Diario de bstudent

The first area that I began hiking through was a relatively small section of coastal scrub in the Berkeley marina. This area did not seem as bio diverse as I had anticipated, but with a little bit of persistence I found my five forms of wildlife. These included two types of songbirds as well as smaller creatures such as common garden snails and wolf spiders. While the birds were bathing and hunting in groups to take advantage of the early warning signs from their peers, the smaller lifeforms had adapted to survival in this area by hiding underneath large rocks.
The next area that I went to was a strip of coastal grassland. I had originally wanted to seek various species from the rocky shores of the bay, but quickly realized that the only creatures that I would likely find were the overwhelming populations of Silverfish. I ended up moving up the shore until I ran into sparse areas of vegetation and settled on documenting those. The plants had adapted to live in harsh conditions where there was not much life, probably from the constant barrage of salty sea air that is always present.

My observations included macro shots of leaves/flowers that can be found living within the midst of moderate ocean spray. These plants have developed different methods to survive in this environment. While many of these plants continue to flower in order to attract insects, the structure of their leaves vary widely. My favorite is that of the Hottentot-Fig, which has robust leaves that are adapted to hold large amounts of excess water.

Carpobrotus edulus is an invasive plant species from South Africa. I grew up calling it ice plant, and with its large triangular leaves it is not hard to figure out where it got its name. The leaves of carpobrotus edulus have evolved to store water which the plant can then use to survive either times of intense drought, or even when it is uprooted from its original location.

Carpobrotus edulus is extremely effective at surviving in hostile environments and at reproducing to take over vast areas of land. The plant has short roots which allow it to spread quickly over coastal terrain that often lacks nutrients, specifically sand dunes. The plant can be cut into segments and still survive and re-anchor itself. The main problem that ice plant faces is, ironically, ice. The plant is completely intolerable to frost which keeps it near the stable climates of coastal regions.

Caltrans used the plant to line roadways for a while due to its intertwining root systems, but soon realized that these short roots and heavy leaves would actually add to erosion during times of heavy rain. Regardless of Caltrans' disinterest, carpobrotus edulus continues to flourish in California's mediterranean climate, and is forcing many native species of plants to struggle for survival.