2 and I was not sure where the cars were anymore. Once the group walked to the plateau, I began to be amazed by the beauty of the area. For hills in all directions, you could see the bitterbrush communities. The mountains bordered the left side of the scenic views. It was windy and there was steady rain as we arrived. I found it difficult to survey the plants in the area. Each plant was so small and I could not tell the difference between each easily. My main focus of this location was to find a horned lizard or a scorpion. I circled the area; picking up every rock I could find and then carefully putting them back how I found them. My efforts were fruitless, but I found that looking for both helped me understand the landscape more. I slowly became more familiar with the plants and their structures.

Location 3 (Umtanum Creek Falls)

Landscape of Umtanum Creek Falls

Umtanum Creek Falls is a ponderosa pine community. The area has hills covered in volcanic rocks and shrubs. The characteristic tree in the area is the ponderosa pine. The bark of the pine has an orange-brown color and smells like vanilla. Also, the bark can grow wolf lichen. Other trees in the area include quaking Aspen, white alder, and crabapple trees. The quaking aspen has smooth bark and its leaves turn yellow in the fall. The crabapple tree has red leaves and long thorns. While at the site, the weather was partly cloudy and in the 50s.

After we finished surveying location 2, the vans drove us further down the road. The distance between location 2 and 3 was small and we arrived at our final destination quickly. As the group began the hike, we had in mind that it would take no longer than an hour to get to the waterfall and back. I continued down the trial trying to identify the plants and trees in the area. This was not an easy task because many of the plants in the ponderosa pine community I am not familiar with. I could easily identify the quaking aspen due to the vibrant yellow leaves and interesting knots on the bark. Additionally, ponderosa pines and crabapples were easy to identify due to their characteristics. Our field trip group continued down the path, crossing rivers and walking the side of cliffs. Although not the easiest walk, I was managing to get to the waterfall. Then we reached the cliff to get down to the viewing site of the river. This inclined cliff was far from a short walk down and was not going to be a simple task to get down. I decided to try and I began slowly going down the cliff. My comfort level dropped significantly as I continued. My feet were slipping and I had no control over where I was going. I decided to get close to the ground and slide down the cliff. Once I reached the bottom of the hill, I was in shock; all I could think about was how I was going to get back up. We observed the waterfall for some quite some time. As I looked at my clock, the time had reached the one-hour mark at the waterfall. The area had rock cliffs with small plants growing on little ledges formed. Moss and lichen grew down the cliff beside the waterfall framing the water with greenery. I speculate that an earthquake formed the rock because there is a clear distance between different areas of the rock cliffs. The group was ready to get back to the cars, but the first obstacle was to scale the cliff. I walked straight up, grasping every rock I could find. I went too far up the hill and had to back track to get to the trail. I can say that overall, although scaling the mountain was difficult, I was an adventure I will never forget. We returned to the cars, discussed our experience, and headed back to Seattle.

Quaking Aspen knot

Ponderosa Pine Tree Needles

Crabapple Tree Leaf

October 22^nd, 2014

3:00pm

Ravenna Park

Raining steadily

This week, it was good to be back at my journaling spot. It has been 2 weeks since I have been at the location and you can see the difference. From week to week, it is more difficult to notice smaller changes, but this week I noticed changes immediately. The first change I noticed was less greenery, as a whole. Grasses and mosses are not growing to the same extent. Leaves from trees have fallen which has caused canopy density to decrease significantly. The less leaves allows me to see a farther into the forest than I ever had before. The ferns, especially the western sword fern, next to the stream have gone from a vivid green to a mostly brown color.

It was the first time I had been to my site while it was raining. If you just sit on a log, all you hear is the rain hitting the leaves of the canopy. Many animals have found shelter from the downpour of rain, particularly birds. In contrast to this idea, I did see a squirrel for the first time at my site. The rain affected many aspects of the forest. To start, while ducking branches and weaving through ferns to get to my location, I walked directly into the mud. As my rain boot stepped into the nutrient rich mud, I sunk about 10 centimeters. It took me about 5 minutes to pull my rain boots out of the mud and continue with my observations. Additionally, the rain caused many of the bugs to hide under logs and leaves. To find the invertebrates that I did, I used a stick and probed the mud. When I did discover an invertebrate, the millipede I found for example, the bugs would scurry away quickly to get out of the rain. The last affect of the rain were raised creek levels and additional floating particles. The creek itself was a muddy brown color, unlike its nearly clear composition in sunny weather. There was evidence of human interaction because I saw a tennis ball floating between logs.

In my last blog post about my Ravenna site, I discussed the branch growing from the western red cedar directly behind me. The branch has now not only grown significantly longer, but also has leaves growing on it. It is an interesting comparison to the rest of the plants in the forest. While the western red cedar is growing leaves, other plants are preparing for the winter chill. Sticks visibly have more mushrooms and many leaves are still falling. A quick scan of the forest floor could show a mix of decomposing leaves and newly fallen ones.

Invertebrates:

This drawing shows the type of invertebrate, in the Epifamily Termitoidae order, called the Pacific Dampwood Termite. The termite was a small white color, which made it easy to find on the dark brown nurse log. Termites tend to create colonies in dead trees. I found more than one termite on the nurse log, so I am assuming that the colony must be somewhere nearby. Even though the termite was tiny, it moved quickly across the log. I found myself having to chase it to just try and get a good view.

This drawing shows the type of invertebrate, in the Callipodia order, called the common Millipede. The millipede was a brown on the top and white on its underside. I found it under many sticks and leaves on the forest floor. From my observations, I have learned that millipedes deliberately stay out of the rain. When I had moved all the leaves and branches, the millipede was exposed and quickly went under a decomposing log. I found it difficult to see the structure of the invertebrate because it was well camouflaged.

This drawing shows the type of invertebrate, in the Vernonicelloidea order, called a Rufous garden slug. The slug was a light brown reddish color with a white underside. Although it was hidden under a leaf, the slug was easy to find because its color was lighter than the nurse log it was on. There is not much to say about the behavior of the slug. It remained in the same location the entire time I examined it.

This drawing shows the type of invertebrate, in the Opisthopora order, called an Earthworm. The earthworm is a light brown color and has an ellogated body. The particular worm I found, part of the body was wider than the rest. The only way I could find the worm was by probing the leaves mud with a stick. While probing the mud, I found the adult worm and what looked like 2 newly hatched worms. I believe that these small worms are newly grown worms out of fertilized eggs from the surrounding mud. The young worms were about 10% the size of the adult earthworm, or about 2 centimeters long. Whether or not the adult earthworm is related to the hatched worms is unclear to me.

This drawing shows the type of invertebrate, in the Araneae order, called a spider. I could not identify specifically what kind of spider, but the body had black and white vertical stripes. When looking at the spider, it is about 1.5 centimeters in width. To find the spider, it is easy to look for the web first. I found the web at the base of a lady fern next to the Ravenna creek. This is a great location to place a web because it is not directly exposed to elements like wind.

Other invertebrates I saw: Pill Bug