One tree

Today, the third day of our adventures, started with a morning filled with animal scat, plant identification, hacking through the woods, and tons of inquisitiveness. 

We found a black gum tree surrounded at its base by a midden, at least two feet deep, made up of generations of porcupine scat!

My favorite part of the morning, however, came later when we happened across a large white pine with a whole host of  connections to the ecosystem around it.  I found this particular tree/spot really interesting as it gave us the chance to really see how different pieces of the natural world not only coexist, but even depend upon one another in order to survive.  This particular white pine hosted a whole army of carpenter ants, which then in turn provided food for the pileated woodpecker.  Between the woodpecker and the ants, different cavities within the tree were created, lending a living space to a flying squirrel.  The flying squirrel, (perhaps multiple squirrels and/or generations) which chose to dwell in this particular tree, then provided an ample amount of scat for the scarab beetle to use to form protective homes for their larvae to then later turn into beetles and hatch from these little scat cocoons! 

I loved being able to see all of these connections between so many different parts of the ecosystem - it really made me think about how important each an every piece of this little puzzle depended on the other pieces.  I also really enjoyed the idea that one single tree could play host to so many different species in so many different ways.  It also tied in with our facilitation today in thinking about how a small circle on the ground can be considered an ecosystem just as a thousand acres is one as well.  One little tree can do so much!