Notes from the woods

Nocturnal 
Active only at night
Include: mice, owls, bats, skunks, and many arthropods (insects & spiders)
Physical and behavioral adaptations:  bigger eyes, enlarged pupils,  moist noses, dark colors, more distinct vocalizations, and quieter movements
Owls have asymmetrical hearing (one ear is higher than the other).  This allows them to pick up a larger range of frequencies.

Crepuscular
Active only at dusk and dawn
Include: deer and woodcock

Diurnal
Active only in the day
include squirrels, songbirds, and reptiles

Night vision: Upon entering darkness, humans pupils will immediatly expand to let in 10 times more light.  Within 5  minutes, a humans pupils are sensitive to 100 times more light.  Full night vision is reached after 45-60 minutes when our eyes let in one million times more light.  The retina is made of rod and cone cells.   Cone Cells help us see color and detail.  Rod cells give us peripheral vision requiring less light to see shapes and shadows. Rod cells allow us to have night vision.

cape cod national sea shore

During the Laurentide glaciation and for some time after the retreat of the ice away from Cape Cod, worldwide sea level was about 400 feet below its present level.
About 6,000 years ago, before extensive wave erosion of the glacial deposits had occurred, the glacial Cape probably resembled the map as shown on the left. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/capecod/sea.html)

Unofficially, it is one of the biggest barrier islands in the world, shielding much of the Massachusetts coastline from North Atlantic storm waves. This protection helps to erode the Cape shoreline at the expense of cliffs, while protecting towns from Fairhaven toMarshfield.

Plankton

Plankton are tiny floating organisms (living things) that are found in both sea, ponds, and lakes.  

The word plankton comes from the greek word meaning "wandering"

Plankton is a general term that includes every marine organism too small and weak to swim for itself

Plankton can be plants or animals. Planktonic plants (known as phytoplankton) create energy by photosynthesis, just like land plants. Planktonic animals (known as zooplankton) feed on phytoplankton (herbiovorous) or on other zooplankton (carnivorous), just like land animals.

The weight of all the plankton in the oceans is greater than that of all the dolphins, fish and whales put together. Though many plankton are microscopic in size!


Some plankton blooms can pose serious health risks for humans and marine wildlife. Fish living in bloom-affected areas eat the poisonous plankton, which is then passed down the food chain to larger fish and eventually to humans. Cultures which consume seafood as a staple part of their diet (eg, Japan) are particularly at risk. In Cape Cod Bay in 1987, toxic plankton in the food chain caused the death of 14 humpback whales. However, only a few dozen of the thousands of phyoplankton species are known to be toxic.


Approximately 40% of photosynthesis on Earth is carried out by planktonic organisms. That means that nearly half of the world’s oxygen is generated by phytoplankton!