Little creatures

Over the winter break, the family took two day hikes in the Suislaw National Forest that runs along the coast range of central Oregon. Virtually all of the coast range is heavily forested (absent intensive logging, of course). It is wet and very green. Common trees include Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, hemlock, cedar and alder. Timber extraction has dramatically impacted many of these forests, degrading the aesthetic beauty of the landscape and probably affecting a number of ecosystem processes as well. Brown clear cuts dot hillsides right up to the scenic views of the Pacific; other recovering patches of forest here and there are manifest as carpets of homogenous dense evergreens.

Three small patches of wilderness have been staked out in the Suislaw, preserving small bits of land from this cycle of clear cutting and regrowth. Narrow ribbons of forest along streams and estuaries are protected too from logging, but visually, these bands of intact forest seem way too narrow.  Functionally, can they maintain cool temperatures and the right wood and sediment environment necessary for salmon?  Do the thin corridors provide enough habitat for large animals? 

I love hiking in dramatic landscapes (and there are certainly some left in Oregon's coastal range), but the less magnificent forests have treasures too. The key is to zoom in. Colorful fungi clinging to downed wood, carpets of mosses, and lichens of a range of interesting morphologies are common throughout the coastal forests. No matter the plainness of the forest cover, the little creatures can mesmerize. The beauty here in the coastal forest understory is manifest in shades of green and brown because the bright colors of flowering plants are generally uncommon. Close inspection reveals an array of forms in the carpets of lichens, mosses and ferns, but figuring out who is who is an intimidating task.

My best friend when it comes time to look at the little creatures is my macro lens.  I like trying to kneel or lay on the cold, sometimes wet ground, a few inches from the little creatures and try to steady my hand to capture something up close and amazing.  Moss sporophytes, powdered brown sori on the underside of fern fronds, insects, gills on the underbelly of mushroom caps, tiny flowers, water drops that appear like little crystals. A few shots of recent encounters with little stuff...