Macedonia Life-Skills Youth Group
Monday, 04 April 2016
On Monday evening, the Macedonia Life Skills students came to learn some information about the preserve and the land trust, including the different types of survey methods used at the property, life strategies in ferns, and more. As with every group, they saw an array of trees including the Pines, American holly, Red bays, etc.
To discuss different growth patterns in plants, field assistants showed the students the three known types of ferns found at the property including one epiphytic fern, the resurrection fern, and two terrestrial ferns. Students were asked to look at the habitats occupied by each fern to characterize the differences between each. Then we delved further into a discussion about epiphytic plants, those which obtain nutrients and water through the air, versus terrestrial plants, those which use roots to obtain nutrients and water from the ground. Other epiphytic plants include lichens and Spanish moss.
We also discussed reasons scientists use different survey methods to search for different groups of organisms and how diligent and meticulous a scientist needs to be in order to find organisms and collect data. During early evening hours, activity is fairly low for most organisms and therefore our findings were low. We did get to see some interesting spiders, millipedes, and other insects.
I’d like to say thank you to Mrs. Patsy Sawyer who arranged this field trip for her students. The BioBlitz staff was grateful for your time and the time of your student’s!
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