The

Crystal CoverOctober 2017

I’ll Take Biology for $1,000

A letter from Winter Bonnin, Crystal Cove

State Park Interpretive Naturalist and

Volunteer Coordinator

My favorite television program is Jeopardy

and I am always delighted when they have categories about nature. I puff up my chest and exude confidence knowing that I will “run” the category. One night the category was Biology, and the answer was: “It’s the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis” I pondered, then I sweated, and after the 15 seconds allotted to reply was up I was forced to concede defeat. I simply did not know that the “imago,” or “imaginal stage,” is the final stage of metamorphosis in which an insect attains maturity. This stage only occurs with insects who experience the whole enchilada aka complete metamorphosis such as beetles and butterflies whereas the immature insects and the adults have different forms (think caterpillars vs butterflies.) The total process takes the insect from an egg to a juvenile (known as larva) followed when the insect changes into a pupa (doesn’t eat or even move much and is often covered by a protective cocoon,) and finally molts for the last time during imago when it emerges as an adult. On the other hand, when the immature insects and the adults resemble one another, the process is referred to as simple metamorphosis, and the juvenile insects are called nymphs. Eventually the insect molts for the last time and emerges as an adult. Spittle bugs are an example of an insect who experiences this simple phase and can be identified by their frothy white bubbly substance on plants throughout the park. This white mass or “spittle” (or marshmallow looking stuff) is a mixture of watery waste, air

which is blown through abdominal openings to make bubbles and a glandular secretion. The bugs secrete the frothy spittle to protect themselves from parasitic and predaceous insects and dwell inside the mass until they are ready to face the world as full grown adults.

Spittle bugs aren’t the only organism found in the park that “blows bubbles.” I was exploring

the tidepools at Rocky Bight the other day and saw a striped shore crab inside a small rock crevice that looked like it was taking a bubble bath. The claws were in perpetual motion as if it was scrubbing off layers of

grime. The striped shore crab spends at least half its time on land, but breathe with gills like fish do and so even when they are out of the water they need to keep their gills moist. To do so, crabs have “articulating plates” that seal off the gills, but keep stored moisture inside. Essentially, many crabs blow bubbles when out of water because they are pumping air and water into their gill chambers. Bubbles are formed when the crab draws in air, which passes over the moist gills which then forms bubbles which are released near the crab’s mouth. Lined shore crabs are found on and under boulders and cobble, in between rocks and crevices and feed on green algae, single-celled organisms such as diatoms, tiny crustaceans,

Striped Shore CrabPachygrapsus crassipesPictaram.org

IT’S THE LAST STAGE AN INSECT

ATTAINS DURING ITS METAMORPHOSIS

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baby bivalves, and even snail eggs. Of course, they make good snacks for many marine animals including fish, gulls, and other shore birds.

One local, but seasonal bird that may feed on shore crabs has returned to our beach after a summer of breeding thousands of miles away which is a clear indication that summer is over. Sanderlings are comical shorebirds who are delightful to watch running back and forth along the shoreline, dodging the foamy white wash, and probing deep into the wet sand searching for crabs, worms, clams, eggs, sand fleas and snails. These long distance migrants are small sandpipers who spend their fall and winters on nearly all temperate and tropical sandy beaches throughout the world including Crystal Cove. They can be seen in flocks or “grains” according to iBirdPro, along the 3.5 miles of coastline chasing the waves, pecking and foraging and possibly even regurgitating sand pellets adorned with bits of mollusk and crustacean shells (an interesting behavior I’d like to observe.) Once winter ends and their biological clock starts ticking Sanderlings head for their nesting grounds in the tundra of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago more than 4,500 miles away. After pairing, the male and female Sanderling accompany each other everywhere. Both sexes sit on the eggs and when confronted by a predator like a Glaucous Gull, Snowy Owl, or Arctic Fox, the incubating parents will freeze on the nest until the final moment when they are forced off by the approaching predator. In order to protect their eggs though they creep away from the nest while feigning injury which distracts the hungry predator. Nonbreeding Sanderlings often stay on the wintering grounds through the summer, saving energy by avoiding the long trip north.

It’s no surprise that since I love Jeopardy (and crossword puzzles) that my brain is storing a lot of useless trivia. Recently my son Alex asked me what was the largest living organism, a question with a very obvious answer, or so I thought.

Although he wasn’t “testing me,” Alex knew I would reply “blue whale” which, of course, I did. It’s all semantics I guess, because the largest living organism is not an animal at all but rather a mushroom (the largest living creature is an animal and is the blue whale.) The “honey fungus,” Armillaria ostoyae is a garden variety mushroom often found growing on dead tree stumps. The discovery of this giant by forestry scientists in 1998 pushed the 110 foot, two ton blue whale into second place and crowned the honey fungus as the new “world’s largest known organism.” Based on its growth rate, researchers have estimated the fungus to be 2,400 years old but could be as ancient as 8,650 years. The largest recorded specimen of Armillaria ostoyae is in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, covers almost 2,500 acres, and is mostly underground forming a massive tangled mat of mushroom roots. And although the fungus lives primarily underground, no forest wanderer would have any way of knowing that the creamy yellow mushrooms with the sweet fruiting bodies were connected to the giant of all giants. Put another way, according to Scientific America “this humongous fungus would encompass 1,665 football fields, or nearly four square miles (10 square kilometers) of turf!” So, strange but true the largest organism on Earth is a fungus and that is trivia worth remembering.

I don’t know how many species of mushrooms we have in the park (might make a stimulating PhD project,) but just glancing at the wonderful Natural History of Orange County I counted a colorful array of 144 species of fungi, including lichen,

Sanderlings (Calidris alba) Ray Dunn

Honey Fungus (Armillaria ostoyae)

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mushrooms, and mushroom like organisms. Fungi, which were once thought of as plants, but are now classified as a separate kingdom, don’t have the panache that wildflowers, shrubs, and woody trees do and rarely get much attention. Grasses also tend to be overlooked amongst the more showy natives and ornamentals, but one of the park’s few native grasses, Giant Wild Rye, Elymus condensatus,

is thriving and getting some coverage. Giant Wild Rye is a perennial grass native to California but also found throughout western North America. It can reach as tall as eight feet with clumps of up to five feet wide. While in bloom during the spring this prominent native grass boasts a blue flower. Giant wild rye stays green all year and at certain times of the year the foliage has a bluish hue. Like other grasses in the park, Giant Wild Rye was impacted by grazing and tilling, and as part of a one acre restoration project in “The Bowl” along the trail at West Cut Across several specimens of this hearty grass were planted and they are now once again thriving. Other patches of this large clumping grass can be found along Moro Creek, around the campground, and even in the island outside of the office at Los Trancos.

Somewhere I read recently that an average American disposes of 185 pounds of plastic each year and much of that ends up on our beaches and in the ocean. Last Saturday more than 7000 volunteers amassed at 56 sites across Orange County to participate in the single largest beach cleanup in the world…Coastal Cleanup Day. These intrepid volunteers scoured 135 miles of beaches, creeks, and parks throughout the County and removed approximately 70,202 pounds of trash and recyclables including such “unique” finds as a

rusted stove, a glass champagne flute and a jack in the box head. Undoubtedly, much of the trash collected was made from plastic including 6-pack holders, beverage bottles, food wrappers, bottle caps and lids, grocery bags, and take out items like forks, cups, and plates. At Crystal Cove State Park we had a record breaking number of 416 participants who collected 209 pounds of trash and 40 pounds of recycling (I haven’t yet tallied the final results, but know much of what volunteers picked up were cigarette butts, foam pieces, and straws.) A huge thank you to volunteers Mary Fegraus, Leslie Dootson, park interpreter Francesca Henderson and her NEW husband Derek who helped staff the check in tables, record stats, weigh trash, and greet the wonderful volunteers.

Tickets are SOLD OUT to the Crystal Cove Conservancy’s annual fundraising Soiree. Conservancy staff is busily finalizing details for this October 7 event that allows party-goers to enjoy an evening under the stars with an elegant

catered dinner, live and silent auction, live music and dancing. Proceeds from the Soiree help advance the many projects and programs hosted by the Conservancy including their Citizen Science school programs, innovative STEM educational programs, and preservation of the Historic District cottages.

The season has just changed and with the turning of the calendar

page come nature’s autumn gifts. Soon birds will begin passing through on their fall migration to far off breeding grounds and leaves will fall off the few deciduous trees found in the park. The air has already been crisp and the days are getting shorter. I love autumn with the super low afternoon tides, omnipresent spider webs, and soon-to-be-sleeping Desert Tortoises. As Robert Delaunay wrote: “Direct observation of the luminous essence of nature is for me indispensable” and so for me I am eternally grateful to spend my days exploring and enjoying Crystal Cove State Park.

See you in the park!

Winter

Giant Wild Rye, Elymus condensatusnathistoc.bio.uci.edu