marks+assigned+journal+1

Niches- I missed 2 good pictures (my camera ran out of battery) one was of a dragonfly and a bee fighting, (they were moving very fast and I probably couldn't have captured the picture either way. And the other was of a flight of black birds, I believe they are red vented bulbuls.

Flora- Various Lichen (algae and fungus)-breaks down and feeds on rock-matter, sunlight, and water. After dying, bacteria breaks it down into soil.

Pine tree(unIDed)- lives on sun, water, and soil nutrients, reproduces via pollination of female cones from male cones, and the releasing of seeds form the fertilized female cones. Cactus (unIDed)- interesting pic of flowering cacti. lives on sun, water and soil nutrients, has a thick cell wall, and a large amount of vacuoles for greater water storage purposes, allowing it to live in arid conditions.

Small purple flowered plant (unIDed)- pollinated by bees, lives on sun, water and soil nutrients.

Algae looking plant (unIDed)- seems to be pollinated by butterflies, lives on sun, water and soil nutrients.

various multi-flowered plants (unIDed)-seems to be pollinated by bees, lives on sun, water and soil nutrients.

white berried plant-In some places where all the plants are relatively small, it seems to thrive, but in other areas, where plants are bigger than it, it is smaller and produces less berries.





various grasses and weeds- These provide food for birds and bugs. lives on sun, water and soil nutrients. weeds have many seeds, grasses have less.





multi berried plant- Seems to be eaten by birds and bugs, for some reason turns black. (possibly from rotting).

pink-flowered plant-seems to be pollinated by butterflies. lives on sun, water and soil nutrients.

palm tree- seemingly out of place, possibly planted by human hand. lives on sun, water, and soil nutrients. reproduces via seeds.





Some flora seem to be changing season... or dying... i can't tell, its off the path, and I don't wan to try to collect samples on 85º cliffs.

Fauna- Various birds, black (red-vented bulbuls), brown (golden plover), white-yellow (unIDed) limited sightings, abundant sounds. They eat bugs, berries, nuts, seeds, and nectar.

Bees (black and honey)- hive not sighted yet, takes pollen to hive, and in doing so pollinates various flora, eaten by Dragonflies. Dead bees are eaten by ants, or whatever else finds it first.

Ants (African red and black)- Found an interesting entrance to an ant lair, there are several ants just standing right outside the entrance, guarding it (pic). Lives in mounds, or in underground lairs (made of tunnels). Eats nearly any plant or bug. Eaten by dragonflies.

Dragonflies(unIDed)- Lives in/near the water. Eat all the other bugs, hard to take a photo of...

Small slow blue white flies(unIDed)- Feed on plants.

Various Butterflies (unIDed)- feeds on various plants, pollinates various plants.

Moths(unIDed)- feeds on various plants, pollinates various plants.

gnats(unIDed)- feeds on various plants, pollinates various plants.

Some sort of orange crab/spider thing(unIDed)- unknown where they live, but they seem to get on my bag a lot. POSSIBLY A VARROA MITE

OMG DEAD MONGOOSE- yes.... well.... um... its a dead mongoose... there are bites on its neck and it has cuts all over its body... possible the work of another mongoose, a rat, a snake, or an owl at night

Abiotic-

Non-living things that affect the niches of this environment, are... The sun: provides photons necessary for plants to perform photosynthesis, which allows it to make its own food through h2o and co2. It also increases the temperature of the environment. Evaporates the water, thereby increasing the humidity.

The rocks: provide for a living environment for the lichen. After broken down to soil/dirt by the lichen...

The soil/dirt: provides for a living environment for some bugs such as ants and plants. Also provides plants with nutrients and a rooting area.

Clouds: Overcast the sun, possibly lowering the temperature, possibly rains.

Rain: Provides water that sustains all organisms, some in different ways. Hydrates everything. Provides plants with fertile soil where they can draw nutrients and water from, and get a deeper rooting. They also need it to make their food. Provides dragonflies with a place to live/breed.