Diario de jadatuffin

I took a walk near the Res by Boston College Campus and along the backside of the 2k apartment buildings where there is a lot of wild and semi-cultivated growth areas for wildlife and pets. The weather today was relatively warm for new England fall and bright with some clouds. Took my friend who could care less about the environment and made him go on a "phylogeny scavenger hunt." We spotted Bryophyta, angiosperms, gymnosperms, and my favorite: polypodiopsida. Looked at the underside of the ferns for any signs of sori but didn't see them, maybe in springtime.

There's a hill of both cultivated and wild growth on the edge of campus near the Reservoir. I walked along here for a while with my friend hunting fungi, moss, and things of the like. We had a really fun time actually because these required a more careful eye. As we hunted for mushrooms and lichens, I thought about the key roles they may be playing in their area like breaking down material and decomposing. Which relates pretty closely to the bacteria and archaea we've learned about this week who play key roles in production and decomposition of our environments.

It was a slightly overcast day with some sun peeking through here and there. Winds were pretty high and there was little moisture in the air. It has rained a day or two before, so it wasn't dry but not noticeable moist out. This was my first time at the Hammond Pond reserve, and I quickly fell in love. It's the perfect size to wander about and not get lost but there are still so many different species and organisms to spot. There are several smaller trails so you can get anywhere you desire but even wandering off the path is worriless because it's easy to find a familiar trail. Hope to go out again on a darker, wetter day and find some more fungi or mosses!