Resource Partitioning: Sergio Diaz & Edwin Romero

Resource Partitioning: Sergio Diaz & Edwin Romero
For the resource partitioning assignment, we decided to observe a tree that is located within Harrison Park, in the southwest side of the city. There were three pieces of evidence that would be considered resource partitioning. The first evidence was the great number of markings/scratches along the tree. At first, we thought that these markings were made by humans, but after observing the tree for some time, we realized that many squirrels kept going up and down the tree. The second evidence was a birds nest that was hidden, but after closer observation, we were sure that it was a birds nest. The nest was mostly composed of old leafs and didn't look to be in good condition. We were able to see a bird come within the nest, but we were unable to see the bird go inside. Lastly, we saw small insects at the base of the tree. These insects kept going inside the small cracks/holes that were located at the bottom of the tree. In conclusion, we saw three species: squirrels, birds, and insects. The evidence: markings/scratches, birds nest, and small cracks/holes.

Resource partitioning

The tree is near a park on the corner of Seminary and School. Its hard to tell exactly what happened, but there was a lot of evidence of high interaction with this tree. Near the bottom of the tree there was about a 3 foot tall area of no bark, it was kind of smooth. It was indented, so something purposely got rid of the bark, but I don't know what. I would guess some kind of squirrel, rat, or raccoon did it since it definitely does not look like the result of birds.
There were also a lot of knots in the outside of the wood, like those callous things you were talking in class about. These could be caused by birds digging into the wood to get at stuff inside the tree, or it could be insects crawling around inside.
At that time, there was no animals visible on the tree, but the whole area has a lot of birds and squirrels, so there are probably some of those living there. There were also little pieces of some kind of fruit that fell off a nearby tree, and showed evidence of animals eating them.

Resource Partitioning- Scott B, Alex Bishay & Gwen Eder

Our tree was located on Belden, in front of the parking lot. One of the first things that we noticed was that there was some human interaction with the tree. There were staples left in the tree from when a sign or poster had been there, and because of this the bark was starting to peel off. We also noticed that there were some holes in the tree, possibly from a termite or another animal that was using the tree for a parasitic relationship. Although we did not see any squirrels or other rodents, we did see evidence of their existence on the tree. We saw scrapings on the tree that looked they came from the claw of an animal. There was bark peeling off in a few places, which also could have come from the claw of an animal. While most of the relationships we saw with the tree showed evidence of the tree being harmed in the relationship, hopefully there were some interactions that are mutually beneficial for the tree and the other organism. We also noticed a layer of lichen, or moss, was growing on the tree. While we aren’t sure what exactly the lichen does for the tree and vice versa, one thing that we do know is that lichen always grows on the north side of the tree, which is beneficial to humans trying to find their way.

Trees

Allie Meyerson
Anna Diede
Mike Hansberry
For this resource partitioning example, I used a tree at my parents’ house in rural Minnesota. I found many different species, or evidence of different species on and around our tree. The tree that I focused on was a plum tree, and therefore, felt that I would be able to find more species because they would be attracted to the fruit. I saw molds, and algae’s, evidence of bark being stripped at the base, which I assumed was from deer and other small animals, many different insects, and all sorts of different vegetation at the base of the tree that will indubitably effect the soil that the tree grows from. I also could tell that there were insects or harmful bacteria on the tree because of the decay of the leaves.

Maggie Landon
I examined a tree outside of my apartment and found many signs of different species living in it or using it. I looked up in the tree and found some sort of nest in the branches. The nest looked disheveled and very old so I think it was created last spring. The nest was probably used by a bird. I also saw two squirrels running throughout the branches. Some of the leaves had started to change colors and a lot of them had tiny holes in them. It looked like some type of bug had been eating them. Some of the bark had been torn off, but I don't know what species could have done that. The birds, squirrels, and bugs all depended on that tree. They used it for a place to live and for food.

Trees by: Armita Ayrempour & Lisseth Loyo

During the resource partitioning activity Lisseth & I were looking at trees around DePaul's quad but we were unable to find much evidence of wildlife. Over the weekend i went to a trail in Lake forest and found a tree with a substantial amount of evidence with signs of different species all over it. The tree i looked at was a "Black Locust" ( i finally found the name after i recognized a picture of it online haha). There were tiny insects climbing the sides of the trees, they were mostly located in the grooves and ridges of the tree. Some of the leaves had holes in them which led me to believe that the insects were using the leaves as a food source. Towards the top of the tree there were two bird's nests that looked empty but there was one bird 5 feet away from it. There were squirrels running around and climbing the trees and the markings on the tree looked like they belonged to squirrels. Some people had carved their initials into the tree which served as a good example of how markings can show all the different species that are interacting with nature. 

BABOONS! (and other Lincoln Park nature)

Rhonda Le & Kaitlin Parella

For this assignment we decided to look a tree on Belden Ave. The first thing we noticed was that the leaves had changed color due to the recent cold weather. As we examined the leaves more closely, we found that there were tiny holes in the leaves. This is probably due to small insects feeding off of their nutrients. Up in the branches we saw a gathering of small sticks and dried grasses that were most likely one time a bird’s nest. Because the nest was abandoned, we assumed that maybe the bird’s that once inhabited it had flown south for the winter. Next we heard a giant “screech” sound, we looked up and saw a family of baboons! (just kidding). As we approached the tree we noticed a boy walking his dog, and his dog pulled the owner toward this tree, sniffed around, and lifted up it’s leg and peed right on the trunk! This is an example of dogs or pets using the tree, in this case marking their territory. On the trunk of the tree, we also found some old nails and holes from things being nailed into it. This was from people using this particular tree to hang flyers or advertisements. While we were studying the tree, a friend who we were with (Nick Pinto) walked right up to it and pulled some bark off of it. This is another example of how humans share the tree, in this case negatively. While walking, we also saw some squirrels roaming around the area, and we assume that squirrels share this tree habitat as well.