We spotted a red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens) also known as the eastern spotted newt today on our muggy August morning walk. It was about 4 inches long and was crawling through the grass near our familiar trail in the woods. Actually it was our second spotting this fall as the little critters have left the water, having given up their gills and now are spending a few years wandering the woods eating snails, small insects and other tiny animals living in the leaf litter. They are the juvenile stage of the three-part life of the salamander.

         Since our walk takes us by a pond we expect to see these red forms during the late summer since that is the time of the year that they leave the water behind them and live on land for up to three years. They then return to the water and live out their lives as aquatic adults, where they mate and find food again in a liquid environment. When they return to the water, they eat mosquito larvae and other aquatic life. Vegetarians they are not. They move about swiftly in the water but are rather slow on land. They can live up to 15 years, quite long for an amphibian.

         I am never really tempted to pick one up since they look so fragile but I found that they can emit a toxic substance when disturbed and it can cause irritation unless you wash your hands after touching them. This toxin also protects them from fish when they are in ponds as adults or larvae and from land animals when they are in their eft stage

         When they leave the water, to spend their mid-life term on land, they often travel in groups. In Amherst, conservationists actually built tunnels under roads where salamanders usually travel so that they are not squished by autos as they head out on their terrestrial stage. Kathleen used to run on a road, in a town close by, where there were literally hundreds of red efts migrating away from their origins. An amazing sight.

         We wonder how old this little fellow is and guess by its size that it has been around for a few years. But we could be wrong…

         We saw no aphids in this particular gall, but we understand that many people do see them when the gall is opened.

         Questions abound: is the white fluff inside the excrement of the aphids? Will they spread to other parts of the plant? Are these aphids prevalent on other trees? Is this parasitism? Galls don’t usually affect the host plant too much, but this seems different to us. It didn’t look as if the entire sumac shrub was affected, but that particular branch was definitely unhappy! Is this because of aphid invasion?

         Rest assured that we will be keeping an eye on these galls, since we pass them everyday on our morning walk. 

         For a while, we were looking at the pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellate) which has leaves so similar to the Goodyera that we were fooled into thinking that they were orchids. Then the plants bloomed and we could see that there was no resemblance at all in the flowers. Because it is also an evergreen it is also called wintergreen or in some areas prince’s pine. For years it was the prime flavoring ingredient in homemade root beer.

         The Goodyera bloomed two years ago and we watched it carefully all of last summer but it did not bloom or even put up stalks. This year it has added another blooming plant and we now have three stalks with their tiny, beautiful orchids. Its leaves, very unusual for the orchid family, have bright silver markings with a broad stripe down the center and a densely reticulated network of veins that are slightly less green than the rest of the leaves.

         We will continue to watch it and try to find out if it only blooms every other year. We have two theories. One is that last summer’s cool, rainy weather prevented a bloom. The other is that it only blooms every so often, so we have to keep some temperature records and see what happens. This year has been a hot, dry summer but in the cool, moist woods, the little gem has thrived and rewarded our patience with spectacular floral blooms. Spectacular, that is, for a plant with ¼ inch flowers. Maybe if you have a hand lens…

         Today, for the first time since 1999, I saw a Green Heron here at the same pond as I did in 1999, again perched up on top of a tree in the middle of the pond. I heard it before I saw it. A similar squawk emanated from its throat but soon it was chased from its perch by some little bird, probably one of the red winged blackbirds who jealously guard the waterfront property along the pond each year.         

         I don’t often admit to having a favorite bird but if I did, it would probably be that Green Heron. It has been named and renamed over the last few years. It was the Little Green Heron for a while and then the Greenback Heron and now it is just plain Green Heron. I think there must be a group of ornithologists who love to spend their time renaming birds. Regardless, I love the way it sits, hunched over like its mother never taught it to sit up straight. It patiently waits for a morsel to swim by and then you get to see that long heron neck stretch out and grab a snack.

         I wonder if I will see that same little bird again this winter in the Everglades. I know that both of us will migrate down south but I won’t recognize it, per se. Still, I may fantasize that the little friend I saw today will be sitting on a low branch next December and I’ll watch it as it waits, waits, waits for the next little fish to swim by. Good hunting little friend. 

         As you can see by the second picture, the cherries are ripening and the branch seems to be thriving in the pitcher of water. This was a real surprise to us but a pleasant one indeed! Now the question becomes, “Can we do this with enough branches to get our pie and still leave enough to espalier the tree and share some with our feathered friends?” We are also wondering if we should put sugar or other nutrients in the pitcher to enhance the process or just leave well enough alone.          

         I guess we’ll have to do a little bit of experimenting to find out. Meanwhile, I can almost smell that cherry pie which has eluded me for the last few years. 

         We were able to harvest enough cherries one year out of ten when we had the time and the forethought to drop a cloth over the tree from the roof to cut the sharing down to a minimum. The catbirds took them all on other years. This year, we did a little pruning to try to allign some of the shape of the tree to the trellis. We took some of the branches, heavy with unripe cherries, and placed them in a pitcher of water in the greenhouse. (See picture)

         For the past couple of years, we have grown our tomatoes in a greenhouse. We do have outdoor raised beds for our other vegetables and have tried to grow tomatoes there but the tomato blight has hit our area hard over the last few seasons and the yield has been very low. Since we were unable to fight the blight, we decided to move our plants into the greenhouse with new soil in separate pots.

         There are several kinds of blight, and it (a fungus) appears early and sometimes late. Although we’re not positive which of these is affecting our plants, we decided to remove them from temptation and put them into isolation in the greenhouse. Shortly thereafter, though, we realized we were also taking them away from the pollinators: the bees and wasps that hover around the tomato flowers, and the breeze that agitates them. So, with direction from the Internet we realized that we had to give our tomatoes a little help. Enter, the plant husbandry technique.

         We found out that tomatoes are self-pollinators, as are peppers. The flowers on most tomato plants have a pistil that is enclosed in the stamen cone. Mostly, they just need to be wiggled or vibrated, like those in the garden, by wind or the movement of nearby pollinators. So, between the hours of 11:00 am and 1:00 pm, I go out, either with my electric toothbrush or just my fingers and vibrate the flowers at their base. Apparently, this releases the pollen from the stamens to the pistils below (thus self-pollination). At least that is what we assume is happening, since last year we had a bumper crop, whereas our friends who had planted outdoors were plagued by the fungus.

         Kathleen kids me about my sexual prowess as a plant “husband” but it takes very little time and has given us great results. We have just now put this season’s plants out in pots and the first blossoms are beginning to appear. It is time for the pollination man to begin his work! We hope it works again this year because –mmmmmm! Those home-grown tomatoes are so good, and there is nothing like taking a fresh vine ripened tomato in and eating it immediately!

         When we were living in East Africa years ago, we had to take our tomatoes in while they were green because the birds would eat them on the vine as soon as the first signs of pink arrived. This meant that the tomatoes were hard and not as tasty. The greenhouse keeps the  birds and chipmunks out so we do not have to share. We have often wondered why the little critters only take one bite out of a tomato and leave the rest to rot…

         We also wonder if the fan would eliminate the need for the human touch. Will moving air vibrate the plants enough to help in pollination? Perhaps we can try to isolate one or two to see if there are simpler ways to engage in plant husbandry.

         These insects belonging to the order Homoptera have an incomplete metamorphosis that means the little ones emerge from the egg as nymphs, looking somewhat like tiny adults minus wings. Over the next 40-52 days the spittlebug nymphs will grow and shed their outer skeletons about five times until they are adults. They then mate, lay eggs in the late summer and then die.

         We still wonder how the eggs survive the winter when the plant upon which the eggs were deposited dies down. Does the egg lie on the dead plant parts from the previous year and wait for the new plants to grow in the same area? If not, how does the little nymph, after hatching, find a proper plant on which it can feed?

         Some other questions we had were:

         Do they do much damage to the plants on which they feed?

         Are some species considered a pest to certain crop farmers?

         How long will the spittle foam last?
         
         What predators do the spittlebugs have?

         At least the spittlebug is no longer a complete mystery but it still holds a fascination and we will keep our eyes open for the next month or so as this life cycle progresses in our lovely woods.

         A little research tells us that spittlebugs have sucking mouthparts and suck great quantities of liquid and carbohydrates from the plants on which they live and feed. In fact, one little nymph is able to produce a great deal of froth from its anus and other glands, enough to gain protection from predators, keep moist and stay insulated from extreme temperatures.

         The adult female bug lays its eggs in a row on the plant in late summer beneath the leaves and the egg winters over to hatch in the spring of the following year. Now, I had always thought that the adult created the froth for the little nymphs but now realize that the little critters do it for themselves after they leave the egg. The question immediately came to mind, “How can something that little (2-3mm) thing create so much froth?” It apparently does it much in the same way a cappuccino machine does. It takes the syrupy liquid it has garnered from the plant, mixes it with air and shoots it out of its rear end. (See picture of spittle)

          Saturday, May 15, 2010. Still no changes so I guess they do not continue to develop when placed in a jar of water. Leaves have wilted and the little twig does not look happy.

         I wonder if there is enough development in the “preemie” acorns to make them viable at this time of their development?

         The flower parts of the female flower (see picture) do not look like they have developed enough to accept pollen. Perhaps I just got them too soon for them to have been pollinated, or maybe they just don’t continue to develop when placed in an artificial environment.

         We examined the male flowers in the blog entry of April 29^th. The little pollen grains had apparently done their job since the tiny acorns are evidence of pollination. The branch now sits in a cup of water on the kitchen counter and seems to be doing quite well, so we’ll watch it for a while and see what happens. Perhaps, if the other flowers were pollinated and the branch stays vital, we may be able to see the transformation of the ovary into more baby acorns.

         In previous blogs we have talked about witnessing the beginning and development of maple fruits. We are at the mercy of windstorms to bring the higher branches down to the ground where we can observe them. Maples spread their branches down a bit lower so we can witness more of their fruit development. But the oaks are a different story with lower branches often being pruned off as the tree grows taller. Anyway, we will continue to watch our gift and see what happens. (Continue below)

            We had however noticed the brown, thin-skinned balls on the ground in the fall of the year and when opening their paper-thin cover, we found an empty looking sphere with brown fibers inside. There was usually a hole in the sphere where we figured that something had escaped its prison. We had been finding the end product of the oak apple gall. This spring we had found the emerging oak apple gall.

            The small black oak tree we observed in the forest had at least four green apple-like globes on separate stems. The larger ones had speckles on the outside; the smaller ones were a smooth unblemished green. We cut one open and posed it next to the smaller gall (see picture). Notice the fibrous material stretching from the outside of the gall towards the center. In this center is a tiny wasp larva that will eat the material inside the gall and grow, pupate and emerge as an adult wasp. The oak gall wasp (Amphibolips confluenta) has a very interesting life cycle.

            Male and female wasps emerge from the gall in June and July, mate, and then fall to the ground. The female wasp bores down into the ground and deposits eggs on the roots of the oak. The resulting larvae munch on the roots and then in the early spring emerge as wingless females. Yep, all of them are females. These crawl up the trunk of the tree from below the soil, without mating, just in time to deposit their eggs into leaf buds or perhaps into the center veins of emerging leaves. It seems, again, that timing is everything! And, it is from these eggs that both males and females hatch.

            Then, chemicals given off by the egg and subsequently the larva stimulates a chemical reaction in the plant tissue that forms the gall surrounding the egg or larva. So the gall structure is strictly plant material. The larva eats, grows, pupates, emerges, mates and starts all over again on this strange and interesting cycle, one that includes both a sexual and asexual segment.

            Apparently the leaf galls do no damage to the tree and the gall gives protection, shelter, and food for the larvae. So again, in the tradition of Everyday Science Mysteries, questions come to mind:

·      Are there other galls that do inflict damage on plants? Can we find them on all kinds of plants?

·      Are all oak galls the same or are there different kinds on different trees in different parts of the world?

·      What, if any, are the advantages of a life cycle that involves sexual and asexual segments?

·      Did the oak tree and the wasp evolve together over time?

·      Is there an advantage for the oak tree that we haven’t considered?

·      Are there parasites that attack the oak gall larvae?

·      If so, how and when do they do this?

·      Since galls are plant material, do animals eat them?

            Because our galls are at ground level we will be able to keep an eye on them for a while. We suggest that you do the same if you can find some.

             Well, on our walk this morning, after a windy night, we came upon this broken off oak branch in the middle of the path. You can see by the picture that there are flowers on it and that the leaves are still in their toddler stage. As I mentioned above, we have seen these flowers before but never actually attached to the oak branch. Or maybe it is a case of being more attuned to the flowers of trees after exploring the issue in my Everyday Science Mysteries series. They are the staminate (male) oak flowers in a catkin form. They apparently appear between the axils of the old leaves, and the pistillate (female) flowers will show up in a week or so between the axils of the new leaves in the form of a spiky, red flower. Eventually, of course, if pollinated, the fruit of the oak will result as a nut commonly called an acorn.

            Our best guess from the tiny sample is that it is a red oak (Quercus rubra), although we could be wrong since we could not tell from whence the little flowers had come, but since the veins on the leaves of our sample extend past the leaf tips we are pretty sure.  (Check this out for yourselves - they look like little hairs extending out into space!). Since oaks often take as much as 50 years before they produce fruit, the trees are very tall and neither of us is equipped with climbing spikes which would be necessary to shinny up the tree to see the female flowers close at hand. Perhaps binoculars will work. But, rest assured, we will be keeping an eye out for the pistillate flowers. As usual, questions arise:

• Is there survival value in having the staminate flowers emerge before the pistillate flowers and fall off the trees in such great numbers? The reason for different emerging times is to prevent self-pollination – but why wait a week? Clearly, there needs to be a female flower out there to pollinate! There must be some sort of step in the process that we are unaware of – maybe one of you out there can help!
• There are so many more staminate flowers than pistillate flowers. Is this why so many can be “wasted” before the female flower is ready to receive the pollen? I guess there is stability in large numbers.
• On another oak related topic, white oak acorns germinate without “wintering over preparation” but red oaks do not germinate until the next spring. What survival value is there in this difference?

            We’ll keep you posted on our investigations over the next few weeks and we invite you to find a nice oak to observe as well. The time is “ripe.”

         We are currently hoping for their return to our housing project but who knows what might have happened to either of these tiny birds over the winter as they migrated to the southern climes.  

         The questions abound: Why did the male fill the entrances?  Was it to keep other birds away? Did the bird want to merely shut off the house from other critters that might invade? After going to all of the trouble of isolating the house, why did they abandon it? Why did  they move from one side to another; was it because wrens do not use the same nest twice? Will the cleaned out house be more attractive if they come back this year? It is easy to anthropomorphize these questions but perhaps only the wren can answer them. And he’s not talking to us. I guess all we can do is wait and observe.  

         Soon, a female appeared next to him and almost immediately began checking the house out for suitability. We stood at a reasonable distance, hoping not to disturb the ritual. She must have approved for soon they began to build a nest in the one available apartment. Over the season, they raised two broods of babies and then, in the fall, left the premises for warmer climes.  

         They returned the next year and decided to remove the sticks from one entrance on the other side of the house and built a nest there. Again, the pair produced two broods. But, last year, they didn’t nest in the house, but in a nearby tree, perhaps lodging in a lower rent district.  Or, was there something wrong with the friendly wren house?

         Each of us probably has a certain plant that is considered the harbinger of spring.

 For us, it is either the Trout Lily or the Wake Robin Trillium, whichever comes first. The Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) arrives amidst the leaf litter on the shady side of the brook that divides our land from the wetlands, beyond. First to show are the leaves, shaped and speckled just like its namesake. As the leaves show more of the speckles, the tiny stem of the flower begins to arise from its base and soon on the springboard of sunny and warmer days, the pale yellow nodding blossoms appear in multitudes turning the paths and fields into a custard yellow expanse of Springtime.

         The Trillium arrived at just about the same time as the Trout Lily this year for reasons known only to these two. Next week’s blog will feature this flower. For now, we focus on the lily that has spread its beauty over the years to encompass almost an acre of land. Although the blossoms last only a short time, they are captivating as they show their color against the still dull brown of the fallen leaves that cover the ground. Since this plant is also called the “dog tooth violet,” and the “fawn lily” as well as the “adders tongue,” it makes us realize why the latin names are so important when we talk with others about an organism. And of course, along with the joy of the beauty we are plagued with questions.

Why are there so many more each year?

How do they spread over the landscape?

What kind of habitat do they need in order to bloom and reproduce?

How long does it take for a trout lily to bloom?

Can they be transplanted? Should they be transplanted?

What is their most likely reproductive strategy, vegetative or seed?

Do they have any natural enemies?

         But whatever we find out about our Springtime herald, it will still be a mystery that we will await each spring with anticipation. It tells us, “Spring is just around the corner.” Hooray!

         Matapalo, the Spanish name for the strangler fig means: tree killer. Ever since the first Europeans arrived on the shores of Florida, they were aware of this massive tree, Ficus aurea.

It is not the domesticated fig tree from the old world but is native to Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Mexico and Central America south to Panama. You cannot miss it when walking in south Florida due to its shape and size when it has grown large enough to embrace another tree and “love it to death.” As you can see from the attached picture, the fig sends out multiple prop roots that eventually surround the host tree, envelop it and take away the host’s sunlight with its thick canopy. It also steals nutrients and water with its prodigious and efficient root system. 

         Its life cycle starts usually in the beak of a bird or mouth of a small mammal that has eaten of its fruit and therefore its seeds. These seeds pass through the animal, undigested, and often end up high in a tree. The seed germinates and for a time the fig is an epiphyte (a plant that grows on another plant but not as a parasite). Then it sends down roots that eventually reach the ground and begin functioning. The fig tree soon begins to wrap itself around its host, beginning the process described above. The fig’s canopy becomes luxuriant and blocks out sun from as much as 30 meters above the ground. Within a few years, it is impossible to distinguish the identity of the tree that has been “strangled.” Strangler figs grow to enormous girths and heights and are very well prepared to live in climates that boast of strong winds, because their root system is strong and well connected to the ground.

         If you pull off a leaf from the fig, the first thing you notice is the white sap or latex that emanates from the petiole of the leaf. The same latex is located in the bark of the tree. Early people and even the later tribes, like the Seminoles and Miccosukees who were forced down into the Everglades of Florida by war, used the latex for chewing gum. They also found it effective as a adhesive and a disinfectant on wounds.  

         We wonder if that latex is a really good adhesive and consider the possibility of trying out some tests to see how strongly it holds materials together. We might consider the following:

·      How well does it hold two similar materials together?

·      How well does it hold two dissimilar materials together?

·      How could we test the strength of the latex as a glue?

·      How much of the latex is necessary to accomplish a tight bond?

·      Does the latex of other plants such as milkweed have the same attributes?

         Even though the latex is supposed to be a healing agent, we are hesitant to try this on real wounds since there are other more proven methods available. However, we speculate about how many important materials are waiting in the plants around us. Herbs have been used since the beginning of history as curatives. Perhaps the original people know more that we do about their properties. They certainly had faith in their use, but history does not tell us now many people died or whose symptoms were made worse by the use of these plants. We suspect that the commercial drug companies also have the same questions. 

         One of the most important parts of the Everglades environment is a little noticed clump of algae, cyanobacteria and detritus known as periphyton. It is easy to ignore because it looks yucky and is not as interesting as the alligators that the visitors here come to see. Yet, this brownish, amorphous aggregation of living organisms is perhaps the best indicator of health in the waters of the Everglades. It is often found growing around the stems of sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) or rushes (Eleocaris cellulosa). Thus the name: “peri” (around) and “phyton” (plant). It grows best in the low-nutrient waters of the ’Glades and has the property of holding water, sometimes all the way through the dry season when everything else around it has gone dry and brittle. It can provide protection to plants and animals that shelter nearby, to help them survive the bi-annual drought. Besides that, periphyton is the bottom of the food chain and, since it is photosynthetic, can produce the sugars and starches needed for some of the small animals that make up the biomass of the ecosystem. It is, in other words, absolutely necessary for a healthy Everglades.Pollutants such as phosphates and nitrates (what we normally use as fertilizers in our gardens and lawns) are basically poison to the periphyton in this low-nutrient environment.. Yet the developed areas around the glades use and produce great amounts of them and they leak into the waters of the Everglades. When the amount of phosphates and nitrates increases, cattails grow in the periphyton’s usual place and form an environment which is not conducive to the development of the biomass that is necessary for the wildlife that live there. It also shades out the area from the sunlight, further depleting whatever periphyton might still exist.
If the bottom of the food chain is missing, the energy collected from the sunlight is unavailable to the animals further up the food chain. The worms, crustaceans and fish that eat the periphyton will not be there for the bigger fish to eat, so these won’t be around for the even bigger animals further up the chain to eat. The result is obvious. Some of our beloved birds and animals at the top of the foodchain won’t be able to survive either.
I thought that this collection of organisms needed to have a prominence that would celebrate its existence and importance. Thus, I wrote a poem in its honor. Many people here with whom we have explored the area have asked for a copy of the poem, so here it is.

Periphyton Poem

This periphyton is as happy as can be
As long as its water is nutrient free.
But put phosphates and nitrates into its lair
And soon the periphyton will not be there.

"Make the pollutants fewer and fewer
so I can have water that's purer and purer"
Says these algae with righteous indignation,
"and I'll provide for the coming generations.

Without periphyton nature has no legs
What will the critters eat, where will they lay their eggs?
And not only that, there will be this empty place,
And the cattails and other plants will take its place.

And the cattails will grow so stately and tall,
that they will form an almost impenetrable wall
And the critters and fish won’t find a habitat,
Yeah, the phosphates and nitrates are responsible for that.

The cattails, they warn us of impending doom.
For peaceful co-existence there is no room.
Providing clean water is our only hope,
Or the everglades may be at the end of its rope.

(Do you want to see Dick recite this? You can, thanks to our friend, Page Keeley). Click this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VhJ_2LTluc

            We ask ourselves each day: is it a juvenile bird that has been driven away by its parents too early (perhaps by death of the parents)? Is it a bird that has been injured, rehabilitated and then released, and is finding the going tough as it tries to become reacquainted with its habitat? This would explain why it followed us, and made those begging noises. It has been with us now for a good three weeks and its behavior seldom changes. It frequents the same area consistently and as, of yet, does not seem to be suffering terribly from starvation.

            We have several options to try and solve this mystery. One is to continue to monitor its behavior to pick up additional clues. We can check under its usual roost to see if we can find owl pellets at the base of the roosting tree (owl pellets are the regurgitated, indigestible, remnants of the owl’s meal), and examine  these for clues to its feeding habits. We can also listen for changes in its vocalizations. This brings up so many of the questions that bird biologists have faced over the centuries that they have been studying the animals. What happens when we are not there (i.e. in the night? or when they fly away from their resting place to hunt?).  What fascinating problems to solve with radio telemetry and other higher tech solutions than we have at hand.

            We do know that the breeding season is over for owls so that it is unlikely that we will hear the woo-woo-woo-woo, woo-woo  of the nocturnal mating call. But basically, we are hoping that our new friend will fall back on its ancestral habits and begin behaving like a self-respecting owl should do.

         Slash pines (Pinus elliottii var. densa) grow in the area of the Everglades Park known as the pinelands. Pinelands are a bit higher in altitude than other habitats, although the difference in altitude is only a foot or two. Down here, in Florida, inches can mean the difference between one plant community or another. The slash pines are fast growing trees and can reach heights of thirty meters (98 feet).

         We wonder a bit about how this crazy pattern could have happened. Is it parasite damage from an insect or perhaps a result of a hurricane? Was it from impingement by another tree - one of our “strangler” figs? When did the curve occur in the tree’s lifetime? Could it have happened when the tree was older or did it have to occur when the tree was a sapling? We are pretty sure that none of the rangers have resorted to espalier! We have also heard of other slash pines in the Park that exhibit similar types of growth aberrations.

         So, it continues to be a mystery!

         During the early weeks of January, 2010, Mother Nature decided to give South Florida a small taste of what the northern U.S. was experiencing. Temperatures dropped to freezing for a week and then dropped again a few days later. It was the longest freeze in South Florida in sixty years. In the last blog, we discussed the effect on fish but this week I would like to examine the effect of the temperatures on the plant life.

         South Florida is unique because its climate allows the intermingling of the temperate and tropical plants within its borders. It’s thumb-like projection into the balmy waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the proximity of the warm Gulf stream keeps its temperatures in what is called a sub-tropical classification. This also provides it with two main seasons: wet and dry. Because the summertime “westerly” winds send moist Gulf stream air back over Florida, an average rainfall of 60 inches falls between May and October. The rest of the year is relatively dry with little rainfall. The plants have adapted over the eons to the “drought and deluge” extremes but are not as well adapted to extremes in temperature.

         In the last blog, you saw that exotic aquarium fish dumped into the Everglades were the first to die. Recently, even some of the native fish such as tarpon and sting rays have been seen floating in Florida Bay. The tropical trees that are now native to South Florida have been subjected to killing temperatures and they too have been damaged. As you can see in the picture, the poisonwood tree and Florida trema have brown leaves throughout their branches. In fact, a person untrained in the identification of native temperate and tropical plants would have little trouble designating which is which by merely looking at the brown leaves on the tropical plants versus the bright green leaves of the temperate plants. South Florida periodically has a short freeze once in about ten years but the prolonged freeze is rare. You will personally experience this later this year when you look at what you pay for citrus juices, beans, squash, and imported tomatoes.

         We will be watching carefully over the next few months to answer some questions that have arisen in our minds. Does the location of the plant have an effect on how it fared during the freeze? Was there any evidence that certain parts of plants were damaged while other parts were not? Does the loss of the leaves mean the plant is completely dead? If it is not dead, how long will it take to send out shoots again? Will other plants take advantage of the injured or dead plants and take over their space? Will these interlopers succeed or will the original plants make a comeback and retake their territory? If you live in a similar environment, keep watch for yourself. If you live in the north, you may experience late spring freezes. What does that mean for the health of your plants?

         Stay tuned as we observe what happens and keep you posted on our findings. And I look forward to seeing some comments/questions from you as you think about these questions and find more to ponder.

DEATH IN THE EVERGLADES 

         South Florida has a reputation of sunny warm days and sultry nights, even during the winter months. But even paradise has its bad days and we have just experienced the worst extended cold snap in 60 years. South Florida has a mixture of tropical and temperate plants and is fairly unique in having these kinds of plant communities. As we walked through the pinelands this morning is was evident that the extended cold spell and freezing nights have had their effect on the plant communities. It is possible to see which plants are tropical and which are temperate by assessing the damage. The tropical plants, the porterweeds, tremas and even some of the marlberries and poisonwoods show signs of frost damage. And of course, the damage to the young tomato plants, beans and squash in the outlying agricultural areas was  almost total.

         Now, we walk near canals and ponds and see scores of fish floating belly-up. It is interesting to notice that the fish that have been affected by the freeze are what we call exotics, fish that are not native to the Glades - the cyclids, tilapia and the sucker-mouth bottom feeders, to name a few. How did they get here? Well, many people engage in what is known as pet release. When they no longer want their fish, snakes, lizards, or other pets they merely dump them into the Everglades habitat. The fish from home aquariums are mainly tropical fish and they adapt pretty well to their new habitats as long as the temperatures are pleasant. Unfortunately, they are also often aggressive and cause problems for the local native species. Now come the extended cold snaps and the water temperatures drop drastically, separating the tropical fish from the natives. Is this Mother Nature’s way of “pruning” the exotics from our communities? With any luck we are also losing the iguanas and pythons, two other pretty famous exotic species.

         Here’s the mystery. In talking to the fish biologists and hydrologists here in the Park we have seen the graphs of the water temperature fluctuations over the years. Our expectation was that the nature of water would temper the changes in water temperature but this was not the case. The water temperatures during the extended cold spell dropped drastically from the 70’s F to the low 50’s in deeper places in the ponds and canals and even lower in some of the shallower spots.

         Questions abound! How fast does heat escape water when the surrounding air temperatures drop? Does the surface area of the pond have an effect on how fast the heat escapes? Where are the warmest spots in water habitats of varying depths? Does warmer water lose heat faster than cooler water? How does the depth of the water effect temperature loss? How much does the temperature difference between air and water affect the temperature changes in the water? What happens to the air temperature above the water over time?

         Can these questions be answered in simulated conditions using aquariums, thermometers, and rooms with varying temperatures? Let’s try to answer some these questions and share our results. Or, come up with new questions of your own!

         Well, it’s Thursday again and time to look for more everyday science mysteries or in this case an everyday science observation. What are those strange looking things that seem to grow on trees and other things? This week I feature an organism that lives everywhere on the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and from the seaside to mountaintops: the lichen

         This year I am fortunate enough to be working with two lichenologists in the Everglades National Park, Rick and Jean Seavey. They are engaged in a project designed to catalog existing lichens in South Florida and perhaps name some that have never been identified.

I must admit that when I took my first biology courses in high school and in college, they were glossed over as uninteresting and boring. Needless to say, I gave them the same short shrift when I taught biology. Now as an older and more sedate student of biology, I find them fascinating.

         As you can see by the picture, they grow on trees but you can also find them on the soil, rocks, leaves, unwashed vehicles and even on the backs of some insects. Even though the picture shows one to be little bigger than my fingernail, they can actually cover entire trees.

         Lichens are a combination or “marriage” between certain fungi and algae. A strange and wonderful thing happens when the two species combine since they form a completely different organism, in which the algae and the fungi are unlike what each would be if they were living alone. As one scientist put it they are fungi that have discovered agriculture. The fungi take the algae into their structures, just below the top layer of fungal tissue where they live and produce sugars via photosynthesis. The fungal tissue protects the algae from most of the ultra violet light, which would kill them and in turn, happily take the sugars produced by the algae and use them in their own metabolism. Although we have been told over the decades that this relationship is perfect for both partners, we now know that the fungi aggressively take advantage of the algae and the algae must reproduce asexually and rapidly to keep ahead of the aggression of the fungi.

         Pursuing this mystery, will require a hand lens of at least 4x- or 6x to be able to view them in some detail. I suggest that you might consider looking on trees, rocks, and other surfaces that seem to have something attached to them and find the various forms the lichens take. I will not describe the various forms so that you are not robbed of the discovery of the multitude of forms these organisms exhibit.

         Questions arise about these strange and remarkable organisms. Do they grow on every side of the trees? Do they overlap or are they reclusive? Do they look different when wet than when dry? What happens when you wet them down? Do the ones that grow on rocks look very different than those on trees? Are they all the same color? What do they look like at night under UV light? Do they look different at different times of the year?  

         Happy hunting. Let me know what you find.  As a result of your findings, what new questions have you generated? Remember, wondering never ceases.  It's not just what you find, it is where the questions lead you next. That is what science is all about.

         This being the first blog on our website, I feel obligated to describe its purpose and tell  you a little bit about what to expect in the future. Each week I intend to write about a particular “everyday science mystery” that Kathleen, my wife, and I encounter either during our winters in the Everglades National Park where we volunteer, or at our home in Amherst, Massachusetts where we spend the rest of the year. I invite comments from any readers who wish to respond to the comments and challenges made on the blog.

          We don’t usually have a ready answer to the mystery. Otherwise it would not be a mystery! But since we usually find one each day, we are inclined to try to find out more about this phenomenon - maybe even to solve the "mystery." But the solution is not always the whole reason we are intrigued by these everyday mysteries -it is often the journey we travel in search of an answer that is the intriguing part.

         We are both retired college professors, now doing just what we want to do—live in and wonder about the natural world. I have been trained as a biologist and Kathleen is a self-taught botanist, gardener, and botanical illustrator. In the Everglades, I split my time between being a nature interpreter for visitors and doing research on lichens. Kathleen spends her time learning about plants and drawing them for various purposes in the Park.  

 Spider Webs in the Fog

          Each morning, here in the Everglades of Florida, we walk on the path behind our trailer. This morning, the first day of the new year 2010, the fog was heavy and the droplets of dew collected on the strands of each spider web like tiny crystal beads making the usually  invisible, visible to our eyes. So much is hidden to us under normal circumstances but when nature chooses to open our eyes, we catch the glimpse of a wonderful new phenomenon. One thing caught our eyes. The diversity of the structures of the webs was amazing. Some were perfectly symmetrical orbs while others were a mass of seemingly disorganized masses of strands. Some had obvious entrances while others seemed to be woven by a spider that had no plan whatsoever. Others were strung completely across the path and others clung to a single branch of a shrub or grass. It seemed as though the spiders had spent their New Year’s Eve working on their constructions

          Why, this diversity? How does each of these patterns suit the trapping behavior of each spider? We think it will take the same kind of patience on our part as it does the tiny carnivores as they await the opportunity to catch their prey. Does each type of spider have a way of pouncing on their prey that is reflected in the pattern of web they have woven?

          Anyone out there with something they would like to share? Perhaps a new mystery to tempt us readers? Perhaps a clue to solving our mystery? I invite you to participate in any way you wish in our everyday mysteries series.