Journal Entry 1
3/31- Pack Forest
Weather Conditions: Gray skies, off and on rain, chilly, probably mid 40’s.
Roughly 12 pm: We arrived at Pack Forest and immediately set off for a hike into the surrounding woods. Initially the entire class went as a whole about 10 minutes into the forest along a very muddy path. As one of the grad students pointed out (Kat?) the lichen are far more abundant away from the urban areas due to the decreased air pollution. She explained that this was because the lichen are composite organism pairs, with symbiotic either cyanobacteria or green algae combining with fungi. These were primarily visible as epiphytes growing on the trees throughout the region.
As we climbed, various plants were pointed out. A short list of the trees observed includes the western white pine, Douglas fir, red alder with its catkins (reproductive organs), western hemlock, lodgepole pine, as well as a subalpine pole.
Many lichen were also pointed out, including usnea- a fuzzy green type of lichen, everina- white branchy type, parmelia- a folios type of lichen, crustos lichen, xanthoria- orange lichen (possibly candelaria), and hooded bone, with a hollow tubery dark underside.
Various other shrubs and ferns and small ground cover plants included deer fern, sword fern, scotch broom (fabacaea), trailing blackberry, evergreen blackberry, red flowering currant, tall Oregon grape, dull Oregon grape, salal, Indian plum.
In the evening we gathered around the specimen tables and attempted to sort out the various collections from the day. ID’s were made through the use of books like Dr. Pojar’s Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. The specimens were primarily conifers, which also made them the most difficult to differentiate. The differences mostly lie in their needles and cones. Differences between needle count, length, feel are strong indicators, as well as characteristic traits of the cones, such as the “squirrel tail” of the Douglas fir.
After a while we then headed out for a night hike to see some of the nocturnal life Pack forest. Unfortunately, we had no luck with owls or other birds, most likely due to the noise of our party’s footsteps through the trail. However, we did come upon a pacific tree frog in a puddle.
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