Travis'+Journal

Travis Matsuzaki
 * Class**:7:30
 * Group**:Lindsey,Quincy,Jaron,Erin,Travis
 * Eco-place**:Aiea Stream


 * JOB**:__Aquatic Animal Density Observer__

=//Visit #1//=

//__Free-Journal Portion #1__//
I noticed that there is a vast diversity of plants and animals in my eco-place. The plant diversity includes hale koa trees, California grass, and many weeds. Animal diversity includes both land and aquatic animals. There are guppies, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, toads, and ducks in the aquatic area (there also used to be a turtle). Then for land animals there are tiny finches, cardinals, pigeons, (one) rooster, and occasionally a boar/pig or mongoose shows up. Also there are many bugs in the air, there are bees, mosquitos, the little grass like flies, and the occasional dragon fly.

Some significant abiotic factors in this environment is the stream itself, the temperature, rocks, and the weather conditions, such as the amount of times it rains, floods or is sunny.

I think that the Aiea stream will be a good eco-place to study for the rest of the semester, because first of all there are many different species of animals living in this area. Also because both aquatic and land species live in this eco-place, so there is more biodiversity. This area is also very close to my house, so I will have a very easy time reaching the eco-place whenever I need to. It is also a convenient place to meet for all my group members because we all live in Aiea. The Aiea stream is a place that I grew up with and have visited many times; so I have much knowledge on it and also absolutely no problem staying there for vast periods of times. I also think that this eco-place is a good place to study because since it has many diverse plants, animals, and abiotic features; it opens up many job opportunities for my group members, because my group is relatively large. Also my role/job in my group is to observe the aquatic animals that live in the stream. This area is a good place for me, because the stream has more than one organism living in it, so I will be able to have various animals that I can compare data to. Also the Aiea stream has many areas where the little stream gets bigger, expanding to the size of a little pond. Because of this I have the possibility of taking data and comparing the numbers of species in each pond, as well as the number of diversity among those species from pond to pond. Since there is much biodiversity among the aquatic animals, I can record their behavior patterns, as well as the way that they react to one another, for example whether they are involved in a predator prey relationship or not.

__//Assigned Journal Entry #1//__

In my first visit to my eco-place I found that there were many different organisms that lived in together in the environment. One of the animals that I found in the aquatic environment was the guppy. The guppy seemed to live in a pretty narrow niche. This is because the only food that it is able to prey upon is the algae that grow within the stream. The guppy’s niche was that of, areas in the stream that have rocks with mossy algae growing on them.

The crayfish was another animal that I found in my eco-place. The crayfish’s niche was specifically in the water. It lived near the edges of the water, or near rocks in which it could hide under. The crayfish also lived near guppies, moss and tadpoles. The water that it lived in was also slightly murky, probably due to the dirt and other minerals in the water.

I also found toads living in the water of my eco-place. There were toads that lived both in the water and on the land (but mostly in water). The toads that were in the water, lived in the murkier areas, and near or in the mud. Both the toads in the water and on the land hid under rocks, during the day. However during the night the toads tend to come out of the water and hop around and live on the land. (I only know this because I used to go frog hunting at night, near the stream)

On Sunday afternoon (one day after my group had come to visit the eco-place), I was sitting on my lanai when I heard a crackling sound of grass, from heavy footsteps. I looked over my railing and had the privilege of seeing one of the boars out in the open (because the boars usually roam higher in the mountains, and hardly ever come down). In a previous occasion the boar had broken into my yard and had eaten up my mom’s entire vegetable garden. But the entrance to my yard had been sealed off, so the boar, had just roamed near the stream looking for something on the ground to eat. It obviously didn’t have anything to fear, in the habitat because it is the biggest thing near the stream. But it didn’t seem to be preying on anything either. I think that the boar’s niche is in the bushes, away from contact with other animals. The boar seems to act as a scavenger, roaming around in a certain area (in this case near the stream), looking for anything to eat. It later ran into the bushes about five minutes after it showed up, because someone in the neighboring valley had set off a loud firecracker. (boar niche is extra because it doesn't really pertain to my job, but i wrote it down because it was a rare sighting)

Unfortunately I was not able to take pictures on this visit. However i will take pictures on my next visit, and post them.

=Visit #2=

PICTURES
(going in order from upstream to downstream)

__//Free Journal #2//__
My role in the group is “Aquatic Animal Density Observer”. So for my part of the project, I set up two boxes, each measuring one and a half by 2 meters. Each box is set up in different areas of the Aiea stream. One box is set upstream and the other one, down stream. I named the box that was set upstream site number one, and the downstream box, site number two. One of the things that I noticed was that sight number one’s guppy population was vastly greater than that of sight number two. Site number one’s population was 53 while site number two was only 15. I also noticed that almost all of site one’s guppy population, were babies; whereas site two’s guppy population were adults, or almost adults. I was wondering as to why the guppy population of site one was so high, as well as to why site one was mostly babies, rather than adults? I also observed that there were frogs (2) and one toad in site #1 whereas site #2 had absolutely none (of either species). I wonder if this has something to do with the food population, or if it has something to do with the climate or maybe surroundings of the general area (such as the rocks, mud, plants, or predators)? I also noticed that there were just about no tadpoles at sight #1 and only one big yellowish, brownish, green tadpole at site #2 (There are two types of tadpoles that live in the Aiea Stream. The black tadpoles and the yellowish, brownish green tadpoles.) Some of my data may conflict with my partner’s data, because they may have said that there were numerous black tadpoles, whereas my data says that I didn’t see any. But the only reason that our data clashes is because they probably took observations towards the middle of the stream, whereas my data is from the beginning of the stream, and more towards the end of the stream. I wonder as to why the tadpoles seem to only be living around the middle of the stream?

Actually an interesting fact is that I ran out of time to finish my second visit during the day, so actually I made my visit at night, when the moon was already out. This could have been a factor to the number of aquatic animals that were out. It would also explain why I saw some frogs and toads, considering that they are very hard to spot during the day.

__//Assigned Journal Entry #2//__
The Aiea Stream is home to a diverse amount of aquatic life. In the Aiea Stream Predation is often occurring. There are many environmental pressures on the animals that live in the stream; for example the guppy is hunted by many. Crayfish, the ducks, and also the frogs hunt it. Thus causing Natural Selection to act on the guppies. We now see a vast variety of guppy variety in the Aiea Stream. One of the heritable variations seen amongst all guppies is that they are brown and slightly transparent. This helps them to better camouflage with their surrounding environment. Some of the variations that we see today are guppies with longer or larger tails; also occasionally seen is a guppy that has a variation that is very similar to a swordtail. Another variation seen is guppies with rainbow tails, or shiny bluish tails. These tails are most likely due to sexual selection, because even though these variations may make it easier for predators to see them, it greater increases their chances of mating. But I think that the fish that have these tails are not at a total disadvantage, because even thought they are bright and inviting to predators, these guppies have also developed a larger and longer tails, which help them to swim faster and easier avoid predators (I should know, I’ve tried catching them, and they swim much faster than they did when I was a kid.)

Another animal that we see with many variations are the crayfish. In the stream the crayfish are preyed upon by the ducks, and probably both (other) birds and frogs/toads. Some of the variations that have occurred in the crayfish are color and size of crayfish. Some of the crayfish are brown and some are red. However I am not entirely sure if the brown crayfish are just the red crayfish at early stages, or a completely different species; but for now I’ll just compare them as two different species. The red crayfish seem to be at a disadvantage with camouflage because red is such an eye-catching color. Maybe the reason that the crayfish are red is to tell other animals “DANGER!”. This is very believable because I have noticed that the claws of the red crayfish are much larger and stronger than those of the brown crayfish (I’ve been pinched by the red ones before, and man do they hurt!). I also noticed that the red crayfish are much bigger than the brown crayfish. This could be as an advantage amongst other crayfish, because it’s like being the big guy in a group so none of your peers mess with you. This could be helpful because as you know fights do not only happen amongst predator and prey, but also amongst your own kind. This variation is a trade off however, because by being the biggest, you also become a bigger target (for predators) and it is also harder to move with more meat/shell. A variation that is seen amongst crayfish both red and brown is escape strategies. Some crayfish have this quick jolt by snapping their tails, propelling them great distances; others kick up the mud/debris from the bottom of the stream clouding the predators vision, for an easy escape. However some of the crayfish do not posses these variations and simply crawl away, these crayfish are considered “Unfit” and are unlikely to survive predation.

A third animal that we have seen natural selection act upon is the frog. (You probably don’t know this but) In the past frogs were often hunted by boars (that was before the trappers came and caught most of them), as well as humans (my dad and I used to hunt frogs all the time because they made so much noise at night…but not anymore) But because of these predators, frogs adapted and gained traits to better increase their odds of survival. They have gained longer legs, for greater bounds, and also the color of their skin is a slick dark bluish black. This has helped them to better blend in with rocks and night.

=**Visit #3**=

11/22/08

//__Free Journal #3__//

__Visit # 2__--__Visit #3__
Site #1Site #1

Red Crayfish:1 Red Crayfish:0 Crayfish:2---Crayfish:4 Guppy:53---Guppy:49 Black Tadpole:0---Black Tadpole:0 Big Tadpole:0--Big Tad:4 Frog:2Frog:0 Toad:1---Toad:0

Site #2---Site#2

Red Crayfish:3-Red Crayfish:2 Crayfish:2---Crayfish:1 Guppy:15---Guppy:19 Black Tadpole:0---Black Tad:0 Big Tadpole:1--Big Tad:2 Frog:0---Frog:0 Toad:0---Toad:0

(the dashes are separating the columns because the site automatically gets rid of extra spaces)

In my third visit to my eco place I visited during the day, whereas my second visit was during the night. My data came out as shown above. Between visit number two (night) and visit number three (day) I found that in “Site one”, the number of Red Crayfish went down, whereas the number of Crayfish went up. I also found that the number of Big Tadpoles went up while the number of black tadpoles remained at zero. I also found that the number of frogs and toads dropped to zero. Also the guppy population went down a little. (from visit two to three) Where as in “Site two” the amount of crayfish went down instead of up, and the number of guppies also went up. These amounts of data are not sufficient enough to concur anything large about the aquatic animals. The most logical thing that I could probably concur is that the frog and toad are mostly nocturnal animals, and are mostly seen at night. I could maybe infer, that Red Crayfish prefer to be out in the open more when the water is cooler, than when it is hot. (Because the water is colder at night when the sun is not out heating up the stream) Maybe I would also say that the Big Tadpoles, unlike the Red Crayfish, would rather prefer to be out during the day, when the sun is baking the water.

__Hypotheses for inferences__
1. If Frogs and toads are nocturnal animals, then I will find more frogs and toads when I visit during the night, than when I visit during the day.

In order to test this hypothesis I could make visits to my sites during the day, and during the night, and compare data over a couple of weeks.

2. If Red crayfish prefer to be in the open when water is cooler, then the number of crayfish I find during the day, will be less than that of the amount that I find during the night.

In order to test this hypothesis I could visit my sites, at day and night, and count the number of crayfish then take the temperature of the water. And compare the amount of crayfish that are out, during the different temperatures of the days.

3. If Big Tadpoles prefer open water more when the sun is out, then I will find more Big Tadpoles in the (open) water when the day is hottest, rather than later in the day or earlier in the day when the waster is cooler.

In order to test this hypothesis I could visit my eco place at different hours of the day when the sun is out. One in the morning, one in the evening, and one in the middle of the day when the sun is hottest, and count the number of tadpoles present.

//__Assigned Journal Entry#3__

Aiea Stream Food Web//

(sorry, not colored) = = =**Visit #4**=

11/27/08 &12/5/08->12/7/08

//__Free Journal #4__//

(due to flash floods during the previous week, my site markers have been washed away, so i changed my experiment a little and just used a general idea of where i put the site markers)

If Frogs and toads are nocturnal animals, then I will find more frogs and toads when I visit during the night, than when I visit during the day.
 * __Hypothesis__**

__**Procedures**__ 1. Find an area (I used two areas, but only one is needed) in which frogs and toads live 2. Visit the area when the sun is still in the sky, and count the number of toads and frogs that are there… (note* don't be disappointed if you don't find any) 3. On the SAME day, after the sun has gone down, visit the site again (bring flashlight), and count the number of frogs and toads that you see. 4. Repeat day and night visits, and observations for three more days 5. (Don’t forget to LOG DOWN The Number of frogs and toads that you see)

__Data Table__

__Observations:__ From my Visit #3 to my Visit #4 I visited my eco-place eight times, four times at night and four times during the day. While at the site I only looked for toads and frogs for my experiment(rather than fish,crayfish,guppies, and tadpoles), so i do not have data to compare to my previous visits. Actually I could compare the number of toads and frogs. The number of frogs and toads have remained relatively similar (during the day visits). Nothing else has changed much, except for the vegetation which has increased and grown taller. Also my site markers were washed away by flash floods, so it would have been much harder for me to count the number of aquatic animals in the water, and it would also have made my data innacurate.

__Conclusion:__ From my experiment, I do not think that I may fully conclude that frogs and toads are nocturnal animals, because my data shows that I found frogs and toads at my sites during the day. However I can conclude, based on my data, that frogs and toads prefer to be out during the night, rather than during the day.

__Pictures__

Day





Night



(Couldn't get an actual picture of the frogs because they are soo fast, but this is pretty much what they look like)

Videos

media type="youtube" key="M1jFaXRnLVY" height="344" width="425" (my nighttime visit)

media type="youtube" key="PAop6he-nCc" height="344" width="425" (just to show that the ducks are really alive)

//__Assigned Journal #4__//

Toad Kingdom: Animal Phylum: Chordata (Vertebras) Class: Amphibia Order: Tetrapoda Common Name: Toad

Duck Kingdom: Animal Phylum: Chordata(Vertebras) Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Common Name: Duck Guppy Kingdom: Animal Phylum: Chordata (Vertebras) Class: OSTEICHTHYES Order: Sarcopterygii Common Name: Guppy Crayfish Kingdom: Animal Phylum: arthropoda (Invertebras) Class: Crustacea Order: Decapoda Family: Astacidae Common Name:Crayfish Boar Kingdom: Animal Phylum: Chordata (Vertebras) Class: Mammalia Order: Tetrapoda Common Name: Boar