# Specialized Habitats And Microenvironments **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 6, 2021, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150 "2021-08-06T12:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/141 "2023-06-27T17:50:36Z")
Yeah, I knew they were not native. I just didn’t know they had migrated! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/142 "2023-06-27T20:40:36Z")
I would not call it migrate, they were introduced. Now they are a problem, this year I saw my first frog in the swamp only last week: [![](https://i.imgur.com/D8VnvaJ.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/D8VnvaJ.jpg) That is way too few! It seems the racoons eat them, and they eat toads too. They skin them first, because they are poisonous. I saw pictures in another website of skins floating in ponds, the toads gone. Very bad, they already are fighting against **[Chytridiomycosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chytridiomycosis)** worldwide, also here, racoons do not help. At all. ☹ I also saw the caterpillars that were hanging by a thread recently, now they seems almost ready to pupae, they are building a collective cocoon inside a rolled up leaf: [![](https://i.imgur.com/hxiVEkt.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/hxiVEkt.jpg) The grasses with the spicky fruit are still there, still have not identified them. If anybody has a clue, I am curious: [![](https://i.imgur.com/KAuHeBg.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/KAuHeBg.jpg) And water lilies are spreading too! I like them: [![](https://i.imgur.com/hN6F8PD.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/hN6F8PD.jpg) This week it has rained a lot, will go to the swamp tomorrow, let’s see how it develops. The most common animal there? Mosquitos, of course. I [read this week repeatedly](https://apnews.com/article/malaria-florida-texas-cdc-mosquitoes-a7ea0cbe37bc8df093ce35e836cd717e) that in the USA they have registered the first cases of locally transmitted malaria for almost 20 years. That is very bad. I hope we can be spared this fate for as long as climate change permits. Malaria is a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/143 "2023-06-27T20:44:11Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > The grasses with the spicky fruit are still there, still have not identified them. Does this look close? > **[Carex grayi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carex_grayi)** > > Carex grayi, commonly known as Gray's sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It is native to eastern North America. > > This Carex article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. j ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/144 "2023-06-27T20:54:37Z")
That is exactly what they look like. > It is native to eastern North America. What the hell is it doing here, how did it arrive? The trees I first thought to be [yews](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata), but weren’t, because they turned out to be decidious and did not develop red fruits, are _[Taxodium distichum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxodium_distichum)_, also known as bald cypress or swamp (ha!) cypress. Here is one branch up close: [![](https://i.imgur.com/24sHvB1.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/24sHvB1.jpg) It is native to the southeastern United States. What is it doing here? ETA: I would have loved to have some yews here, those are trees with a history! From the celts on over the Battle of Agincourt to witches and poisoning… alas! It was not to be. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/145 "2023-06-27T20:56:52Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I also saw the caterpillars that were hanging by a thread recently, now they seems almost ready to pupae, they are building a collective cocoon inside a rolled up leaf: We had a lot of these near York last year, on the ring road; ermine moth caterpillars. I looked for them this year, but they haven’t turned up in such numbers. It seems they are a very temporary phenomenon, so enjoy them while you can. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/146 "2023-06-27T20:58:37Z")
I specialize in boneheaded googling - I did _grass with a spiky ball_ and looked at the pictures. The ones for _Carex grayi_ were typically garden center websites and plant specialists where it’s sold as an ornamental grass. If it’s a match I would guess that it’s a garden escapee. j ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/147 "2023-06-27T21:03:35Z")
Thank you for the information! I am enjoing them! 🙂 And not touching them. > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > If it’s a match I would guess that it’s a garden escapee. Concerning the swamp cypress and perhaps also _Carex grayi_ there is the botanical garden in South Berlin: they have the cypress (says their own website). Someone else has the grass, and it spread. Is it good, bad, irrelevant? I don’t know. Both are beautiful, but so are racoons, and they are a plague. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/148 "2023-06-28T00:35:26Z")
IMO, humans are a plague, and we make things far worse by sharing our plants and animals everywhere without concern as to how we (and they) affect the local region. Yes, raccoons are cute. They don’t belong in Eurasia and should be controlled as much as possible. Kudzu and Boa Constrictors don’t belong over here and should be eradicated here too. But it’s far too late. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/149 "2023-06-28T08:57:28Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > This week it has rained a lot, will go to the swamp tomorrow, let’s see how it develops. The most common animal there? Mosquitos, of course. I [read this week repeatedly](https://apnews.com/article/malaria-florida-texas-cdc-mosquitoes-a7ea0cbe37bc8df093ce35e836cd717e) that in the USA they have registered the first cases of locally transmitted malaria for almost 20 years. That is very bad. I hope we can be spared this fate for as long as climate change permits. Malaria is a bitch. Malaria used to be quite the problem in the US South. It’s one of the reasons that Congress traditionally goes home for the summer - apparently pre-modern times and air conditioning summer in DC was pretty horrible, and included malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Up until the 1950’s malaria was endemic in the US. We’ve enjoyed a few decades free of it (aside from people contracting it overseas) which have been nice but that might be changing. [A link to more information about the history of malaria in the US](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2600412/) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/150 "2023-06-28T09:00:21Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > It is native to eastern North America. > > What the hell is it doing here, how did it arrive? My guess is landscapers wanting exotic plants for their designs, after which the introduced species get loose. Because that’s a fairly common way for species to wind up in unexpected places. See raccoons in Europe. Or Quaker parakeets nesting in Chicago parks. But it applies even more so to plants and some of them become might pestilent. Tumbleweed, for example, is NOT native to the western US despite being an iconic representation of it in movies. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/151 "2023-06-28T20:20:50Z")
Excellent link, thanks! If you happen to be interested in mosquitos and malaria I can warmly recommend the book [The Mosquito, by Thimothy Vinegard](https://www.amazon.de/Mosquito-Human-History-Deadliest-Predator/dp/191123112X/ref=sr_1_9?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=2IU0T4VJQACQ7&keywords=mosquito&qid=1687983314&s=books&sprefix=mosquito%2Cstripbooks%2C112&sr=1-9). The link may lead to the German page of Amazon, but it should be enough to identify the book (it is yellow, I guess like the fever). It also covers at lenght the USA and its wars, but your link is more detailed in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/152 "2023-08-14T15:28:42Z")
Finally, some new frogs: [![](https://i.imgur.com/GpkViTZ.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/GpkViTZ.jpg) Hard to see, you say? Close to the tree, facing towards it, brown. Two of them. And a green one too: [![](https://i.imgur.com/JTgOVcM.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/JTgOVcM.jpg) I wonder whether they are the same species or two different ones. They seem to be not yet fully grown, the green one posted on June 27 was clearly bigger. I also saw something of the corner of my eye darting away that could have been a newt or a salamander. Let’s see if I ever get a closer look or even a picture. This had me intrigued: looks like a beard on a tree, is extremely soft and releases a lot of dark spores when you touch it: [![](https://i.imgur.com/JwE7E2U.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/JwE7E2U.jpg) There were several on that tree and not all were around a hole, I guess it is some kind of fungus. I had never seen something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/153 "2023-08-14T15:50:49Z")
Was that on a conifer? > **[Bryoria Lichen - Friends of Kananaskis Country](https://kananaskis.org/bryoria-lichen/)** > > Lichens are a bit strange. One guidebook says, “think of lichens as fungi that have discovered agriculture”. Lichens are a fungus (similar to mushrooms) that cultivates algae inside them. The … > **[Bryoria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryoria)** > > Bryoria is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. Many members of this genus are known as horsehair lichens. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in boreal and cool temperate areas. > Bryoria was circumscribed in 1977 by lichenologists Irwin Brodo and David Hawksworth, with Bryoria trichodes as the type species. > Bryoria species are fruticose, slender and hair-like, tending to grow hanging (pendent) or like a small bush. They range in colour from dark brown to pal... > Found almost exclusively on conifers, or on tundra soil… j ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/154 "2023-08-14T15:56:11Z")
No, I don’t think it was a conifer, but I will check next time. They were not lichens, I am almost sure, this was much softer, like cotton candy. Here is another picture with a lot of holes, and none show any resin. I am almost sure that it was not a conifer: [![](https://i.imgur.com/mF5RUYr.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/mF5RUYr.jpg) That tree is dying. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/155 "2023-08-14T18:36:14Z")
Whilst this thread is active again, here’s something I’ve been meaning to post but didn’t quite know where to post it; but it does concern the ongoing creation (or rather, recreation) of a habitat. The Knepp Castle Estate (Sussex, UK) is just down the road from us, and I’ve posted before about their fantastically successful ongoing attempt to reintroduce storks into the UK after a 600 year absence (9 breeding pairs and 37 eggs laid in 2022). But why stop at storks? > **[Beavers born in Sussex for first time in 500 years](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjezxl5q12no)** > > The young beavers are born as part of a trial breeding programme at the Knepp Estate near Horsham. I assume that this means we now have lodge, dam and flooded river valley somewhere on the estate (only part of which is open to the public). _In due course_, I look forward to be able to visit. BTW this isn’t the first reintroduction in Britain. > **[Beaver reintroduction & conservation](https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/reintroductions-key-species/key-species/eurasian-beaver?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInb2imeTcgAMVwtTtCh0l9A-oEAAYASAAEgKYKvD_BwE)** > > Nature’s busy aquatic architect is a formidable tree feller, river changer and wetland creator. Beavers let life return and mitigate climate risks > Status: Reintroduced in Scotland and England. Wild beavers are now in Argyll, Tayside and Devon. j ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/156 "2023-08-19T22:56:03Z")
The picture I posted on Aug. 14 was taken on Aug. 13, then on the 16th it looked like this: [![](https://i.imgur.com/K7LzjiY.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/K7LzjiY.jpg) You see that it is a bit blurry on the lower left? That is because I had just touched it: that cloud was a lot of spores. It (I am sure it is a fungus now) is decaying fast. The tree in question is an alder (it is an _Erlenbruchwald_, remember?). That is the upper part: [![](https://i.imgur.com/g67IcTb.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/g67IcTb.jpg) Looks healthy on that picture. It is not. Even the beetles that used to chew on the weeping willow are now on it: [![](https://i.imgur.com/nUzQBMn.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/nUzQBMn.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/157 "2023-08-20T20:56:35Z")
I called in my personal mycologist on this one. She’s following up, but her immediate reaction was that it looked like a slime mold. This sort of thing: > **[Slime Molds – Mycetozoa - Driftless Prairies: Native Ecosystems](https://driftlessprairies.org/bio-inventory/fungi-inventory/slime-molds-mycetozoa/)** > > Stemonitis sp Click here to see a blog post with further info. A species of this genera was displayed at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair “Believe it or not” exhibit as “hair growing on wood.” (Farr, 2) Looking at the species I found, it does appear... j ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/158 "2023-08-20T22:51:34Z")
Wow, just wow! That is exactly what they look like, that is fantastic! I will look for the beetles, and check the peridium, the capillitium and the sporangia. I admire your personal mycologist, she is very competent. Thank her for me, and thank you too! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/159 "2023-09-17T20:11:46Z")
Wakehurst Prairie update. From the horse’s mouth, as it were. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AIL4fc-0e7u7uozBNMUanoGMSsLE__XObAjlBdjrsictVaCwWMauYxokRGtDG8h-gwBKDEuEPsPIV8GIFUIMzdGH9PWlRBvG_epfUAdOMYWBJDynAsgRiLg=w600-h315-p-k "New item by j") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/bEaK7172euVtcj95A) [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AIL4fc_OijYC82MtKxNpv5hU3d9ccrqpcU5SabBtbg0Hwrdu5fpDBi4EozDHQrum12KhLKi27pzoaLr2a9rHY-PObBwYBkEH8R-vyMyrUjWGNqf75a8zyyQ=w600-h315-p-k "New item by j") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/hSLoibKsc4wqs51F9) Click on the picture for the full image, j ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150/160 "2023-09-17T23:54:59Z")
Speaking as someone living with (and frequently passing) some primordial prairie - yep, the show varies from year to year. Different plants do differently in differently conditions. A hot, dry year will have a different collection than a moist wet one, or a hot wet one, or whatever combination you care to consider. I’ve mentioned that we do controlled burns around here as part of our management - the year prior to a burn will look different than the year after. It’s an ever-changing show. Look like you got a bumper crop of black-eyed susans, but it’s a little hard to identify more details in the pictures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/specialized-habitats-and-microenvironments/948150.md?page=9)