Mokelumne II

Un-opened flower of columbine, Aquilegia
formosa. This species was common along
the south shore of Caples Lake.

In my last post, I wrote about my trip to Round Top and Forth of July Lakes in the northern part of the Mokelumne Wilderness. A perfect time for exploring the high Sierra, I planned another visit. The following week I took my oldest son and returned to explore the Emigrant Lake trail, also in the northern part of the wilderness.

We started at the western point of Caples Lake and followed the southern shore of the lake under relatively dense tree cover. After about 3 km, the trail left Caples Lake to turn southward, and the trail began to climb in elevation. It roughly followed Emigrant Creek, a very small creek connecting Emigrant Lake with Caples Lake. Ascending towards Emigrant Lake there were a few small beautiful meadows, one in particular was a sea of waist-high bright green corn lilies, not yet in flower.

The sky was clear but the wind blew in strong gusts at Emigrant Lake where the trail ended. Like the lakes I visited last week, Emigrant Lake sits at the base of an arc of grey rock and snow. Ben and I climbed a few hundred feet up to a ridge from the eastern shore and had a great view of Emigrant Lake to the west and Caples Lake to the north. Overall I found some plant species not observed on my earlier trip. Here is a sampling:

Three species of Castilleja.

Frasera sp. I only found one individual of this species, but its large stature and very interesting flowers made it stand out.

Wyethia, or "mule's ears". This plant was common.

Calochortus. I only saw two individuals of this genus, both growing on a
relatively rocky, sun-exposed slope near Caples Lake.

Pectiantia breweri. This rather unassuming plant has the most incredible flowers
on close inspection. In the close-up photo to the right look for the five yellowish
petals. Each has pinnate branches to give the whole flower a web-like appearance.

Mokelumne Wilderness

Sierra Nevada wilderness areas in eastern
California. Map from www.sierrawild.gov.

The Sierras boast a string of wilderness areas from Desolation and Granite Chief near Lake Tahoe to Yosemite and Ansel Adams in the central Sierra to a constellation of smaller wildernesses in the south Sierra. I have not visited most of these, but yesterday I did a day hike in the Mokelumne Wilderness that intersects three national forests just south of Lake Tahoe. It was gorgeous.

Round Top Lake and "The Sisters" with
Kalmia polifolia (swamp laurel) in the foreground.

Starting near Woods Lake, I headed south on the Lost Cabin Mine trail with my first major destination being Round Top Lake. Nestled at the base of jagged snow-draped peaks known as “the Sisters”, Round Top Lake is a small alpine lake, displaying colors from brown to baby blue to turquoise depending on one’s perspective. From the lake surface at over 9000 ft elevation to the Sister’s heights of over 10,000 ft, snow lingered only in patches, though it would possibly be much more extensive this time of year if not for the persistent California drought. The barren rock comprising the higher peaks around the lake was cracked or twisted, but also mottled with yellow and orange lichens giving the harsh rock a hint of softness. Trees were sparse at this elevation and appeared to consist only of white pines.

From the Round Top area, I descended southward into a valley of sorts, switching back and forth down the slope to Fourth of July Lake. It was about a thousand foot descent. This northern part of the Mokelumne wilderness is a popular hiking and camping destination, but despite a few signs of human impacts, the beautiful landscape was untrammeled.

Looking south into the Mokelumne Wilderness with Fourth of July Lake near center.

Erysimum sp. (wallflower).

Wildflowers were abundant throughout my hike, and at higher elevations they included bright white patches of Phlox, and stalks of wallflowers, exploding in vibrant yellow almost like little fireworks from the grey soils. On the descent down to Fourth of July Lake, plant diversity increased markedly. Delicate pink blooming Sidalcea became increasingly common and I also observed Maianthemum racemosum that appeared to have a more yellow inflorescence than I’m familiar with from the plants I recall from the Oregon Cascades.

A ring of forest surrounded Fourth of July Lake and included mountain hemlock, pines, firs and even some short alders at the water’s edge. Snowmelt fed a stream of sorts that entered the 8160 ft elevation lake from the west, and it made little waterfalls cascading down the steep granite slopes that hug the northern and western sides of the lake.

Wildlife seemed a little sparse on my hike – some birds, a few chipmunks and an unknown larger mammal that left my sight just after noticing it. There were beetles, ants, mosquitos, butterflies and tiny fish in Round Top Lake. However, plant species were plentiful (I have many new species to learn while reviewing my photographs) and the landscape was incredible.

From left to right: Sidalcea sp., assorted lichens, ridge on the far side of Summit City Creek valley.

Whales!

Big Sur is one of my absolute favorite places. I don’t visit frequently enough. Being there rejuvenates my passion for exploration and for wilderness. And though it has perhaps become more crowded over the years, one can still find relative quiet and a chance to be absorbed by the immensity of this rugged and beautiful place.

With my two youngest kids I took a day off work to camp and tidepool over an extended weekend. Long sunny days and cool temperatures – the weather was perfect.

We camped at Plaskett Creek, a small US Forest Service campsite just east of California highway 1 in the southern stretch of Big Sur. Given that the low tide was very early the next morning, it made for convenient tidepooling at nearby Sand Dollar Beach. The site is a wide sandy cove, buttressed along the whole shoreline by bluffs, except for a single point of access via a stairwell at the southern third of the cove. There are rocky intertidal areas at the northern and southern ends of the sandy beach.

Sand Dollar Beach

The encrusting sponge,
Haliclona.

On any visit to the coastal rocks my eye is trained for seaweeds, but my most significant impression of the intertidal biota on this visit was the abundance of Phragmatopoma californica, an annelid worm that constructs intricate dwellings of sand at the edge of intertidal rocks much like a marine beehive. The colonies seemed to be quite abundant, challenging my memory of whether they were so common on my visit to this same site years ago.

Returning to the plants, steel grey-green Porphyra were common on rocks in the high intertidal zone and from the mid-intertidal down there were rich coverings of seaweeds. Small individuals of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, were frequent in the lower intertidal and I also found about three small bull kelp sporophytes.

Bands of the light brown Phragmatopoma colonies lining intertidal rocks.

One of the treats of the long drive along the Big Sur coast was spotting 4 grey whales – three near Willow Creek (a beach access point near the outpost of Gorda) and one farther north. The group of three swam together close to the rocky shore for quite some time, surfacing briefly perhaps every minute or so. Their dark grey mottled backs would appear at the surface, or sometimes a lone flipper would poke into the air. They frequently swam close together, at some points appearing a pair appeared to be nestled together.

Grey whales, now mostly only a northeast Pacific species, migrate annually between Baja California and Alaska. These animals, the loitering in Big Sur aside (I can’t blame them), were probably on their way north. Today there are perhaps about 20,000 animals along the west coast of North America, so the chance to observe several on our trip was fantastic. 

A trio of grey whales surfacing together.

We also saw sundry other marine mammals.

Macrocystis pyrifera, giant kelp.

Fucus distichus, Silvetia compressa and various red seaweeds on intertidal rocks.

Middle Fork American River

Sometimes gems lie close to home. I’ve passed through the town of Auburn, California quite a few times, but rarely have ventured off to explore the area with its distinctive red soils. Auburn is just northeast of Sacramento, a gateway to the low elevation foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Yesterday for a rare day off work, I went hiking in the Auburn State Recreation Area with a close friend. We hiked and scrambled among rocks along the middle fork of the American River, an untamed Sierra river of rapids, sand and gravel bars, and crisp cool waters flowing through steep forested hills. Given the worsening drought in California, I imagine the flow may have been low compared to historic levels.

Bedrock, boulders and cobbles of various sizes were littered among the river basin, much of the bedrock having a greenish serpentine hue and smooth undulations from centuries of erosive forces. Milky white quartz could be found as smooth stones in the river bed or as white veins that sharply interrupted the darker bedrock. At a shady spot at the edge of a river - a lunchspot - a large yellow-brown banana slug slowly meandered up a huge vertical rock face. With no vegetation nearby, it seemed off course for finding a food or mate.

The steep south-facing hill slopes along the river were covered in abundant flowers, especially blue lupines and California poppies, their brilliant orange petals consistently smaller here than in other grasslands or gardens. I found milkweeds and a white species of Castilleja too. Butterflies were abundant and included a large yellow but black-striped species, and a black shimmering species. They wouldn't sit still long enough to be photographed except at a large blooming tree where they congregated in abundance.

Ctenophores

A beach-stranded ctenophore (perhaps Pleurobrachia)
found near the mouth of Humboldt Bay, CA, 2007.

Most people, many biologists included, get excited about mammals, birds, or other such furries and fuzzies. I’ve long been attracted to much more obscure groups of creatures. I think cyanobacteria are amazing; I love ferns and gymnosperms; I can’t get enough of kelps or red seaweeds. In college I was very interested in invertebrates, and thought for a time that I would do research on marine inverts once I started graduate school. In my professional work since I’ve steered towards photosynthetic organisms, but I still have a fondness for the inverts. One of the smallest phyla of invertebrates is the Ctenophora, also known as comb jellies or sea gooseberries. There are approximately 150 species globally. As a group they live completely in the ocean, with no freshwater representatives (Brusca and Brusca 1990).

Most comb jellies are pelagic organisms in the open ocean. As members of the plankton, ctenophores are largely passive drifters. However, they are also capable of some locomotion, powered by eight rows of fused cilia that line the outside of their gelatinous bodies. These rows of cilia, called ctenes, are one of the distinctive characteristics of the phylum. If your local aquarium has ctenophores on display, you are likely to be able to see the beautiful shimmering iridescence of the beating comb rows as the animals swim. A few ctenophores are benthic (bottom-dwelling).

One of my favorite ctenophores is Pleurobrachia, also known as the sea gooseberry. It is one of the model ctenophores that are introduced in invertebrate zoology courses. It has 8 rows of fused cilia like other members of its phylum. The body is nearly spherical and has an attractive radial symmetry (technically bi-lateral symmetry).

All ctenophores are believed to be predators, preying for example on marine zooplankton. In Pleurobrachia, there are two long tentacles emerging from its nearly spherical body. Specialized cells called colloblasts line the tentacles and are involved in prey capture. In essence, these cells burst and release adhesive materials on contact with the prey. The captured organisms are then drawn to the vicinity of the mouth when the tentacles retract towards the body. Some ctenophores also just passively capture food once it is caught in mucus on the outside of the body (talk about a free lunch!). 

Most ctenophores are hermaphrodites, producing eggs and sperm in the same individual. They have relatively simple life histories compared to many other invertebrates or marine algae. Fertilized eggs divide into an embryo and then into a larval phase known as a cidippid. The larval stage looks like Pleurobrachia. Like other “simple” organisms, ctenophores can also grow asexually – replacing even large portions of the body if damaged.

Beroid ctenophore. Credit: NURP, NOAA, archived here.

With translucent bodies and quasi-radial symmetry, many comb jellies resemble true jellyfish, but the latter are classified in class Scyphozoa of the phylum Cnidaria, and are a distinct evolutionary lineage of animals. Cnidaria possess stinging cells (pneumatocysts) with which they capture prey, but these specialized cells are lacking in the ctenophores. Though comb jellies and true jellies also both have simple nervous systems – usually characterized as a “nerve net” – recent research suggests their nervous systems are fairly distinct. The evolutionary relationships of ctenophores to other simple animal groups such as sponges (Porifera) and cnidarians has been a prominent research topic lately.

In late 2013, a team led by NIH researchers published the genome sequence of Mnemiopsis leidyi, an Atlantic Ocean ctenophore that is infamous for invading several Eurasian bodies of water and negatively impacting native food webs. Using DNA sequences from Mnemiopsis, Ryan et al. (2013) found evidence that ctenophores were the most ancient of major animal groups, branching from the animal tree of life before sponges, cnidarians and other animals. For a long time, sponges – which lack nerve cells and differentiated tissue layers – were believed to be the most primitive animal group. Last year, in another high-profile study, a large team of researchers compared the genome of Pleurobrachia and the transcriptome of additional ctenophores species with other animal groups (Moroz et al. 2014). Like Ryan et el. (2013), their findings also suggested that ctenophores are the most primitive major group of invertebrates.

Currently hypothesized relationships among animal groups including the ctenophores. Image from Figure 1f in Moroz et al. 2014, Copyright 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited, under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.

Both studies discussed the implications of this new understanding of ctenophore phylogeny for the evolution of nervous systems in animals as a whole. Because ctenophores have nerve and muscle cells (and sponges lack them), the question emerges about how many times nervous systems have evolved in animals. Moroz et al. (2014) found that ctenophore nervous systems are missing (or silence) many of the neurotransmitter molecules that are found in other animal groups, so they proposed that nervous systems may have evolved twice during the course of animal evolution: once for ctenophores, and once for cnidarians and more complex animals. The alternative hypothesis is that the animal nervous system evolved once in the common ancestor of all animals, but then was lost in sponges and another amoeboid-like group of invertebrates group known as the Placozoa. While this evolutionary question is far from settled (e.g., Ryan 2014), these are intriguing ideas pertinent to the early evolution of animal life some 600 million years ago. What is exciting is that biology continues to acquire new tools (in this case large-scale nucleic acid sequencing) to help address questions about the diversity of life that have been around for a long time!

Bibliography and citations

- Brusca RC and Brusca GJ. 1990. Invertebrates. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA, 922 pp.

- Moroz LL et al. 2014. The ctenophore genome and the evolutionary origins of neural systems. Nature 510:109-114.

- Ryan JF et al. 2013. The genome of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and its implications for cell type evolution. Science 342:1242591-1 to 8.

- Ryan JF. 2014. Did the ctenophore nervous system evolve independently? Zoology 117:225-226.

Spring in the Snow Mountain Wilderness

Oak woodland.

It has been perfect spring weather in northern California, concerning only because it is scarcely past mid February and spring has already arrived. Yesterday I visited the SE corner of the Snow Mountain Wilderness which sits in the coast range of northern California. At only about 2000 ft, I visited one of the lowest elevations in the wilderness, which includes East Snow Mountain peak that exceeds 7000 ft elevation. Geographic names notwithstanding, there was not a trace of snow on the trail or on any mountains in the distance.

The region of the Bath House Trail that I explored included oak and pine woodland and chaparral. Some of the deciduous oaks were just beginning to produce new leaves, showing the brilliant tender green color of new foliage. Other species included manzanita, pines, poison oak and some scattered western redbud. The oak woodland had a carpet of green grass, Galium and several flowering species: purple onions, yellow buttercups, pink beak-shaped Dodecatheon and an interesting forb bearing bluish flowers that reminded me of a milkweed.

Unknown forb with blue flowers. The white hoods on the petals that
form a ring at the center of the flower remind me of a milkweed flower.

Fritillaria recurva.

On one north-east facing hillslope, I found scarlet fritillary, a lily-like herb with bright orange flowers. According to the Calflora website, Fritillaria recurva typically blooms from April to June, but flowers were already on full display during my visit. This species is also apparently associated with serpentine soils. Serpentine rocks can be greenish in color, and their soils are relatively low in calcium and high in magnesium, creating conditions that host quite a few endemic plant species. I would like to learn much more about the serpentine flora of the west coast.

Incredible plants: Nereocystis

I wrote previously about a fascinating intertidal kelp, the sea palm, found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. A very close relative of this species is the bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana. This very large marine seaweed is a favorite beach find of kids (and more playful adults) since the flexible stipes of the plant make excellent ropes or whips during beach adventures.

Bull kelp forest at Deception Pass State Park, northern Washington, July 2013.

Despite the genetic similarity between Postelsia and Nereocystis, the bull kelp occupies a different habitat than Postelsia and has a rather different morphology. Nereocystis is principally a subtidal species with morphological features that are adapted for maximizing photosynthesis in deeper water. At the ocean bottom, plants are attached to a hard substratum with conical holdfasts that support long, thin, flexible stipes. Each stipe gradually expands into a semi-spherical pneumatocyst, the air bladder of the species. Several smooth strap-shaped blades emerge from the pneumatocyst at the top of each plant. Filled with mostly carbon monoxide (yes, the poison!), the function of the pneumatocyst is to help the blades stay afloat near the water surface.

A Nereocystis blade with sori (dark brown
patches) at Trinidad, Humboldt County,
California, August 2002.

Like all kelp species, the large plants seen along the coast actually only represent half of the kelp life cycle. The macroscopic plants are called sporophytes. The other, microscopic stage of the life cycle begins with the production of spores in tissues (called sori) that develop in the center of the blades of the sporophytes. The sori fall to the sea floor and release spores which develop into gametophytes - multicellular, but microscopic, filaments of cells on rock surfaces (Druehl 2000). Separate male and female gametophytes produce eggs and sperm and after fertilization of the egg, a new sporophyte generation is born.

 Nereocystis is one of only a few kelps worldwide that grows large enough to form subtidal kelp forests. Ecologically, such species are known as “foundation species” (Dayton 1972) because they literally provide the habitat structure upon which an entire ecosystem is built. Kelp forests are home to other numerous other species of macroalgae, invertebrates, fish and marine mammals. In the northern Pacific Ocean (the global hotspot of kelp diversity), other kelp species that are large enough to form forests include Macrocystis (giant kelp), Pelagophycus (elk kelp), and to some degree, Eualaria fistulosa and Egregia menziesii. Nereocystis is the main canopy-forming kelp species north of about Santa Cruz, California. From about Santa Cruz south to Baja California, Macrocystis is the main forest-forming species. In certain areas of the central California coastline, such as Big Sur, Macrocystis and Nereocystis can co-occur.

An intertidal bull kelp sporophyte with Costaria costata, Egregia
menziesii and other seaweeds, Carmel, Monterey County,
California, May 1999.

Like its relative Postelsia, Nereocystis is usually an annual species (Abbott and Hollenberg 1976). Most adult plants last no more than one growing season. With such a short life span and the capacity to attain a length of up to 36 meters, the bull kelp sporophyte has prodigious growth rates – estimated to be as much as 6-17 cm per day (Druehl 2000, Springer et al. 2010)! Though usually subtidal, bull kelps also occasionally grow in the intertidal and can be seen on a calm day at low tide. I love finding small sporophytes anywhere from a few inches to a few feet long during a low tide excursion.

To dive in a Nereocystis kelp forest is a delightful experience. One of my most memorable dives occurred during college at the Big Creek Ecological Reserve south of Monterey on the rugged Big Sur coast. There, in the frigid water I was able to observe the graceful stipes of bull kelps rising like kites up in the sea. The bull kelp is a stout but graceful plant, perfectly depicting the dual beauty and wildness of the Pacific coast.

References

Abbott IA and Hollenberg GJ. 1976. Marine Algae of California. Stanford University Press.

Dayton PK. 1972. Toward an understanding of community resilience and the potential effects of enrichment to the benthos at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. In: Proceedings of the Colloquium on Conservation Problems in Antarctica.

Druehl LD. 2000. Pacific Seaweeds. Harbour Publishing.

Springer Y et al. 2010. Ecosystem based management of Nereocystis. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review.

Ten Mile State Marine Reserve

Intertidal and offshore pinnacle at Ten Mile State
Marine Reserve, Mendocino County, CA, Jan 2015.

Friday was a bright sunny winter day on the northern California coast. I went tidepooling at Ten Mile State Marine Reserve a few miles north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. I discovered this site years ago and named it site 71.70 from the mile marker for nearby state highway 1. In 2012, this area was incorporated into a state marine reserve. Access to the intertidal is down a hundred foot coastal bluff which is impossible in most places except for a steep thin trail that leads down loose soil and rocks. It isn’t the easiest trail, but it isn’t particularly harrowing either if one is careful.

There are abundant intertidal gardens and tide pools here among dark boulders of various sizes. Numerous pinnacles and rocks off shore provide some protection to the immediate coastline, which is a fairly narrow beach consisting of coarse sand, cobbles and bedrock. The swells were relatively calm. January is about the least optimal time to observe the glory of marine algae in the northeast Pacific, but there were perennial kelps, rockweeds and red seaweeds present on the rocks. Photos from my last visit during summer 2008 indicated that patches of the sea palm Postelsia palmaeformis were present on intertidal rocks at this site, but there was no sign of that species today. Perhaps new sporophytes (adult plants) of this species will appear this coming spring.

Left: Intertidal Postelsia population in summer 2008. Right: Jewel top snail, 2015.

One of the most striking plants I observed today was Codium setchellii, a dark green (almost black), seaweed of velvet texture that spreads over rocks in the lower to mid-intertidal zone. It is sister to another green seaweed, Codium fragile, that has the popular name of “dead-man’s fingers” because of its cylindrical dark green branches. Instead of morbid appendages hanging pendant on the rocks, however, C. setchellii grasps the substrate with crenulations that aren’t too dissimilar to a human brain. I think therefore, in honor of its relative, an appropriate common name for this plant is “dead man’s brains”.

Codium setchellii, aka "dead man's brains"!

This tidepooling trip was also the maiden voyage for a new “action” video camera I purchased. I’ll need to practice the underwater techniques in the future, but I’ve included a short video of some tidepool footage. 

Looking north at Ten Mile State Marine Reserve from the coastal bluffs, Jan 2015.

Carmel tidepools

Costaria costata, 2014.

The Monterey Bay area is one of the coastal gems of California: strikingly beautiful marine life, diverse and easily accessible tide pools, and a rich tradition of marine research and education. Ever since my undergraduate days at UC Santa Cruz, I've loved to explore tidepools from the San Mateo County coastline south to Monterey and Big Sur. Spring-time low tides are an ideal period to visit the rocky intertidal, though that often necessitates an early rise of 5 or 6 AM to catch the action.

Carmel Point is one of my favorite places to tidepool. It is a few minutes south of the Monterey Peninsula by car. The town of Carmel is probably one of the most affluent coastal communities in California, but it is small and has a laid back feel. Carmel Point is a short stretch of rocky coastline that interrupts two more-or-less crescent shaped coves of sandy beach to the north and south. Offshore kelp forests run right into the low intertidal, so at the right times one can literally walk through a grove of giant kelp by just getting wet up to the knees.

Panorama at Carmel Point. Tidepools extend to the south. The Monterey peninsula is in the distance at center and right.

Corallina officinalis, 2014.

Carmel Point is an incredible spot for seaweed lovers like myself. There are interesting finds in all of the three major phyla of marine seaweeds. Green seaweeds are represented by alluring plants like "dead man's fingers" (Codium fragile) and the delicate Bryopsis. Reds appear in their varied hues, including the rich blades of Chondracanthus and Erythrophyllum delesserioides. There are various species of branching coralline algae in the lower to mid intertidal, lending a vibrant pink to the mosiac of benthic organisms on the rocks. 

Low intertidal Macrocystis pyrifera, 2007.

And, of course the large and conspicious brown algae are very diverse here. In addition to long strands of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) in the intertidal, there is bull kelp (Nereocystis), low intertidal groves of Laminaria setchellii and occurrences of feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii) and Alaria marginata. The higher rocks host several species of rockweeds: Fucus distichus, Pelvetiopsis limitata, Silvetia compressa and Hesperophycus californicus.

Chondracanthus exasperatus, 2014.

I've made a half dozen or so trips to this site over the years, so I'm starting to have a few places I can check for favorite seaweed species. For instance, I've observed during intermittent visits a mid-intertidal population of the sea palm, Postelsia palmaeformis. The population this year grew on only a single rock, and plants looked a little tattered. One of my all time favorite kelp species, Costaria costata, appeared to be pretty common this spring. I found it in a usual pool just south of the Postelsia rock and in a high density at another low intertidal spot.

The nudibranch Triopha maculata on an opaque tunicate, 2014.

While tidepooling, my attention is usually taken with the seaweeds, but occasionally I notice some showy invertebrates too. This spring I found three species of colorful nudibranchs. On a previous visit I found a really cool green shrimp, its body colored perhaps from ingesting green algae.

Super cool green shrimp, 2009.

A small bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana,
submerged in a tidepool, 2010.

One thing I thought of during my visit this spring to Carmel was the intellectual challenge of understanding the ecology of these diverse rocky intertidal communities. There are literally hundreds of species of benthic algae and invertebrates packed tightly into the complex amalgam of bedrock, boulders and sand. Sure, there is the obvious vertical zonation of species that is driven heavily by the tides, but there is also so much three dimensional habitat structure creating seemingly infinite combinations of light, wave energy, sand scour and temperature. Add to these physical gradients the host of possible biological interactions (competition, herbivory, facilitation) among the dozens of co-existing species, and the unique life history patterns of immense phylogenetic diversity, and comprehension of the grand picture can seem unattainable. So, an observation here or experiment there that lends insight into these incredible ecosystems is a tremendous intellectual reward.

The strawberry anemone, Corynactis californica, growing underwater in the low intertidal, 2014. 

This is a small red alga, Pterosiphonia dendroidea, that I captured with my macro lens growing in a sandy area at Carmel Point in 2009. Most fronds of this plant are only a few cm in length. I love how individual cells can be seen on this plant!

Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Salmon River

Western Oregon is so green, especially from the perspective of a naturalist who moved back to California recently. Last week I returned to the northwest for two weeks of professional meetings and field work, but I was able to explore a bit on my days off during the Memorial day weekend. Yesterday, I headed east from Portland towards Mt. Hood. On a clear day this beautiful white peak presents a marvelous site from Portland. The Mt. Hood area is home to three wildernesses: Mt. Hood Wilderness encompassing the mountain's summit and its slopes to the east and west, Badger Creek to the east, and Salmon-Huckleberry to the southwest. I spent one night backpacking into the green coniferous forest of Salmon-Huckleberry and its lush green understory. Here are some photos from the wilderness and surrounding Mt. Hood National Forest.

The diminutive Cornus unalaschkensis.

This is an incredible spider that I encountered. Its brown body was not more than a centimeter long but each of the needle-like black legs were a few inches long!

Two of the three Maianthemum species present in the area: M. stellatum (left) and M. racemosum (right).