keythan's Journal

For about half an hour from 3:45 pm to 4:15 pm, I walked around the pine tree reserve. The weather was quite warm to the point where I was sweating just walking around. Although I always pass the reserve on the way to the plex, this was the first time I walked around. Through the walk, I ended up seeing various plant life such as burdocks, American burnweed, koyamaki, and the leopard Earthball fungi. In addition, I also encountered some animal life in the tree squirrels scampering around the reserve with their bushy tails. Moving to the focus of the nature walk, this was the first time I've seen brown colored fungi around the campus. Typically, fungi around BC are white and it was interesting to see the biodiversity of fungi stands strong. At first, I thought the earthballs were rocks because of their small and circular shape but a closer look was all I needed. Additionally, after looking around, I noticed a ton of leopard earthballs in a single area. However, throughout the rest of the walk, I didn't encounter another. This made me question the causes of fungi growth and how much this would affect beta diversity. In addition, what are the genetic similarities and differences of fungi and humans because I've heard of fungi growing in and on humans. In the end, this walk was a great experience and I can't wait to do this again soon.

For over half an hour from 4:35 pm to 5:15 pm, I walked around Edmand's park on the Newton campus. The weather was quite chilly but the sky was clear. Additionally, the fall atmosphere felt and looked so nice especially because I'm from Hawaii where there are no seasons. Through the walk, I ended up seeing various plant life such as goldenrods, pines, northern lady fern, tree-skirt moss, and Norway maple tree. Throughout my walk, I made sure my observations matched the four main groups of plants. The goldenrod and Norway maple are both angiosperms. The pines are gymnosperms. The Northern Lady Fern is of the polypodiopsida group. Finally, the tree skirt moss falls under bryophyta. Overall, this nature walk was a great experience and I can't wait to do another one.