10 de dezembro de 2017

SYNTHESIS OBSERVATION

All in all, the conservation status for the plants that I observed either have no conservation status or they are not in danger, only applicable to the United States. As I mentioned before, nonnative plants are more competitive than native plants. This is probably due to how the plants must learn to adapt to its new environment compared to a plant that was meant to be there. As a result, nonnative plants show that they are healthy, which in class we defined health as vigor, resilience, and organization. With vigor, my group and I explained that it is a plant’s productivity. In this case, nonnative plants are able to undertake the stress the environment may have on it as they try to adapt. In relations, organization is deduced on whether or not the nonnative plants was able to adapt and thrive after the stress. Resilience is based on how the nonnative plants adapted despite all the stress it has been introduced to. As for order and entropy, it is demonstrated on whether there was high entropy or low entropy when the stress factors were applied.

What are the benefits of planting native plants? For instance, native plants are low maintenance since they are accustomed to the environment (ex. Require less water), can combat against climate change (ex. Oaks are effective at storing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide), and research shows that native wildlife prefer native plants.

From this, which plant is able to survive with the other around? According to Are Invasive Plant Species Better Competitors than Native Plant Species, it has been stated that invasive plants appear to be more competitive than native plants; however, the hypothesis is still being tested. How do these nonnative plants end up in a new location anyways? Throughout your lifetime, at one point or another, you've probably encountered a nonnative plant even if you did not know. According to Invasive Plant Species of the World, 2nd Edition: A Reference Guide to Environmental Weeds, these species are here due to the increasing trade volume around the planet, continuing habitat destruction and pollution.

As the nonnative species increase, does it affect native plants? According to Invasive Plant Suppresses the Growth of Native Tree Seedlings Disrupting Belowground Mutualisms, there are a few studies that show how nonnative plants alter the delicate ecological interactions among the native species in the area. For example, there is a novel evidence that used a nonnative plant called Alliaria petiolata near the North American forests. As a result, it suppressed the native plants growth by disrupting mutualistic associations between native canopy tree seedlings and belowground arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Nonnative plants grow taller and have higher reproductive capacity where they have invaded compared to the native plants (Willis, 2000).

Also, it is common to see weeds everywhere. For example, you see yellow flowers are your lawn that randomly pop up -- those are weeds. Similarly, I observed weeds at Marsh Park, specifically Mustards. How do these weeds appear in the first place? According to Weeds and Domesticates: Evolution in the man-made habitat, weeds form in three ways: from colonizers through selection towards adaptation to continuous habitat disturbance; as derivatives of hybridization between wild and cultivated races of domestic species; and through selection towards re-establishing natural seed dispersal mechanisms in abandoned domesticates. In other words, they evolved from wild food plants which were brought into cultivation, but how did this happen? This happened from a man who started to reproduce plants in successive generation by means of seed or vegetative propagules.

Reference:
https://jonlefcheck.net/2012/10/23/diversity-as-effective-numbers/
http://www.cnps.org/cnps/grownative/benefits.php
Vilà, Montserrat, and Jacob Weiner. “Are Invasive Plant Species Better Competitors than Native Plant Species? – Evidence from Pair‐Wise Experiments.” Oikos, Munksgaard, 22 Mar. 2004, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12682.x/full.
https://books.google.com/books?id=Ns_UDgAAQBAJ&lpg=PR3&ots=vEf3NJYuuL&dq=invasive%20plant%20species&lr&pg=PR7#v=onepage&q=invasive%20plant%20species&f=false
Willis, A.J., et al. “Is There Evidence for the Post‐Invasion Evolution of Increased Size among Invasive Plant Species?” Ecology Letters, Blackwell Science Ltd, 5 Apr. 2002, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2000.00149.x/full.
Stinson, Kristina A, et al. “Invasive Plant Suppresses the Growth of Native Tree Seedlings by Disrupting Belowground Mutualisms.” PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0040140.
Wet, J. M. J. De, and J. R. Harlan. “Weeds and Domesticates: Evolution in the Man-Made Habitat.” SpringerLink, Springer-Verlag, 21 June 1974, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02863309.

Posted on 10 de dezembro de 2017, 07:38 PM by erinxhang erinxhang | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

JOURNAL #4

The plants that I observed at Marsh Park consisted of Morning glories (nonnative), Black willow, Smartweed (assuming it is Periscaria amphibia), Horseweed, Mulberries (assuming it is Morus alba: nonnative), Ashes (assuming it is Texas ashes: native in the United States), Annual bur-sage, Tree tobacco (introduced), Flatsedges (assuming it is Cyperus difformis: nonnative), Toyon, Agaricomycetes (assuming it is Phellinus), and Mustards (nonnative). Compared to all the other locations, this had the most diversity. This does not come as a surprise since Marsh Park is a man-made area where people throw random stuff into the river. Also, the ratio for between native and nonnative plants is 7: 5.

Reference:
https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?namesoup=+Ipomoea&countylist=any&plantcomm=any&format=photos&orderby=taxon
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?where-genus=Persicaria
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/76907-Erigeron-canadensis
https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=5691
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57909-Ambrosia-acanthicarpa
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/121006-Fraxinus-texensis
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?where-genus=Cyperus
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53405-Heteromeles-arbutifolia
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?where-genus=Brassica

Posted on 10 de dezembro de 2017, 03:39 AM by erinxhang erinxhang | 13 observações | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

JOURNAL #3

On our trip to Steelhead Park, I observed Melia (assuming it is Melia azedarach: nonnative), Cockleburs (assuming it is Rough cockburs), Paper-flower (nonnative), Sugar bush, Mule fat, Fan palms (assuming it is Washingtonia robusta: nonnative), Black willow, Smooth sumac (introduced). Currently, the ratio between native and nonnative plants is 1:1. From my observations so far, as I move down the LA River, the more the plants turn from native species to nonnative species.

Reference:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57920-Xanthium-strumarium
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Melia+azedarach
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/159346-Bougainvillea-glabra
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/64121-Rhus-ovata
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57913-Baccharis-salicifolia
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54764-Rhus-glabra

Posted on 10 de dezembro de 2017, 02:09 AM by erinxhang erinxhang | 9 observações | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

JOURNAL #2

On our trip to Lower Arroyo, I observed Chenopodium (assuming it is an Chenopodium atroviren), Hirschfeldia (assuming it is Shortpod Mustard: introduced in California), Black willow (native in the United States), Texas prickly-pear, Coast live oak, Wild buckwheats, Grapevines, Pennisetum (nonnative), Privets (nonnative), Smooth alder, and Victorian box (introduced). According to iNaturalist, both Shortpod mustard and Victorian box were introduced which means that human activity brought the plant to California; as a result, I will consider these plants nonnative. As of now, the ratio between native and nonnative plants is 8: 3. The ratio is currently not bad. Lower Arroyo is located under a bridge; therefore, it is less natural since people are able to throw stuff over it.

Reference:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53097-Hirschfeldia-incana
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Eriogonum+latifolium
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/76270-Chenopodium-atrovirens
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54847-Salix-nigra
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/78264-Opuntia-engelmannii
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47850-Quercus-agrifolia
https://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=8321
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?where-genus=Pennisetum
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/56033-Alnus-serrulata
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/51594-Pittosporum-undulatum

Posted on 10 de dezembro de 2017, 12:18 AM by erinxhang erinxhang | 11 observações | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

JOURNAL #1

In these next few journals, I will be discussing native vs nonnative plants in California or at least in the United States. To start off, at JPL, the plants that I observed were Arroyo Willow, Planes (assuming it is an American sycamore), Hollyleaf Cherry, and Poison ivy in which all of these plants are native to California. I had a feeling that JPL would only consist of native plants due to JPL being a natural area since it has not been touched by humans.

Reference:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/76270-Chenopodium-atrovirens
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53452-Salix-lasiolepis
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49662-Platanus-occidentalis
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57250-Prunus-ilicifolia
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58732-Toxicodendron-radicans

Posted on 10 de dezembro de 2017, 12:08 AM by erinxhang erinxhang | 4 observações | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

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