March 6th: Ecological Physiology

It is indeed still winter, this Tuesday the 3rd of March was a blistery day with clear gray skies. At around 12:30 pm I went out to our beloved centennial woods. I went all the way to the commuter lot and was going into the farthest entrance to be among the conifers. While I was on my way there, still in sight of the Doubletree, I heard the soft cawing of an American crow, it was rather far away flying through the air heading northeast.
I wanted to head this way because it was an area with a lot of conifers and it also has a large opening for the telephone/electricity poles that run through it. The conifers because during the winter they are used to host the birds, sheltering them from the snow and rain. It also allows the birds to retain more body heat while hunting for seeds and winter berries. American Crow's might not have the same affiliation to conifers as the smaller birds do. The Black-capped Chickadee I saw later in the walk relies on them more.
As I walked through this part of the woods there are many many snags, the first one not 60 feet from the trail. It was an older snag the tree missing all the bark and there were many cavities, on just one side it had 16 cavities. All of the cavities were small and round looking like the same animal or same species made them. After this snag there were 11 more I saw along my walk, each showed signs of cavities made by a similar animal.
Snags are extremely important in terms of wildlife, as well as general forest health. They provide habitat to many insect species and help provide food for larger organisms, such as birds. The snags also eventually fall turning into downed woody debris which is important for similar reasons. As well as helping the forest retain nutrients, carbon, and can even be a nursery log for species such as yellow birch. Woodpeckers are a great example of birds that can use snags to feed and nest. Other animals use these cavities to nest as well as bats.

Publicado el 28 de marzo de 2020 por