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BIO 3021 Blog Post 1: Observations
Adrienne Burns
August 19, 2019
I have selected to observe a Christchurch, New Zealand, backyard landscape. I live in the city center and it is an easily accessible area which I can monitor every few days. It is currently winter in New Zealand and the weather varies drastically from below freezing temperatures to 18 degrees Celsius.
I began the study of the backyard landscape on 14/08/19 at 5:22pm, which is the winter season. The temperate was 9 degrees Celsius with no strong winds. The study area is 35 meters by 18 meters. Most of the landscape is grassland, with 2 areas of mixed evergreen trees and shrubs. Amongst the grassland, there are 4 fruit trees; Pear, Plum, Lemon and Limes. The grassland is uneven terrain, with the section through the middle containing higher levels of soil. The upper right and lower right quadrants, to the right of the fruit trees have a small dip, where the soil level is approximately 3 inches lower than the middle of the lawn.
I found it interesting that even though the grass landscape is mostly a level surface area, there are pockets that seem to hold more moisture. On the upper right quadrant, the grass is softer with more water than the middle section of the site. Are there different plants in the dry areas as opposed to the wetter soil areas? I noticed a large area of Wax weed (Hydrocotyle heteromeria) in the areas of higher moisture content. I also noticed that there was an extremely large amount of White clovers (Trifolium repens) all over both of the lawns wet and dryer areas. It seemed as if they preferred the sunny areas, but is there a pattern to their distribution as they were rarely found in the shady areas? I also observed large areas of Couch grass (Elymus repens). I found it odd that they seemed to have a pattern of being more present near concrete edging. They were noticeable around the edges of the concrete block that held up the clothesline and near the walk ways. Is Couch grass more tolerant to unhospitable environments that allow it survive in these areas where common lawn grasses are found less?
I am most interested in the large patches of Hydrocotyle heteromeria in my lawn, so I may do my Field study on this interesting plant.
