Sunday, October 11, 2009

Resource Partitioning- Katie Fraser and Meaghan Dries

The tree my partner and I observed was one that is right outside my apartment in Wrigleyville. The tree is located directly in front of my apartment which is behind the field near Clark street. Although it is in an area that is sparsely populated, as far as trees go, there was still evidence of resource partitioning.
One of the most obvious aspects of resource partitioning was a bird next that was in one of the higher branches. It was rather small and looked as though the birds weren’t using it anymore, but that it had once housed a family. The nest was made from feathers, twigs, and bark from the tree.
This explains a bit of the loss of bark on the tree. However, it also looked as though the bark had been touched my insects. There were a few trails down the backside of the tree, and bumps on the back of some of the leaves as though insects had laid eggs there. Only the leaves on the lower most branch, as those were the ones we could see the best, had these bumps. They have been growths, but some looked as though the edges had been nibbled on.
There was a squirrel nearby in the street, not directly in front of the tree, but could have been in street because we were invading its home. I have also seen squirrels around the tree before as it is right outside my front window.
At the base of the tree there was some moss. This could have developed at the base because the base of the tree is often damp. I know this because the tree is surrounded by dirt, which our upstairs neighbor uses to let her dog relieve herself. There was only a little trace of moss though, so it could have been something else but my partner and I believed it looked like moss and felt soft and spongy like moss.
The last species, if it counts, is the dog. My neighbor lets the dog use the tree as her bathroom area. Although the tree is not the dogs direct environment, the dog uses the tree and alters the environment with its excrement.
Those are a few of the species we saw partaking in resource partitioning at the tree in Wrigelyville.

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