The biggest changes in the wetland have been in two of my favorite plants. The buttonbush flowers are going to seed, as well as the common milkweeds. Both now have very different looks and no longer are fragrant, which just makes you realize how important that old saying is- "Stop and smell the roses." Before this assignment got me so in tuned with this special place, I would have said that in general, those flowers were out all summer and we would see the seeds and pods later towards the fall. Now, even though it's still technically summer, I am getting the feel for autumn changes as I am more clued in to when and how the changes are taking place. It's important to note, also, that my perspective is a bit skewed since my last nine summers in the Midwest have been spent almost 300 miles north of here on the shores of Lake Michigan so blooming times would have been later in the summer and length of days longer. (Plus, I never took the time to carefully observe any one little ecosystem as intently as I am doing now!)
So there have been some weather changes and flowers going to seed and daylight decreasing, but there have been some new discoveries, too. The four new species to highlight are: black willow, painted turtle, green-backed heron, and yellow nut grass.
Question of the week: What do you notice about the ecotones between your ecosystem and surrounding ecosystems? Would you call them diffuse, convoluted, or discrete?
Why? There are some very different ecotones in my area of study. I would call the riparian zone diffused whereas the zone between the wetland and the forest has been man- made by Kerry or Jane's handiwork with the mower, mostly! Is the trail considered an ecotone then?
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