The field trip to Pine Ridge Park was fantastic. Not only did we get to step out of lab and look at live specimens of fungi instead of slides, we (probably) also learned a lot! On top of it all, it was even sunny and very warm so the conditions were perfect for strolling around. During the field trip, we saw various species of fungi, amongst other things. From poisonous mushrooms to lichen to other fungi.
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| Parasitic fungus that gets trees sick. |
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| Fungus decomposing a log. |
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| Parasitic fungus. |
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| Lichen. |
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| A "conk" that's part of the fungi that's decomposing a log. |
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| What our guide thinks is an Amanita species. |
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| Bottom side of the Amanita specimen with the gills exposed.
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It was very interesting and refreshing to get close to live specimens of what we're studying and have it explained on the spot to us. Although it was difficult to keep up with all the information flowing from our guide, I think it's better to see real references of our subjects. For example, we were told that a large patch of woods near where that
Amanita specimen was hiding an expansive underground network of mycorrhizal fungus, and that if one of the plants detects an imbalance in one chemical or another, it will signal the other side and have the fungus do something about it. It was also cool learning about all the different types of fungi and seeing some of the lichen we saw in lab.
10 out of 10 would recommend doing another field trip.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for your post Kevin. I also agree some of the information was hard to grasp. I thought about asking Korena to slow down as she talked but, I felt that had she slowed down all of her talking we would have been there all day so, I just focused into every word she said. I think I grasped the majority of the information. I also loved learning about how to tell if mushrooms were poisonous or not. I have a greater appreciation for the forest now after having this field trip. I would love to go on another field trip like this.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Robert Barker