Year: 2018

04 Apr 2018

A Worm Lizard

More times than not, when I lift a log with a group of kids, I hear, “A worm!” The next guess is usually, “No, it’s a lizard!” In their defense, salamanders are slimy, with four disproportionately small legs attached to a long, slender body. They even cohabitate in leaf litter or under rocks and logs, though the worms better be careful because they (and many other invertebrates) are part of a salamander’s diet. They’re actually amphibians, and unlike lizards and reptiles, salamanders lack claws, external ear holes, and scales. Eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) are one of the most common salamander species found in Eastern North America. They can be found in two morphs: red-back (pic 1) has a bright reddish stripe down its back; while lead-back (pic 2) lack the stripe and are mostly grayish-black. All color variations have the mottled black and white belly.

Red-backs belong to the family Plethodontidae, also known as the lungless salamanders. Thus, like their amphibian relatives, they breathe through their skin. These sals possess a nasolabial groove, a slit between their nostril and upper lip. It helps with chemical cues involved with courtship, territory, and food. These unique woodland salamanders lack the common aquatic larval stage and lay their eggs in small clusters in cavities under rocks and logs in early summer. It’s a shame they skip this stage because gilled salamander larvae are adorable, but I suppose it’s a pretty nifty adaptation that has evolved in this group. The larvae develop in the egg (gills and all) and hatch in late summer.

Have you ever seen a reddish-brown, slimy creature wriggling frantically? No head, no eyes, no legs…not segmented like a worm…furiously flipping back and forth? A salamander can drop its tail in a last attempt to save itself from being eaten. The tail distracts predators while the rest of the salamander dives out of sight into the safety of shelter. When I encountered this ‘flee of survival’, a child was the curious “predator” trying to pick it up. We must be careful while handling our skin-breathing amphibian friends and also remember that humans often have harmful substances on our hands such as sunscreen, soap residue, or lotion. The red-backs are in full force right now because the warm spring weather is allowing them to emerge from their winter underground hideouts. I encourage you to take a hike and carefully lift a log or large piece of bark to find some of these little sals. Just remember to put the roof back on their home!

~Tracy

26 Mar 2018

Kicking off a new study

Kicking off a new study

Exciting news! Greenacres is officially entering into a research partnership with Dr. Pat Keyser and University of Tennessee’s Center for Native Grasslands Management.

The research collaboration will attempt to address the major challenges associated with native warm season grass (NWSG) establishment by limiting weed pressure while providing livestock forage during the seedling year. If the hypothesis is proven, this research will pave the path for increased acceptance of NWSG by cattle producers, in turn leading to an increase in acreage planted in NWSG. This increase could provide many benefits for livestock producers (through increased production value), wildlife (such as habitat for ground nesting bird species), ecosystems (increased biodiversity) and the health of our soils and watersheds (increased length of green season).

This research could play a large role in filling gaps in the literature in terms of NWSG establishment – providing valuable information to cattle producers, wildlife professionals, extension agents, academics, and others.

16 Mar 2018

Healthy Soil, Healthy Plants

Soil health is the foundation of ecosystem health.  How do you know if soil is healthy?  The answer is soil testing.  There are a variety of tests that can be run on soil samples.  Soil tests like those found at your local garden center provide relative values of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (N-P-K tests) and help homeowners to grow better grass, vegetables or flowers.   Soil samples can also be sent to laboratories for more detailed analyses.  Traditional tests do not measure the biological component of soils which is a key indicator of soil health.  One test we use in our research is the Haney test which provides both chemical and biological data.  The respiration measurement from the tests indicates microbial activity in the soil.

19 Jan 2018

Chicken of the Woods

Nature’s recyclers, known as decomposers, play an essential role in nutrient cycling within our deciduous forest. Organisms such as fungi and bacteria break down humus (dead or decaying matter) on the forest floor. Through this process, fallen logs and deciduous leaves are returned back into the ecosystem, enriching our soils with nutrients, and ensuring the future growth of plants. This fall at the Greenacres Water Quality Education Center, we’ve experienced abundant rainfall and mild temperatures, ideal conditions for the growth of decomposers. Featured in this post is a brightly colored shelf fungus known as Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus). This mushroom is prized as a local favorite among edible mushroom enthusiasts. Several pounds of this tasty mushroom can be found growing on a single log.  Over time, this mushroom will release millions of spores into the air. Spores that land and germinate on a neighboring substrate complete the lifecycle, growing another generation of nature’s recyclers. This fungus is just one of many different types of decomposers that will grow on this log, slowly breaking it down over the course of many years.