May 2022 – Discover-Nature

A Spring Walk

The weather has included a lot of rain in these past few days, and there is more coming. Temperatures are still cool at night, but getting quite warm during the day, contributing to unstable air, thunderstorms, and tornado watches. Vegetation in our area is green and lush, inviting for the many species that inhabit our area. I hope you enjoy the sounds and pictures of spring and some of the inviting observations we can look forward to in the near future.

Boreal chorus frogs, Pseudacris maculata, are still out calling, even though it is near the end of their breeding season.

by DonArnold 2022

Another early spring species, white trout lily, Erythronium albidum, is still blooming.

by DonArnold 2010

And now that warmer weather is here to stay, both eastern garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis, and plains garter snakes, Thamnophis radix, are moving away from their winter dens and dispersing into woods and fields.

Garters emerging from winter den by DonArnold 2021

Golden Alexanders, Zizia aurea, and celandine poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum, are making a bright yellow welcoming splash for the next several weeks.

Weather always plays a large role in late spring in northern Illinois. A good thunderstorm can bring wonderful, soaking rains or wind and lightning to drive us indoors.

Thunderheads are a weekly happening by DonArnold 1986

Many species depend on water in ephemeral ponds at this time of year, including frogs, toads and salamanders. First to call are chorus frogs, Pseudacris maculata, then gray tree frogs, Hyla versicolor, and finally bullfrogs, Lithobates catesbeianus, call well into summer.

Gray tree frogs calling by DonArnold 2022

Bullfrog at Waterfall Place by DonArnold 2020

As spring moves into early summer, look for wood ducks, Aix sponsa, in woodland ponds

by DonArnold 2012

And mallards, Anas platyrhynchos, with puffball babies keeping close to mama

by DonArnold 2020

Green dragons, Arisaema dracontium, and their close relative, Jack-In-The-Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, are already standing tall

Other species to begin to watch for in the coming weeks include bumblebees gathering pollen from flora of all species and Eastern black swallowtail caterpillars, Papilio polyxenes asterius, destined to fly away at summer’s end.

Bumblebee collecting rose pollen by DonArnold 2020

Eastern Black Swallowtail larvae on fennel by SueOBrien 2020

I hope you are able to observe these and many other sights in the coming weeks on your neighborhood walk or in local forest preserves.

Lakes & Ponds

Pond & lake observations on the trail

Walking trails in northern Illinois are found among many lakes and ponds. Over time, these bodies of water have formed and disappeared at varying rates, providing habitats for wildlife and vegetation.

Quiet mornings at the dock, Maple Hill, KS by RisingThermals, Aug 2021

Several types of water features were formed by the action of the last glaciers that left this area about 13,000 years ago. Kettle lakes were created when large blocks of ice, buried in the rocky edges of retreating glaciers, finally melted, leaving a hole filled with water. Surface lakes also resulted from glacial debris blocking off rivers and streams.

The Oxbow at The Wild Center, NY, Jun 2017

During heavy rainfall, some rivers collect enough water to force a new flow straight through the landscape leaving an older channel cut off into an oxbow lake. As rivers slow and shrink, beavers move in to dam them and create new ponds. Limestone lies under much of Illinois topsoil, dissolving slowly in running water, opening up sink holes that quickly fill to form new lakes.

Ponds and lakes constantly gain and lose water. Water comes in from rainfall, rivers and streams, groundwater, and springs. Water is lost through rivers and streams, groundwater aquifers, and evaporation. Incoming water often carries mineral and organic sediments, slowly filling in the basin. In areas where shorelines are not exposed to wind and wave action, seeds floating on wind and water will begin to take root.

Emergent wetland at Eugene Field by US Army Corp of Engineers, Jun 2014

Ponds and lakes come in many sizes, with shorelines that gradually recede to deeper water or fall off quickly. On the surface, water molecules are attracted to each other to form a firm layer between the water below and the air above. Some organisms use the top side of the surface layer to land on, float on, or run across. Insects, snails, and microorganisms hang off the underside of the surface layer. Where sunlight penetrates, water layers are teeming with single-celled green organisms providing an abundant food source for aquatic wildlife. Shallow lake bottoms support emergent plants, rooted in bottom soil and sending shoots above the surface for air and sunlight.

Cattails around the pond by Jemma Marycz, Jun 2016

Reeds at Keighley Tarn, by Tim Green, Oct 2009

Reeds, grasses, and other marsh vegetation colonize shorelines and shallow areas. Tall vegetation catches and traps wind-blown particles. Sediment comes in from streams and rivers running through the vegetation, gets filtered out and added to the soil layers. As more plants grow on the edges, and soil deposits become denser, woody shrubbery start to move in. Given time, in a natural process, existing lakes and ponds will become ever smaller.

Many lakes and ponds are affected by human activities, slowing down the natural cycle. Dredging and removal of edge vegetation reduces the amount of accumulated sediment. In urban areas, open ground that used to catch rainwater and allow it to slowly filter into wetlands is being covered with impermeable surfaces including roads, buildings, and parking lots. Increased runoff from these surfaces flows quickly into existing lakes and out again just as fast, keeping vegetation from getting an anchor.

Anderson Japanese Gardens, Rockford, IL by Jpellgen, May 2018

As you wander the trails, be sure to observe the differences in lakes and ponds of all varieties, and the many plant and animal species supported by each.

Spring Rains

Rain gardens help control thunderstorm effects

Even though it is still spring on the calendar, temperatures are soaring, bringing big changes to the atmosphere and the air and water cycles. Water, mainly from our oceans, constantly evaporates into the air that is moving over the surface. Denser air fills the lower levels of the atmosphere and is able to absorb more water vapor and more heat. As an air mass warms, it rises and spreads out in higher levels of the atmosphere. Air becomes less dense, loses some of its heat, and allows water vapor to condense and form clouds. Most clouds do not have rainfall because the updraft of warm air is fast enough to keep the small water droplets forming the clouds from falling. Rain happens when enough water condenses to form a heavy enough droplet to fall.

Wyoming thunderstorm by Bill Lile, Nov 2008

As this process of rising and falling air and water droplets continue, a storm develops. Loss of heat also releases small electrical charges, which will eventually combine into a chain called lightening. Worldwide, about 2,000 thunderstorms are happening at any given moment. There are 100,000 annually in the U.S., and about 10% reach a severe level with hail, winds exceeding 57 mph, or spawning tornados. Rains can be heavy, putting down vast quantities of water on the landscape in a short period of time. How much water? One inch of rain on an acre equals 27,154 gallons of water. At Benedictine’s campus in Lisle, one inch of rainfall equals about 3 million gallons. On average, rainfall in the continental U.S. would cover every acre with 30″ of water annually.

Several storms sweep the northern US by NASA, Oct 2010

In the last century, worldwide average temperatures have risen 1.4˚F, and are expected to rise 3˚F to 5˚F in the coming 100 years. We are experiencing more rainstorms annually, and they are of greater intensities due to warmer air holding more water vapor and rising temperatures sucking more moisture from both land and ocean. When clouds condense enough to form rain, there is a greater quantity of water vapor, so rainfall is heavier from greater amounts of water falling back to earth.

Cloud formation by Dean Morley, Oct 2012

Heavier rainfalls may be absorbed in some areas, if they do not happen too often. However, most watersheds have been heavily affected by human activities including deforestation, dams, irrigation activities, depletion of groundwater, and draining of wetlands. More rainfall running off the surface leads to less moisture in the soil and allows soil to get hotter and drier. As rains ease toward midsummer, vegetative areas are harder hit by these dry effects.

Rain gardens are a simple and inexpensive way to alleviate some of these problems. They can be created in any area where the soil is slightly depressed. Runoff is directed into the area where it can soak into the ground. Many are planted with grasses or flowering native perennials providing a beautiful garden while reducing runoff. It is an easy solution you can create in your own backyard. For more ideas, click this link: for Rain Garden Requirements & Plant Lists from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Mushrooms in the Woods

Springtime fungi fruit

Fungi, neither plants nor animals, have a kingdom of their own, and there are over 1,000 species in northern Illinois. Fungi have no roots, leaves, flowers, stems, nor chlorophyll. They do not make their own food, but obtain nutrients from decaying organic matter. Most are never seen, living underground or inside other species. For many fungi, when it is time to reproduce, they grow an aboveground fruit called a mushroom.

Eastern yellow fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, club-mushroom by Nicholas A. Tonelli, Sep 2011

Puffball, Calbovista subsculpta, by Alan Rockefeller, Jun 2009

Hymenophore, that produce spores, are located near the top of the mushroom. A spore is a small, usually single-celled, reproductive unit able to grow into a new fungi without sexual fusion with another individual. Spores can move about by wind, water, or insects. Mushrooms are classified into one of two groups depending on how spores are released. Club-fungi, basidiomycetes, drop their spores from the exterior surface of their club-like caps. Sac-fungi, ascomycetes, shoot their spores outward from inside a sac-like structure under the mushroom’s cap.

Yellow morel, Morchella esculenta, by Under the same moon, May 2011

Scarlet elf cup by Paul Boudreau, Apr 2018

Different types of fungi can be found in a forest ecosystem. Saprophytic fungi feed on dead organic matter, helping decomposition and returning nutrients to the soil. Mutualistic fungi work with a host plant to benefit both organisms. An example critical to many forest species in our area is the association of fungi and plant roots known as mycorrhizae. Plants provide food in the form of carbohydrates to the fungi. In return, fungi made of long slender tubes, looking like a spider’s web, attaches itself to the plant’s root system, increasing the root’s surface area and allowing more water and nutrients to be absorbed.

Mycorrhizae fungus wrapping tree roots by Univ of Pennsylvania, 1934

In addition to providing beneficial services to plants, fungi play an important role in maintaining healthy habitat for many area wildlife species. Tree cavities, created from decomposing wood in snags, are used for shelter by birds, small mammals, and insects. Rotting logs found on the forest floor offer food, shelter, and protection for salamanders and frogs. Carpenter ants build their nests by hollowing out a cavity in rotting wood.

Pileated woodpecker in tree cavity by Yeimaya, Mar 2006

Raccoon in tree cavity by Steve Burt, May 2010

Carpenter ants in decayed wood log by Bryant Olsen, Jun 2014

The largest living organism in the world is a fungus in Oregon, covering an area three-and-a-half miles in diameter and estimated to be 2,400 years old. In addition, at 6 million tons annually, mushrooms are the fifth largest crop in the United States. It is generally accepted that mushrooms are slowly disappearing as are forested areas, but none are listed as threatened nor endangered because so little is known about them. Consider taking along a mushroom field guide on your next woodland walk.