BioCube 10- April 17 2019

Coniferous Forest Ecosystem Week 2, Thursday Lab Section

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During our moment of silence today, Dan was delivering samples to Marissa at the farmhouse, so it was most quieter than the previous week. We were able to hear several different bird calls through the trees, as well as observe a small black bird building a nest in the small clearing of the forest. In that same clearing, we also got to observe small piles of hay, which, when disturbed, released a flurry of spiders. Because of their abundance, I decided to choose these as the species to focus on going forward. We had the opportunity to take a short survey of the clearing, and within 10 minutes, were able to count 38 individuals within a 144 square foot area.

About an hour into the biome exploration, Professor Riley visited us in the forest, and demonstrated how to excavate soil around tree roots to find more insects. Afterwards, we were able to find and trace several vole tunnels around the base of some of the conifer trees. These were particularly interesting because although it is too early in the year to see the rodents themselves, their architecture was preserved. Furthermore, we were able to find green and yellow larvae.

From the forest, we took back containers of larvae and spiders, which survived for six days without food or water. It was interesting watching the spiders avoid each other within the confined space. Overall, I found our second visit to Foxcroft Farm to be a good continuation of last weeks ecosystem exploration. I always like an opportunity to get off campus and into nature, and being able to learn more about the ecosystems around us was a great experience. Hopefully by next week, our crippled group member will be able to go into the conifer ecosystem with us to study nature more.

- By Sean