eoberacker'sJournal

=**__Erik Oberacker's Journal__**=

**Free-Journal portion**
Today I made by first trip to my environment next to the Manoa stream. I took a small hike up a small trail by the Nature Center and found a small, secluded section of the stream. There I looked into the stream and saw that part of it was blocked off so the stream did not flow in some areas. The water clearly had not been flowing for some time because there were large green balls of algae growing in the deeper parts of the pond. In the blocked off section of the stream in formed some sort of pond where there were many leaves that fell into the pond. The leaves were shades of brown and darkened yellows, swimming in and out of the leaves were small baby tadpoles and mosquito fish. There was a lot of plant life there from large trees to small flowering plants. There were bees and butterflies around the flowers and pollinating the very colorful bushes of flowers that surrounded a section of the stream. There were tealeaves also on the higher levels of the stream and even more inland were large pine trees and a few banyan trees. In between the many trees and the flowers were some small banana trees growing near the water. Closer to the water were more green plants than any other area. They were crowded for the best source of sunlight and water. There were no trees growing there to block the sunlight because there was not enough room for them to grow so the smaller plants could grow with exponential growth. In some places of the river branched off to make small ponds. In these ponds there were a lot of smaller fish. These I hypothesize are the breading grounds for the fish and the tadpoles. The areas are free of larger fish to prey on them and there is a plentiful amount of algae to feed on. This area is an excellent place to study the wildlife because it is a somewhat isolated area off a small hiking trail. There is also a lot of different plant life, birds and a multitude of fish and insects. There is always something to watch in the water and there is always the challenge of spotting the green parrots that are always hiding in the trees. It is a very quite place with rarely any people passing by, a very good place to think and concentrate.

**Assigned Journal Entry**
When I mad my visit I saw many little fish and tadpoles swimming around the secluded part of the stream. The tadpoles were very small with a large head and a small black tail. They were eating some sort of algae that was growing on the leaves. The leaves had a thin layer of brown algae that had to be the tadpoles’ main food source. The mosquito fish were somewhat clear but not fully, their back was a darkened grey as to blend in with the water that they lived in. When startled the fish hid behind rocks and under the leaves that littered the bed of the pond. The fish could be seen picking off bugs fro the surface of the water. Buzzing around the pond were many mosquitoes that were probably breading in the still waters. The mosquitoes were everywhere because there was always a ready food source from the blood of the birds that nested in the trees. Hidden in the brown leaves on the bottom of the pond was a small brown frog. The frog was hard to spot at first because of its coloration but I spotted it eventually. The frog had black stripes and a multitude of brown dots and stripes as to help it stay under water and not be seen by preatators. Around the pond could be heard the sounds of parrots and other birds. They could not be clearly seen but they could be heard. It is my opinion that the birds and the frogs are the top predators in the habitat, eating insects and other small bugs. They are clearly not in competition because they live in separate niches. The birds live in the trees eating the bugs that nest up there and in the dirt on land, and the frogs eat the bugs that wonder to close to the pond to lay their eggs or pollinate the flowering plants that are sprouting around the area. Pollinating these plants were bees and butterflies, these are all likely prey for the birds or the frogs. Although I did not see any acts of predation occurring during by visit it was clear that the birds and frogs were on top because they were the biggest animals there and their diet usually consists of insects and other kinds of small animals. The insects were the only creatures that fitted the diet of these two predators.

Free Journal Entry
For this free journal I a focusing of the insect life around my section of the stream, there are many different insects around the stream ranging from cockroaches to honey bees. The bees play an important role in this ecosystem; they pollinate the abundant flower populations that only grow on the sunny half of the stream. The flowers only grow on that half of the stream because that is the only area that they can get sufficient sunlight to grow and flower. The other half of the stream has tall trees that are blocking the sun and prohibiting the growth of other plants. The bees stay on the half of the stream because that is were they get their source of food. Unlike the bees the cockroaches stay on the dark half of the stream under the shade of the tall trees. They burrow into the dirt and eat dead plant and animal matter. These cockroaches speed up the process of decomposition. The cockroaches are preyed on by the birds that dig them up out of the ground and eat them. The roaches are only about half an inch long and dark brown. They use this color scheme to blend in with the dirt and the dead logs to avoid the birds and other predators. One of the most important insects and also the most numerous are the mosquitoes. They are small black flying bugs that suck the blood out of their victims to provide nourishment for themselves. The mosquitoes are small and hard to sot with the dark background of the forest but the become visible when they get closer to the sunlight. These small black bugs are the main source of food for some of the birds, the frogs, and the fish that pick them off the surface of the water. The mosquitoes may be the main source of food for most of these animals but they are also the most annoying animals in this ecosystem. The mosquitoes’ diet of blood also makes them one of the predators in this complicated ecosystem. The birds may prey on the mosquitoes but they also are the predators to the bird. The mosquitoes land on the birds skin and suck the blood of the bird for nourishment. But because the mosquitoes need to lay their eggs in water they get eaten by the fish and the forges that live in the ponds that the mosquitoes need to reproduce.

Assigned Journal Entry
When I visited my eco place a second time I found that the pond was flowing a little more freely. The rain that we had lately most likely stored up in the mountains and is flowing down through this stream and into the sea. With the stream current getting stronger the animals that live in the stream must get faster and stronger or they will soon die out in that area of the island. In the calmer parts of the stream there are more leaves and sticks sinking to the bottom of the ponds and creating an odd color pattern of yellow and brown leaves and the normal black and brown sediment of the pond. In the fast flowing section of the pond there was no underwater plant life and very few animals living there. The fish that were living there were bigger with larger tails and able to somewhat fight the current and swim more freely in the rushing water. Also in the fast moving sections behind and under rocks were small crayfish. These animals hide under the rocks and probably hid there until a small fish comes into range and then snaps it with the claws. In the still moving section of the stream there was a lot more plant and animal life swimming around in and out of the leaves. In these still sections there were small fish, tadpoles, and the occasional frog and crayfish. These animals that live in the small pond were small, this pond is probably a nursery of some sort for baby tadpoles and newborn fish. These small fish and tadpoles eat the alga that was growing on the leaves that fell into the pond. The algae helps them grow and enhance their strength so they get strong enough to swim into the larger fast moving sections of the stream. If the fish don’t eat enough then they might not grow enough to be able to live in the bigger parts of the stream. The tadpoles are all black with a round head and a small tail. They also eat the algae but then they grow into frogs. To avoid predators in the stream they hide in the still waters under the leaves when there is danger. The fish are also using this same strategy but enhance it with their color scheme. The color ranges from dark brown to light brown, some even have very small black dots or stripes. This helps the fish disguise themselves better and avoid predators and other dangers.

The stream is starting to steady out now because it hasn’t rained very hard lately but there is still an abundance of plant and animal life in the stream. I can now see a few crayfish here and there under the large rocks that boarder the stream. I can see the fish more clearly because the stream is now flowing more freely. Because the water was a little murkier before I could not see the crayfish even though they might have been right in front of me. I think that because of the water levels the crayfish have migrated to a more suitable habitat with more food and more places to hide. If the water levels go down then the crayfish will retreat into deeper waters because they need to hunt the fish that live in the deeper waters. I have also noticed that the mosquitoes are mainly located around the more still and shallow waters. The mosquitoes are most likely breading and laying their eggs in the still shallow water staying as far away from the fish as they can. If the mosquitoes are breading in the shallow waters then there will be small maggot like animals living in the water avoiding the tadpoles and the small fish because they are the predators in that environment. The animals that live in the still ponds are only the small animals that are still growing to their full adult size. There are baby fish eating the mosquito eggs and the mosquitoes that get trapped on the top of the water. There are also tadpoles living in the ponds eating the mosquitoes and the eggs that it happens to find. In the ponds there is also the occasional toad sitting on the bottom of the pond. The toads are hunting for any bugs that wonder into the pond. Beatles, flies, mosquitoes, and cockroaches are all on the menu for the toads. If there is a toad in the pond and an insect falls in, then the toad will immediately grab and eat the insect. The toads will be hard to spot because they blend in well with the debris scattered on the bottom of the still ponds.

Free Journal Entry
For this journal I did an experiment when I test what is the most favorable habitat for the crayfish. My hypothesis was if the water levels go down then the crayfish would retreat into deeper waters because they need to hunt the fish that live in the deeper waters. For this experiment I will have to find two or more different habitats with a small crayfish population. I will observe the habitat and the behaviors of the crayfish, their size, their color, and their population. With this information I will conclude which habitat suits the crayfish most, the shallow pond with many little fish or the deep stream with the larger fish. When I arrived at the stream I didn’t see a lot of crayfish, they were living independently in their own separate niches. It took me a while to find where the crayfish were living but I found small areas with one or two crayfish living in the same general area. When I saw the crayfish they were a dark shade of gray mixed with a few splotches of brown. They were hiding under a large rock that was stuck in the stream. This was in an area of the stream where the water was running slowly and was moderately deep. Swimming above the crayfish was a small school of medium sized fish. I hypothesis that the crayfish eat the small amounts of algae that is growing on the rocks and the fish. Down the stream I found an area that is deeper and with faster running water. In this area I found one very large crayfish. It had small spots of red and blue around the exoskeleton, the rest was the same shade as the other crayfish, dark gray. In this section of the stream there were larger fish living in smaller groups, because of the running water there was not a lot of algae growth to the crayfish must eat the fish. When I went to the pool with not a lot of running water I found a lot of small tadpoles and fish but there were no crayfish living in this area. I conclude that the most ideal habitat for a crayfish to live in would be a small stream with a medium depth. The water should not be running very fast to there could still be an algae population for the crayfish to feed on when it can’t catch fish.

**Assigned Journal Entry**
Common Name: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Mosquito Fish: Animalie/ Chordata/ Osteichthyes/ Cypriniformes Frog: Animalie/ Chordata/ Amphibia/ Anura Crayfish: Animalie/ Arthropoda/ Malacostraca/ Decapoda Mosquito: Animalie/ Arthropoda/ Insecta/ Diptera Parrot: Animalie/ Chordata/ Aves/ Psittaciformes