As you continue walking down the path, you may notice on the left an enormously large field of grasses and sedges. In the early spring, the grasses are only about six inches tall and they are a lush green color. But as the weeks go by, you will notice that the sedges and grasses just keep growing taller and taller. They are now at least four feet tall and when I walk through them, it makes me feel like I'm some secret explorer looking for exotic plants and animals in a safari. Maybe you'll also feel that way if you walk through them but be careful not to walk through too many spiderwebs! And obviously, beware of spiders unless you are very fascinated by them and other bugs of those sorts. In that case, station 4 would be a great one for you to look into.
Excuse the little tangent for the point of this station is to discuss ecological disturbance. When I returned to this field of grass a few weeks ago, I noticed that one area of it was completely stripped away, as if some mysterious person had shown up late at night and hacked away at a large chunk of sedges and grasses. And for what purpose? I cannot tell you. To be honest I thought it was strange especially because it was a random section that was removed. Regardless who the culprit may be, this is an example of a small ecological disturbance. There is now a temporary change in the environmental conditions of this area as a result of some type of ecological or anthropogenic disturbance. Disturbances can have a profound impact on the communities that live in the affected area, so in the case of this particular spot, certain invertebrates such as spiders may have been affected and their habitats destroyed. Eventually, the grasses and sedges in the damaged area will grow back because that is what nature does. All is good.
This is what the grassy area looked like before ecological disturbance hit.
Excuse the little tangent for the point of this station is to discuss ecological disturbance. When I returned to this field of grass a few weeks ago, I noticed that one area of it was completely stripped away, as if some mysterious person had shown up late at night and hacked away at a large chunk of sedges and grasses. And for what purpose? I cannot tell you. To be honest I thought it was strange especially because it was a random section that was removed. Regardless who the culprit may be, this is an example of a small ecological disturbance. There is now a temporary change in the environmental conditions of this area as a result of some type of ecological or anthropogenic disturbance. Disturbances can have a profound impact on the communities that live in the affected area, so in the case of this particular spot, certain invertebrates such as spiders may have been affected and their habitats destroyed. Eventually, the grasses and sedges in the damaged area will grow back because that is what nature does. All is good.
This is what the grassy area looked like before ecological disturbance hit.
This is what happened after. Notice a large chunk stripped away.
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