Biology Walk

       Last Friday, our class participated on a biology walk to take a look at the vast diversity of organisms right outside of our school! In a matter of only five minutes, everyone had entered the forest and we were surrounded by thousands of different organisms. Whether it be from insects, plants, or fungi, the amount of differences was astonishing. Through previous walks through Fleetwood Park's very own forest, I never paid close attention to the many organisms that inhabited it. During this biology walk, I observed many organisms which I have never seen previously. Since we learned about the five different phyla in fungi, (Oomycota, Zygomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Deuteromycota) I was able to attempt to classify the different species I found. I managed to find a jelly fungus growing on the side of a tree trunk which was like nothing I have ever seen before. Who knew living organisms could look like that? I guess that shows that organisms can take on any shapes, size, or form and appear that abstract to us. There are thousands of different types on fungi and we only spent a very short amount of time in the forest searching for them. I'm curious as to what other appearances these fungi can take on because they all look so different from each other, but they do relatively the same thing. Prior to learning about fungi, I never knew how vital they were to the ecosystem because without them, we would have tons of dead organisms spread out everywhere. I also managed to spot some sort of shelf fungus, but it was pretty small in comparison to some of the pictures you have shown us, but it was still very interesting to look at. We found them growing horizontally along a damp log (Which is an area where fungi can flourish). When going near the stream by the bridge, I was able to view various fruiting bodies of Basidiomycota. They all looked different in size, shape, and colour. Viewing these different species was unique because I have never done this before. Aside from all of the fungi that I saw, there was tons of lichen growing everywhere. On almost every tree there was some form of lichen living on the rough bark. Although I could not see it, they were constantly absorbing nutrients, minerals and water; while getting food through photosynthesis. I was a little disappointed that we did not have as much time as I would have liked, however, through this biology walk, I have extended my knowledge from just the textbook to viewing the actual fungi. I may not be able to identify very many, however, it is just a start and these miniature field trips are very educating. When participating in these, I discover a little bit of the unknown and I learn a great deal about nature.

It is a difficult to determine which phyla of fungi these are because of the low quality of the image.


These shelf mushrooms were growing on the side of a damp log.


This type of fungus was growing on the side of a leaf that had fallen to the ground. If I were to take a guess in identifying this type of fungi, I would presume it would be deuteromycota.


From the very small visible part of the fruiting body, my best guess in identifying this fungi would be a Basidiomycota because it's a mushroom.


Here is a picture of a bunch of lichen growing on the side of a tree trunk.


On the side of this log, is a picture of a jelly fungus which was probably my favorite.


Identifying this fungi is difficult, but judging from the picture, the orange bits look like 'sacs' so my guess is that they are Ascomycota.


Since I do not have enough pictures to complete the assignment, I've decided to turn to google. Above is a 'Fly Agaric' which belongs to the Basidiomycota phyla.


This is a picture of a larger shelf fungi with better quality. It's interesting how these grow outwards from a tree rather than from the ground.