smvance70's Journal

For this assignment, I took a walk through Abbotts Lagoon on March 2 and the entry road to Jack London State Park on March 3.

It is clear that these two ecosystems are very different. Abbotts Lagoon is a salt marsh with relatively dry vegetation surrounding. The area of Jack London State Park that I visited is more of a moist evergreen forest area, with more trees than shrubs.

Though there was significant precipitation at the time of visiting JLSP, the area was obviously more moist in general, with greener vegetation and taller plants and much more moss on the trees. The existence of moss was a clue to me that the ecosystem maintained a certain level of moisture. Additionally, there were numerous oaks and eucalyptus trees, and among them were brush and bushes like toyon and many individuals of poison oak. Most of the bushes had broad, flat leaves, which would serve to increase the surface area of the leave and enhance their photosynthetic ability as they compete with the overstory blocking the majority of light.

Though near a water source, the species that I observed at Abbotts Lagoon were much different that I had expected. There was a lot of fungus, which would suggest moisture in the air. There were also a lot of vine-y, long stemmed plants which I understand to be an adaptation to crawling over or otherwise overcoming the other vegetation in the crowded space. There were also a number of flowering plants, which I would imagine would be beneficial to attracting pollinators or encouraging wind pollination, since the area is so open and windy that pollinators could easily access the buds. The animal life at the Lagoon is also highly suggestive of a saltwater or marine ecosystem, as the pelicans and gulls were numerous.