***Originally posted October 1st, 2021, but accidentally taken down. Republished without new edits March 1st, 2022.***
First Come the Updates
It's strange to think that I have already been in Puerto Rico for over a month, but I have two more left! I am finally getting a sense for learning the different tropical tree species now that my mind has settled from the information overload of the first few weeks. My Spanish learning from zero continues as I slowly build up vocabulary and comprehension (much easier thanks to my background in French). And lastly, since today is Halloween, I made a spooky forest cake despite many unexpected difficulties (picture at the end of the page)! First up are pictures of other things I've seen since my last post!
Bryophyte Time!
Now, moving onto the topic of the day: bryophytes! This week, we had guest speaker Dr. Amelia Merced come and lead a bryophyte identification workshop! She is a Botanist for both the International Institute of Tropical Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service, currently working on a survey for Sphagnum moss throughout forests in Puerto Rico. In fact, earlier this year, the team found a Sphagnum species thought to have gone extinct 35 years ago (2)! Dr. Merced is also passionate about increasing scientific literacy in students of all grade levels and the general public (3). There really is no better person than her to lead the workshop.
We began with an introduction into bryophytes. I will do a quick introduction into bryophytes, but you may read more about them here. In short, bryophytes are plants that do not have vascular tissue (tissue that transports water and nutrients throughout the organism), like roots. They instead absorb water and nutrients through their surfaces, like their leaves. Because they do not have roots, they are able to grow easier places that vascular plants struggle with, such as on rocks and tree bark. They also reproduce with spores, rather than seeds.
Here are some of the bryophytes we saw!
Types of Bryophytes
There are three types of bryophytes: hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Mosses have thin leaves that branch out with simple leaves (5). Dr. Merced describes them as tiny ferns. Hornworts and liverworts look pretty similarly to each other but are easily distinguishable from mosses. Liverworts are named after the shape of their thalli — parts of plants that aren't distinctly separated into leaves, stems, and roots (6) — which look like livers (7). Hornworts look like liverworts, except their flowering bodies look like horns. If all of this was confusing, no worries! I didn't actually understand the difference until I saw them! Can you tell which is which? Hover your mouse over the images to see the answer!
While we were looking at bryophytes, Dr. Merced also pointed out other plants of interest. The teeney tiny orchid in the image below. To show the size of the flowers, the picture to its right is a zoomed out picture of the leaves on a boulder. You may not see the flowers in the right picture. This is because the flowers are so small that if you stand more than a foot away from them, they just look like dots. Magnifying glasses are a necessity to see them! We weren't fully sure which orchid species they were, but we believe they are either Lepanthes rubripetala or Lepanthes woodburyana, both of which are pretty common in Puerto Rico. They like to grow near water on bryophyte mats. Therefore, if you see them, be sure not to disturb the bryophyte mats they grow on by stepping on them!
Halloween Forest Cake!
As promised, here is a picture of the cake I made for Halloween! Some mishaps happened because of limited ingredients and the fact that I'm not used to baking in hot and humid places. Nevertheless, I present to you, a spooky tropical forest cake with enough horrors to scare away anyone who works in a tropical forest!
Alright, that's it for now. I know you've become more interested in Bryophytes after reading through this post, so feel free learn more through the sources I linked below. Happy Halloween!
*Updated to better format the Sources section*
Sources
Merced, Amelia. "Welcome // Bienvenides." Amelia Merced. N.d. <https://ameliamerced.weebly.com/>.
"Peat moss species thought extinct, found thanks to Bryophyte survey." Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. March 10, 2021. <https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/sustain/peat-moss-species-thought-extinct-found-thanks-bryophyte>.
Merced, Amelia. "Welcome // Bienvenides." Amelia Merced. N.d. <https://ameliamerced.weebly.com/teaching-and-outreach.html>.
Crooks, Vanessa. "Bryophytes, Tiny plants in a big changing world." Smithsonian, Tropical Research Institute. February 22, 2021. <https://stri.si.edu/story/bryophytes>.
"Mosses and liverworts." Icelandic Institute of Natural History. N.d. <https://en.ni.is/flora-funga/flora/mosses-liverworts>.
"Thallus." Encyclopedia.com. May 29, 2018. <https://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/botany/botany-general/thallus>.
"Liverworts vs. Hornworts." VS Pages. August 3, 2020. <https://vspages.com/liverworts-vs-hornworts-2988/>.
Online Image Source
Papo Vives. "MARCHANTIALES LIVERWORT FAMILIAS." January 21, 2020. <https://popmicrosoftnueva.blogspot.com/2020/01/marchantiales-familias.html>.
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