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Naturalist Perspectives Assignment 2

Site Alpha
Location: 16 Berkeley St in Cambridge, MA
Date: 4/2/2017
Time: 5pm
Weather: Decent. Sunny. 55°F

There were no dramatic changes in the specific area where I did the transect last time. There was less snow and fewer dead leaves. My guess about the reason the plants looked droopy (they had been tamped down by the snow) seems to have been false. The plants still looked like they had been flattened. They seemed a little less brown, but I forgot my phone so I could not compare it to the pictures I had taken for the first post.
A few feet away from the specific tract where I did my initial transect, there was dramatic growth. There were crocus shoots popping up and some tiny succulent that I think looks kind of like a cabbage but also sort of a succulent rose type thing. It definitely is not a cabbage, and I don't think it is a rose, but I cannot seem to figure out what it actually is. There was also some ivy growing on the ground.

Properties of life evident at Site Alpha:
> Respond to changes in environment - Now that it is getting a little warmer, the plants are definitely cropping up more. I spoke with a local about the number of crocuses, and they said that in the past, the crocuses don't show up this vibrantly until later in the season. They suggested that since the weather had been especially warm, the flowers were growing more quickly.
> Growth - On that note, the plants are definitely growing. They get physically bigger and more elaborate looking as new branches and leaves grow and unfurl (respectively). The crocuses are now visible above the surface, which they definitely weren't last time I visited Site Alpha. There were also big green leaf things. Last time I visited, there was still snow covering much of the ground, and most of the visible stuff was a dreary shade of brown. This time, there were much brighter colors and substantially more plant growth.
> Cellularity - One of the things I mentioned before was the decrease in dead leaves on the ground. While it is possible that they were picked up and removed, it seems more likely that their cellular structure broke down and the nutrients integrated into the soil. Growth is also a signal of cellular activity, since it means that a plant is assembling itself faster than it is falling apart.

Edit on 4/4/2017
Time: 4:08pm
Weather: Light rain. 40°F
Since I forgot my phone on my prior visit to Site Alpha, I had to go back to take a picture:


Final note: I accidentally clicked save instead of publish. Everything is as it was when I initially thought I posted it.


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