Bill Dunson 9/28/17 Bill Dunson 9/28/17

Signs of Fall in the Blue Ridge

Seasonal changes in flowering are well known but the specific reasons for spring/summer/fall timing are not always so clear. For example, the famous witch hazel is now blooming in the woods and it is one of the few woodland trees to do so this time of year. One obvious idea is that flowers in fall will have far fewer competitors for pollinators. But on the other hand, there will be fewer insects available for pollination. The strange one-year-old fruits are also visible.

Similarly, some asters such as this white wood aster are in full bloom in September. I noticed some bumblebees visiting the flowers; they are warm-blooded and designed for flying in cooler conditions. Another common late summer and fall bloomer along roads and paths is white snakeroot, which has here attracted a flower beetle. We sometimes forget that beetles can pollinate flowers and indeed were present earlier in evolutionary history than the later evolving bees and butterflies.

Flower beetle on white snakeroot flowers

While walking in the yard, our son noticed a very interesting fungus, the elegant stinkhorn or devil's dipstick. The phallic shape of this peculiar fruiting body has elicited some strange human reactions. It stinks in order to attract flies that pick up the spores and distribute them widely.

Some amazing life and death scenarios can be observed in flowers- note that in this morning glory flower a bumblebee is foraging deep in the flower, but a crab spider has caught a Zabulon skipper and is eating it.

Skipper male Zabulon caught by crab spider in morning glory with  bumblebee — Skipper male Zabulon caught by crab spider in morning glory with bumblebee

Occasionally on a damp day, you may be fortunate to observe one of the most beautiful salamanders in our woods- the red eft. It is an immature terrestrial stage of the aquatic red-spotted newt. Their striking color is aposematic or warning since they contain a potent toxin, tetrodotoxin. How do potential predators such as birds (most mammals are color blind) know that red on a salamander is bad but red fruits are edible? Both learning and a genetically determined component may be involved. The northern red salamander is considered to be a tasty mimic of this species.

On a stroll in the fall woods, you may encounter a box turtle such as this female with a brown iris, slowly moving through the leaves. Box turtles are a very ancient lineage, far older than the dinosaurs, and they live slowly and as long as humans. You can see the numerous growth rings on the scutes, but they cannot be counted accurately in a turtle this old. Box turtles hibernate in shallow scrapes and can resist freezing by producing antifreeze in their tissues.

So enjoy the natural beauties of fall, which are considerable. But soon enough the deep freeze will be upon us and life will have to flee or hunker down for the winter.

Lisa Benish 8/9/15 Lisa Benish 8/9/15

Bluff Mountain Hike

Doug Monroe, Naturalist for the Bluff Mountain Nature Preserve, guided an eager group of individuals on a special hike through the Nature Conservancy property as part of the Blue Ridge Expeditions Program.

Bluff Mountain Nature Preserve is part of the Amphibolite Mountains that are a chain of mountains made up of very hard metamorphic rocks that resists erosion. A mineral-rich rock type called amphibolite gneiss underpins the peaks in the Amphibolite Mountains, yielding a more neutral soil than typically found in the mountains and feeding a rich diversity of plant life.
Within the Preserve, there are 11 different ecological habitats with over 700 species of flora that sprout from varying geologic features and slope aspects. In a relative short distance, a little less than three miles, we passed through all habitats each with unique species.

The trailhead began at about 4,300 feet in elevation. We traveled through a forest of primarily sugar maples, a species of tree that flourishes in this area due to the pH of the soil. Interestingly, there are no heaths (laurels, rhododendrons, etc.) in this area for the same reason. The plants in this section are herbaceous consisting of nettles, deciduous holly, bellflower and native impatiens (jewelweed).

As the elevation increases, the rhododendrons (heaths) appear along with an occasional blackberry who has managed to pop up in a spot of sunlight that has made it through the canopy. The dominant tree species changes to red and white oaks. These trees are twisted and stunted due to the extreme weather conditions on this section of the mountain. The gnarled trees were no good for logging leaving this forest preserved with scattered old growth.

Continuing on, at about 4,500 feet, we reach the meadow. We look upon the meadow, a part of the fen community, that is full of spurge, liatris and false foxglove. It scatters the field with purples and yellows. The Nature Conservancy maintains this area annually by a controlled burn to protect the fen community from the invasive red maple. It is also mowed to control the oak trees that are unaffected by the burn. These methods maintain the fen community and its unique species.

Mixed hardwoods and heaths follow the meadow and we continue on to an old growth forest. Like a sentry, a beautiful majestic sugar maple that exceeds 300 years stands by the trail. We momentarily stand at attention and admire its tenacity and perseverance.

Reaching Perkins Rock, we bathed in the warmth of the sun at an elevation of 4,710 feet. As with most peaks, bluffs and knobs of the Blue Ridge at this elevation, it is hard to escape wind. We were privileged to sit upon this rock in the absence of even a breeze. The weather and views were spectacular. After once again traveling through the old growth forest to mixed hardwoods, we begin to see a mingling of hemlocks. Taking a side trail towards the bluff (the mountain’s namesake), we approach a rock ledge that looks down upon a lovely waterfall 300 feet below us. This makes our guide nervous so, one at a time, we are allowed to peer over the edge with our bellies on the ground. There are lots of beautiful obedient plants along the ledge. We return to the hemlock forest, home to the oldest known Carolina hemlock in the world. Core samples of neighboring trees were taken to determine the age of the hemlocks in this forest, however this oldest of the Carolina hemlock (as determined by its sheer size) was not sampled due to potential damage that could arise from such sampling.

Leaving the hemlocks, we enter the mesic glyn (glade). This is an area of thin, moist, acidic soil atop rock. It is home to special lichens, mosses and low shrubs and is particularly sensitive to foot traffic. We saw teaberry, trailing arbutus, lady slippers and reindeer moss to name just a few of the species.

And finally an unbelievable two acre fen formed by a bowl in the amphibolite bedrock, one of only two in the Southern Appalachians. A fen is a type of wetland. Similar to bogs, a fen is a mire and is usually fed by mineral rich surface water or groundwater. It is quite unique and hosts several special species such as grass of parnassus, canada burnet, sundew and indian paintbrush.

Other interesting findings throughout the hike included multiple red efts, bobcat scat, poor man’s truffles, numerous pipevine swallowtails and a pair of beautiful cedar waxwings. It was an amazing day of exploration and discovery.

*photo credits to Susan McClelland and Lisa Benish

Bill Dunson 5/23/10 Bill Dunson 5/23/10

Beware the red eft

While on one of my daily nature walks I looked down and spotted one of the true beauties of the woods, a red eft (see photo). They wander around, especially after rains and are very slow-moving and unafraid. Of course there is a reason for this- they are protected by a very potent poison, tetrodotoxin. You cannot be poisoned by handling the young newt, but if you eat it your nerve cells will have some severe problems. The bright orange/red coloration of red efts, which are juvenile stages of the red-spotted newt, clearly warns potential predators to leave them alone. As the red efts mature into adults, they become more greenish-yellow (see second photo). The adults return to the water where the gilled larvae started life and spend the rest of their lives there. This "reverse" life history (embryos, gilled larvae and adults are aquatic, but juveniles are terrestrial) is in contrast to typical amphibians, where only the embryos and larvae are aquatic. While there is much about this process that is unclear, it does seem likely that such an alternation of generations between habitats is probably a means of minimizing competition for limited food resources. One strange thing is that not all populations of newts have an eft stage, perhaps due to unsuitability of land habitats or less competition for food in the water. A similar phenomenon may cause retention of gills in some populations of tiger salamanders (leading to presence of aquatic, reproductively adult axolotls that resemble gilled larvae).

Another really interesting feature of red efts is that they are probably mimicked by other amphibians such as the red salamander (see photo). This latter creature is apparently tasty but may be protected by its resemblance to the very toxic red eft. Isn't it intriguing how the color red has come to be used as both a warning and an attractant, for example as the prime color for flowers used for nectar by hummingbirds, and as the color of ripe fruits? Remember also that the recognition of the color red requires that an animal has color vision, which many mammals do not. So the target predators for this red-hued message by the efts is likely to be birds.

Here we have another example of the complex interactions that govern the lives and appearance of critters- just amazing!

-Bill Dunson

Galax, VA & Englewood, FL

Devin Floyd 4/20/10 Devin Floyd 4/20/10

The Earthweek Eco-fair 2010

The Eco-fair Art Gallery

Thank you for sharing your art!

Sharing the wonders of nature with others is a great way to spread awareness and excitement.

Blue Ridge Discovery Center

brought natural wonders to the downtown mall in Charlottesville, Virginia. We focused on species local to the Central Virginia area, making the experience about local natural wonders.

It was a wonderful day of exploring, discovering, and sharing! Thanks to all that participated. We hope you had a wonderful time!

Red Eft

(juvenile eastern newt)

habitat.

Searching for critters.

Spring Peeper Habitat