Microenvironment

Day 44: Within this space of twenty-four square inches (a patch 4 inches by 6 inches), a complex balance exists between competing species. Living on an old-growth cedar stump, we find here Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant), a moss of uncertain identity and the young scales of one or more species of Cladonia (a lichen which you may recall from a previous entry). More careful examination reveals one tiny mushroom near the bottom of the photo, right of center.

The lichens and little mushroom thrive on rotting wood while the mosses have taken hold in nutrient-poor soil, blown in and trapped in crevices within the structure of the tree's bark. The fern has rooted within the organic debris of previous generations of moss and lichen. In time, these plants and fungi will consume the stump and, having nothing more on which to feed, they themselves will die off, creating detritus in which yet other species will thrive. As the cycle continues over countless generations of Man, this small patch may again support a cedar to fall naturally or be cut, again to supply an environmental niche to fern, moss, mushroom and lichen alike.