Science Forward

Upon arriving at the Macaulay building on Saturday, September 8^th, I found that I had been placed in the ant group for Macaulay BioBlitz. Originally, I wanted to be in the group that was studying mammals, but this group became full very quickly. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. I couldn’t imagine a worse way to spend my Saturday night. I didn’t think that looking at and counting the different species of ants in New York Botanical Gardens would be interesting at all. Luckily, I was greatly mistaken. Upon arriving at NYBG we met with our Myrmecologists, or ant specialists, who flew all the way from North Carolina. We then collected our materials, which included trowels, trays, aspirators, pencils, and the observation sheets. An aspirator is a mechanism used to collect ants for study.

http://www.tarheelants.com/products-page/ant-collecting-supplies/aspirator

            The myrmecologists told us the most common places to find ants, including in between the pavement and grass, at the base of trees, and under rocks. For the most part, we found the ant colonies under rocks. In the first set of ants we collected, we collected the queen of the colony. Among all the ants in the tube, she was the most determined to escape, perhaps showing her superior way of thinking. We continued to find more ant colonies under various rocks including the most ancient form of the species, whose name escapes me, unfortunately. While collecting the ants, we learned that there are is only one ant species in New York that will bite and the bite is so insignificant that humans won’t even feel it. So all those stories you heard about the red ants in your backyard being vicious biters are all myths! We also learned that you can also find ants in full acorns that have a hole drilled through the top. Worms sometimes drill a hole through the tope of an acorn, and when they are done using it, they leave. This allows ants to enter the acorn and make a home there.

http://www.myrmecos.net/2013/01/08/the-dangerously-cold-life-of-acorn-ants/

            After collecting the ants, we then took them to the lab to study them under a microscope. Being able to see the ants at such a large size was absolutely amazing. We learned that you can identify some species of ants by the presence of a single or double hump right after the thorax. Upon further study of the two queens we collected, we noticed that one had wings and the other did not. One of the ant specialists told us that once the queen is well established in her colony, she sheds her wings. Going along with a queen being well established in a colony, I asked one of the specialists about the theory of ants having the “perfect monarchy.” The specialist was quick to rebut this claim saying that many ant colonies have coos in which the winning side overthrows the current queen and appoints a new one! It was very interesting to learn about how similar ant colonies are to some past and current societies. Ants even have a sort of “caste” system in which ants are born into a certain role in the colony that they cannot move out of. Also, female ants are the ones that do all of the work in the colony! As the Bioblitz was wrapping up, we used our “data sense” to identify the different ants we collected. Throughout the experience the specialists helped us to gain a substantial amount of “knowledge sense” when it comes to ants.

http://expeditions.fieldmuseum.org/australian-ants/media/ant-basics

http://blog.wildaboutants.com/2011/07/24/what-does-a-queen-ant-look-like/

Besides our terrible bus driver almost killing us passengers and a couple of pedestrians, I would say that overall, Bioblitz was a worthwhile experience with several expectations met and even some surprises.

I decided to join the birds group and for some odd reason I was expecting something like this…

The Pigeons of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. (Source: http://geggis.com/Italy/pics/Italy07_330.jpg)

… when really it was not like that at all. It was more of listening to certain bird calls and observing flying patterns and other actions to determine the type of bird. As compared to the other taxon groups, this group had less of a hands-on approach and solely required careful observation and background information in order to identify the bird.

Best taxon group ever.

Our group was lead by Todd Olson, who was an extremely avid and knowledgeable “birder.” We began our search on the most wild-life-resembling and less-intensively-cared-for trail. What I found interesting was the fact that most groups decided to do go along the same path. This trail (unchanged by human hands) was the one that served to be more successful for prior groups. I feel that this really shows urban ecology on a smaller scale. As beautiful as the well-tended rose garden was in NYBG, not even one bird would be in sight in that area. Over time urban centers will just start expanding even more and in turn manipulating the land around them. So these animals are placed in dispersed pockets which don’t necessarily have the best effects. One example that our taxon leader brought up was the passenger pigeons which have been extinct for a century now. Before going extinct, passenger pigeons were the most common birds in North America. In their abundance, people would hunt them which in turn depleted their flocks. There was also a loss of habitat with deforestation. But how could such a highly abundant species go extinct just like that? Our leader explained that maybe they were so dispersed into much smaller flocks that they weren’t able to breed and survive properly. It makes you think that this kind of situation can very easily occur again now.

Extinct passenger pigeon. (source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Martha_last_passenger_pigeon_1914.jpg)

As I noted earlier, we had less of a hands-on approach so we mostly would stake out in certain areas that seemed to be most promising. For the first 20 minutes we didn’t see any birds at all, but we definitely heard them. Todd began identifying them right off the bat: a blue jay, a blue jay imitating a red tailed hawk, a red bellied woodpecker, a yellow bellied woodpecker, a tufted titmouse and a gray catbird. There was even a chipmunk imitating bird calls.

Chipmunk hanging out on a branch.

In this first segment of having no birds in sight, Todd began to enlist certain techniques to help attract birds. One was to make this a low whisper: “pshpshpshpshpsssh.” The whispering sound usually sparks the curiosity of birds. The other method was to play tracks of bird calls to attract a specific bird. Our leader told us about the couple of problems with this method. One problem is that some the birds have gotten so used the the recordings and could identify it, so that they don’t even respond as much anymore. Another problem with the tracks is that it could potentially disturb the social interactions both between birds of different species and between birds of the same species. For example, some bird calls are mainly for competition and breeding, so claiming territory and finding mates could limit the bird when hearing the tracks.

birdtrack

As you could see, these methods weren’t very fruitful in the beginning, but we soon began to be more successful.

Our first successful area was one surrounded by these brightly-colored, trumpet-shaped flowers.

These were the types of flowers that attracted many types of birds, but it’s most known to attract hummingbirds. We unfortunately saw no humming birds in this area, mainly because of the time of day (3:00 pm). If it had been the early morning, we most likely would have seen more. But we finally were able to see glimpses of the birds we heard earlier on. We were able to see a blue jay and a few American robins. As we trekked on forward, we approached the edge of the forest, which was filled with bird activity.

We were able to see more American robins, a couple of hummingbirds, and even a few red tailed hawks flying so high in the sky, that they were barely visible by the naked eye.

A red-tailed hawk (taken by Emily)

One last place that we saw several birds was at a mini-waterfall. Morning doves, song sparrows and American robins were seen bathing and sitting in the trees nearby.

A robin bathing. (middle right where the ricks meet the greenery)

All-in-all, I’m more than satisfied with choosing to join the birds group and I had a great time, unlike the girl in the taxon group next to us who entered the woods and ran into a wasp’s nest and got stung 8 times in a row (ouch). I’m thankful for this experience and being opened up to the vastness of nature, and even being able to see it within an urban area.

Birds

BioBlitz was definitely an unexpectedly enjoyable experience. I simply thought that the space in which we’d be was too big and it’d be hard to accomplish anything. However, the event in its entirety was very well organized and I think it served a great purpose. In my case, with the bird group, I was able to appreciate how important New York actually is for this type of animals. It serves as a convenient stop for many of them while they migrate to the warmer south.

Our method of gathering data was indeed “limited” by the vastness of the place. Limited in the sense that we didn’t really have another option other than making careful observations with the help of binoculars; which also required a lot of patience. In other words, the birds weren’t confined into an aviary the way they are in a zoo, they were free to come and go as they pleased. This means that in numerous occasions when our expert would point to a bird, by the time we ‘d find it with the binoculars, it was already gone. Nonetheless we did get a considerable amount of different birds; over 15 different species were seen throughout the 2 ½-3 hours spent there.

Not only did my group and I noted the physical traits of the animals, but our expert also discussed their different kinds of behavior, their various habitats, their vocalizations—which are divided into three kinds: songs, chip notes, and call notes— and even their flapping patterns while flying; there’s a bird in the woodpecker family that simulates a heartbeat while in the air. In many occasions we were also able to appreciate the differences (mainly physical) between the males and females of a particular species; we encountered a few of them while flirting with one another.

In case you’d like to find out more about the topic, please visit http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search

I have never visited the New York Botanical Garden, even though I have visited the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and the Staten Island Botanical Garden. When looking at the different meeting times and signing up to Bioblitz, I was unsure of what to expect from this trip. Considering that I had signed up for Plants, I assumed that we would be collecting small samples from trees that we were already familiar with and would go to a laboratory, where we would spend the majority of the day. Additionally, I viewed the video clips that we were assigned a few days prior in order to gain an insight as to what “Bioblitz” entailed. After attending the session I chose, I came to the conclusion that I was only partially incorrect.

A plant, by definition, is a living organism that is stagnant (stays in place), absorbs inorganic substances and water via its roots in the soil, and synthesizes/converts what it absorbs into the nutrients it needs to survive, thrive, and “reproduce” in its leaves. A plant does this with the help of photosynthesis, using chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a green pigment, which is what gives all plants a green color, contains a magnesium atom held in a porphyrin ring, and is responsible for the absorption of light to provide energy for photosynthesis. Trees, grasses, shrubs, ferns, herbs, and mosses are all considered plants.

Upon arriving at the New York Botanical Gardens, we were given magnifying loops, clipboards with a recording paper and a map, and several books used to help us identify plant types. One of the VERY FIRST things we were told to do was to stay away from and give a wide range to:

Poison Ivy

Then, we were told to stay on the trail and basically listen to our instructors, ask them for help if necessary, and try to identify plant species using the resources given to us. Although we were able to identify many of the species along the trail by virtue of our combined effort, our sight/ visual observations, smell/ scent of the specie, and sometimes even taste, there were limitations to this method, as stated below.

As my group and I traveled along the trail, each of us took turns picking a plant that we wanted to categorize and try to identify. In order to categorize a plant, we observed the type of leaves it had, the order in which the leaves were placed along the stem/branch, and other characteristics that were individual to each specie. When my turn came, I found a plant that we tried to identify, but simply couldn’t after some time. The centers of the flowers of the plant, which alternated in bright yellows and dark magentas, stood out to me as an evident varying phenotype visible to the unexperienced, and naked, eye. When we asked one of the group leaders/ instructors for help, she told us that we should skip it and try to identify something else. Honestly, my group and I were disappointed that we spent so much time and went through every page of the three or four books we had with us, without receiving an answer to which species this was. Furthermore, the instructor didn’t really help us with it.

Unidentified species…

Therefore, I consider to be a limitation of the sampling methods provided.

My favorite discovery was of a plant whose leaves seemed unique when compared to everything else around us. Liriodendron tulipifera goes by the name American Tulip Tree. It is native to the Western Hemisphere, and eastern North America, and is the tallest eastern hardwood. It can grow to be more than 170 feet in height and will be without any “limbs” until it reaches 80-100 feet in height. It is considered a very valuable tinder tree. Although we didn’t see this tree during its flowering period, the leaves were cool to observe.

Favorite discovery: Liriodendron tulipiferah

One of the Liriodendron tulipferas had to be cut down when it was struck by lightening 5 years ago, didn’t recover, and was deemed dangerous to visitors. The tree lived for 150 years, and we were able to see it and learn about dendrochronology, which is the study of a tree’s unique pattern of growth rings. Wide rings indicate years of ample rainfall, while narrow rings show years where the tree’s growth was limited by drought or other unfavorable conditions. We also noted that the darker rings near the center of the cross-section in front of us indicated mature-wood growth known as heartwood, while the lighter rings at the edges were signs of new growth called sapwood. Furthermore, the irregularly shaped hole at the center of the “cookie,” a nickname given to the cross-section, is called a heart-rot, caused by wood-decay fungi.

A more interesting portion of the event was on the way back, when one of the more enthusiastic instructors cut a part of a tree branch off and offered it to one of my classmates and said “Eat it!” with a big smile. All eyes turned to the young man, who shrugged, took the thin branch, and began chewing on it. His eyes brightened after a few seconds, and then everyone wanted to try it. We found that chewing the branch allowed us to taste peppermint. Native Americans also used bark and other plants instead of the gum we have today to cleanse their teeth and freshen their breath.

This Bioblitz event definitely supplemented my understanding of urban ecology. In high school, I had already learned about many species of plants and trees, and on Sunday afternoon, I was able to find even more species that I wasn’t aware of! I enjoyed viewing the diversity of plants that exists within the urban, concrete jungle of New York City. I am a bit disappointed that we weren’t permitted to leave the trail whereas other groups had the opportunity. One of the funnier parts of the trip was finding small chipmunks among the greenery and hearing my group cooing over it, getting excited, and jumping up and down excitedly.

Although we identified close to two dozen species between all my group members, the pictures of the weeds and lower growing plants (examples: viburnum dentatum, spiked lobelia, etc) are hard to tell apart in the pictures. Below are a few pictures of the trees that we identified:

Aver rubrum

Ulmus Americana

prunus serotina

My favorite: The Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica)

My friend entranced by whatever she has in her hands…

My group and I outside the trail

Coming in to BioBlitz on Sunday afternoon, I was excited to venture off into the New York Botanical Garden to look for birds and analyze the biodiversity of the environment. When my group gathered, we received some binoculars and set off to look for an area to find birds. Our professional, Todd, explained to us that there would probably be a more diverse population in the lesser managed areas of the garden since it most matches the birds’ natural habitats. Unfortunately, when we headed off to those areas, we did not find as many birds as we hoped. We mostly heard them, but it was difficult to find them through all the leaves and branches everywhere. We spent most of the time waiting and tilting our heads upwards to attempt to take a glance at some birds. Todd attributed this scarcity to the large amounts of students going through the area with the same idea as us and the afternoon time of day when birds have little need to fly around compared to the morning when they would fly around looking for food. To combat this issue, Todd took out an electronic device filled with numerous bird callings, such as that of a bluejay and a songbird. He also began to call out smaller birds with his own voice in a soft whispering sound. Again, we had little luck with these methods. We learned that electronic recordings are not very good methods for finding birds because birds can recognize the manmade sounds and not respond to them. We visited many different kinds of areas, such as shady, woodsy land, marshland, and fields with brightly colored flowers. Each of those types of environments had unique aspects about them which attracted certain kinds of birds.

We were able to hear a large variety of birds, from a bluejay to an American robin to a various species of woodpeckers. The bluejays were one of the most common birds to hear, mostly because they imitated the sounds of many other birds. Todd noticed the difference between the actual bird and a bluejay based on the strength of sound. There were a few birds that we saw on branches, flying above us, and standing on the dirt. When they were flying, Todd would recognize them based on their underwing design, the way that they flapped their wings, and how fast they flew. I was amazed by how quickly Todd could recognize all the birds we heard and saw.

I realized that bird watching requires a lot of patience and quick thinking. Birds often avoid foreign creatures and can easily hide between leaves and branches of tall trees. By staying still and diligently observing the environment for a long time, one can eventually find these swift-moving animals. Since they fly at a fast rate and at a high altitude, bird watchers must also be very well-versed in the species of birds and be able to identify a bird within seconds. Todd told us that he had been watching and studying birds for all his life. He always had a passion for watching birds since he was very young and thus learned about the hundreds of species of birds, their callings, and their coexistence with the rest of the garden. I learned a lot about the wide range of birds that live in the New York Botanical Garden and the different ways that they can be recognized. I may not be a professional birdwatcher, but I do know about certain details to look for when searching for birds.

Looking for birds on the trees through binoculars

An example of brightly colored flowers where hummingbirds usually stay.

A bird at flight

A marshland area where other types of birds can be found.

The Bioblitz at the New York Botanical Gardens was definitely a much more immersive experience than expected. Consisting of an intensive, hands-on regimen, the program was a release from the typical lecture-centered field trips I had been on before.

Upon entering the premises, I had noticed several groups of students dressed in Bioblitz shirts debating the identities of plant, animal and lichen species. Intrigued by their meticulous analyses, my post-work fatigue was soon replaced by an overwhelming sense of intrigue. That intrigue turned to excitement when the phrase “water gear” exited my group leader’s mouth, and I soon found myself in a lake capturing and identifying fish using nets.

The netting technique was somewhat complicated. In groups of three, we dragged the net along the bottom of the lake from the center to the periphery, with one person on each side of the net heaving it and the third maneuvering it to the edge of the water. It was imperative that we kept the fish alive and out of harms way; an oxygen-supplying bucket was used to ensure its wellbeing while captive.

After several hours’ worth of work identifying aquatic specimens (such as the Bluegill Sunfish) in various bodies of water, we discussed the relationship between the size and temperature of these organisms’ habitats and their physical traits. We had come to the conclusion that certain species of fish found near the shoreline were much more energetic and large in size in conversely to the size of the bodies of water in which we found them— the smaller, younger fish were more prone to be found near the coastline of larger bodies of water due to the larger abundance of predators and competitors within the depths.

Ultimately, the Bioblitz was a very fun experience. I am very glad to have had a firsthand glance at what we call “frontier science” and the discovery of the unknown. I would definitely do this again if given the opportunity.

When I first heard about Macaulay BioBlitz I had no idea what I was in for. I signed up for the 8:30 pm to 12:30 am time slot because I thought it would be cool to explore the New York Botanical Gardens after hours. Everyone arrived at the Gardens around 8:30 pm. We were immediately split up into our groups, my group being the “bats” group. We were all given a flashlight, and a few of us were given headlamps (which were super cool). We walked deep into the woods area and met with our three bats specialists. They gave us a quick run down of how our night would go (we sadly were not allowed to touch the bats because we could get rabies).

The way that we caught the bats was simple: there were nets set up at various locations. The threads were thin enough that they were almost invisible. Bats would fly into the net, and then the bat specialists would come and untangle them and put them in a brown paper bag. To ensure that the bats did not become too tangled up in the nets, we did rounds every fifteen minutes. There were three nets set up while we were there. On our first round, we caught one bat. We watched as the specialists measured the bat’s length, wingspan, ear length, and weight. We were each allowed to hold the brown paper bag containing the bat so that we could feel how light it was. The specialists asked us questions to help us determine what kind of bat we caught (What color is it? Is it big or small? Large ears or small ears?) and we determined that it was an eastern red bat. After some more observation the specialists determined that the bat was male. After thoroughly examining the bat, they let him go and we went on our next round.

We did not catch any bats on our second or third round, but we did learn a lot about bats in between rounds. We learned that big brown bats used to be very common in the area, but that a disease called White-Nose Syndrome had wiped out more than half of them. The disease causes a white fungus to grow on a bat’s nose, hence the name. We also learned that bats can sometimes fly into slow moving wind turbines, which causes hemorrhages that make the bat drop dead immediately.

Unfortunately at this point in our adventure, it started thunder storming, so we had to swiftly take down all of the nets, load up the park rangers vans with all of the materials, and hurry into separate cars to avoid the dangerous weather. We spent the next hour of our time there drinking coffee and exploring other findings and watched a few videos of other mammals seen in the park. We left our BioBlitz about a half hour early. While this was disappointing, we did get to see at least one bat and our guides were very informative.

Photo credit to Anna Zhuk.

Photo credit to Anna Zhuk.

Photo credit to Anna Zhuk.

Photo credit to Anna Zhuk.

Photo credit to Anna Zhuk

When signing up for the bioblitz, I was not sure what it would entail. After watching the video clips we were assigned I got a better feel for what the few hours at the New York Botanical Garden would be like. I chose to be in the bird group, however, upon arrival I was switched into the lichen group. To my knowledge, I have never came in contact with a lichen before and I did not know what a lichen was or what it did or how it contributed to the environment/ecosystem. After the bioblitz, I can proudly explain and even identify lichen.

A lichen consists of a fungus and an algae which grow together in a symbiotic relationship where both benefit each other. Through photosynthesis, the algae provides food for the fungus. The fungi provides a structure for the algae to live while also proving some essential nutrients. Although Lichens can live in extreme temperatures, an abundance of lichen can be found on the ground, rocks and trees. Fungi usually do not grow in the sun, however, lichen have no preference and can grow in sunlight or shade. There are three types of lichen identifies: crustose, foliose and fruiticose. Each with a different texture and shape. Furthermore, since lichen cannot live when exposed to air pollution, lichen is used as an indicator, the more lichen there is, the less air pollution there is.

Our bioblitz guides described to the group what a lichen was and from there we went on our way to try to identify the different types found in the Garden. We walked around, looking at the trees and rocks to try to see what we could find. When someone found what they thought was a lichen, the group set out to identify it. The guides provided us with books that divided up the lichen first by where they grew and then by its type. After flipping through different photos and (almost) matching the picture in the book to the lichen by our feet, there were different ways to identify exactly which species the lichen was. One way was to read the description that the book gave and see if it fit the lichen. The next method was a chemical test. Most lichen will change a certain color when a drop of Potassium or Chlorine is applied to it. Based on the lichen type, there were certain areas that the chemical could be placed to make a reaction- the medulla, which is the middle or underside of the lichen, or the thallus, the entire surface of the lichen. If the test produced the correct reaction listed, then we successfully identified the genus and species of the lichen and recorded it on iNaturalist. If not, the lichen was unidentifiable, and a piece was taken to later be examined under a microscope or by a lichen professional.

These sampling methods were a little tedious. To me, most of the lichen were almost identical to each other and it was difficult to identify each species through a book. The chemical tests were a much better approach used to identify, however, the correct chemical reaction did not always occur and we were left at a standstill. through pictures in a book, I identified one lichen as a Lepraria neglect due to its color and figure. After chemical testing, I realized that that was not the correct lichen name, however it was a Lepraria lobificans, coming from the same genus but different species. That was a pretty interesting thing to find out.

In total, my group found 9 different species, 2 of which were unidentified. The data we found of lichen was being compared to the data that last years Macaulay group found in Central Park. The two are hard to compare due to the different locations searched and different times of year that the bioblitz occurred.

Overall, I thought the bioblitz was a really interesting idea; different groups of people observing different species in the Botanical Gardens and recording all of their data. Although I wished I had a more interesting species to research, it was exciting to be a part of the science world. The main thing that I liked knowing was that any person could sign up for the bioblitz and contribute to the data log without having any prior knowledge to what he or she was searching for. If someone asked me what a lichen was before today, I would have given them a blank stare and not know what to answer. Now, I can give a detailed explanation of what a lichen is, how to identify them and how they are their own little ecosystem; they live off trees, rocks or the ground, mutually benefit from the algae and fungi and reproduce asexually.

I think it would be interesting if Macaulay students went back to the Botanical Gardens next year and compared the data we found to what they would find. I wish we had that opportunity because it would have been interesting to see the different lichen that grew or things that certain groups may have missed when looking the first time. The area was really huge (over 250 acres) and I can’t imagine that the bioblitz as a whole observed even half of that amount. It might have been better to pick a slightly smaller park or a smaller section of the Botanical Gardens to observe, or have more people in each group.

Below are some pictures with description.

For today’s BioBlitz, I was assigned to survey the plants in the New York Botanical Garden. The process of surveying which type of plant species we were looking at is by pointing out the details of the branch or leaves of the plant and then checking a guidebook to find out which species was similar to what we found. We also used 10x magnification microscopes to have a closer look of the plants.

One species we found was called the Sassafras Albidum. What distinguished this plant from others is that the Sassafras has two differently shaped leaves, one oval shaped and the other amoeboid shape. Also, the smell of the insides of its branches smelled like a exotic delicious tea.

For one certain plant, we used a different tactic. We played 20 questions to figure out what species the Lobelia Siphilitica (or the bell flower) was. We asked questions like what color was the flower or whether it had irregular or regular symmetry, and by using this table in one of our guidebooks, we were able to determine the identity of the flower.

Both of these ways are successful in determining these species because they use observation to reach conclusions and ultimately, collect satisfactory data.

I think the most important think that I learned from the BioBlitz is how to differentiate poison ivy from other plants. Poison Ivy has a three-leaf pattern where one leaf with one point at its end is in between two other leaves with their point on their side.

-Adiell Melamed

Today I joined a group of my fellow Macaulay students in the New York Botanical Garden to observe and learn about the plants that grew specifically in zone 2 of the garden. My bioblitz experience today was extremely different than what I had expected it would be. I expected a scavenger hunt type of experience that was fast paced, but was disappointed with an hour late arrival followed by a short excursion. Although our blitzing lasted a short time, the interesting information gained during that time made the day fun and worthwhile.
Our excursion to observe plants was in fact purely observation without any documentation of numerical data, so I did not sharpen my numbers sense. Unlike the students at sea in the SEA video, we did not sample the plants in the Botanical Garden. Rather, our scientist/tour guide showed us ways to identify plants and explained the concept of native and invasive plants. The process that we undertook began by clipping a branch with leaves on it from a tree, photographing it, asking questions about the plant’s texture, shape and color, and ended with looking up the species in a book based on the plants’ characteristics that we determined in the previous exercise. After finding the correct plant in the book, we then knew the common name of the plant.
Along the way, while examining about 12 different species of plants, I learned about a fresh water plant (phragmites australis) that grew along the Bronx River, about Salix (a willow), and about poison ivy. What I found most interesting about the tall growing phragmites australis species was that due to its height, it absorbs most if not all of the sunlight that strikes the area in which it grows, causing the smaller plants around it to slowly die, leaving the phragmites australis as the dominant plant in the area. Pursuing a degree in chemistry, it was interested to hear that a species of plant that we came across (Salix) produced or contained salicylic acid, which is used to make aspirin. Having done an experiment in which I made aspirin, it was nice to know where it came from and where it could be found. Our entire group explored the poison ivy section of zone 2, which didn’t seem like such a great idea at first, but something interested was brought up as I overheard from standing in the back of the group. Poison ivy is part of the same family as mangos and cashews (Anacardiaceae). This explains why some people have bad allergic reactions to mangos and cashews, which I found very interesting.
After having time to think about today’s bioblitz, I came to realize that the only way in which my understanding of urban ecology has changed is by seeing and learning about the species of, in my case, plants that are native to New York and New England. Unfortunately, I did not see how our urban society interacted with the Botanical garden. Overall it was an enlightening experience and the nice weather made the trip that much more fun and enjoyable.

Genus: Lobelia, Species: Siphilitica, aka Bell Flower