Crow Island Woods BioBlitz
An Ecoregional survey by Iris Ely and Mahima Duvvur
Our Section of the Woods
Temperature: 65°
Sunny
The Different Species around the Woods
A lot of the plants we found didn't get a lot of light because of the fact that they were smaller, and the light wouldn't reach them. In total, we found 16 different species.
Common plants along the trail
Golden Rod Flower
In this picture, you don't see the sunlight on the Golden Rod, so it isn't growing towards the light, but if you saw the flower in person, it usually would be straight up. (Identified)
White Snakeroot
The White Snakeroot grew in clumps all around the path. I think we even saw the White Snakeroot more than any other plant. (Identified)
Spiky fern
In the picture, it looks like a lighter green color because of the sun, but the Spiky Fern actually is a darker green with thorny leaves. (Unidentified)
This is a dark purple-blueish berry with a red stem. (Unidentified)
Insect life on the trail
Fungi From the Woods
We're species evenly distributed across the sight or did you find greater variety in particular areas? If there were distribution differences, where did you find the greatest diversity?
Our sight's species was evenly distributed throughout the whole section.
WHAT FACTORS MIGHT HAVE AFFECTED THE NUMBER OF SPECIES YOU FOUND? WHAT KINDS OF ORGANISMS HAVE YOU PROBABLY MISSED?
There might have been some invasive species, or since there were a lot of trees, the smaller plants might have not gotten enough light, so they would have died out.
Didi you find any species native to Illinois? Any nonnative species? Any invasive species?
The Golden Rod plant, and the White Snakeroot flower are native to Illinois, all the Ash trees were dead, so there was evidence that the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive and nonnative species, was there in the Woods. We also saw Buckthorn, another invasive species, around the Woods.
What do you think could be done to increase the biodiversity of the crow island woods.
Since Buckthorn will kill lots of other little plants, getting rig=d of it would help increase the biodiversity. Also, if the park ranger let the poison ivy grow, it could create another niche that will bring more life to the woods.