Methow Naturalist

A Quarterly Journal of Natural History
Winter 2012 V17 N4 $2.50
The
Methow Naturalist
I want to be connected to the grandest, biggest, most real, and most beautiful thing in the
universe as we know it: life on the earth. Bernd Heinrich
Slime Mold: It's Crazy!
Also:
Poetry
Wildlife Sightings
Changing Bird Species
Plumages & Molt in Birds
Plate Tectonics & Biodiversity
The Life in the Rocks:
Plate Tectonics & Biodiversity
by Dana Visalli
Oval Peak in the Sawtooth Range; the mountain and the life upon it exist thanks to the
forces of plate tectonics, which create the uplift to build mountains and cycle the
nutrients necessary for life.
There is a surprising level of connectivity showing up in recent scientific studies between what we
might call the living and the dead—between the exuberant vitality of the biosphere and the mechanical
grindings of the geosphere. Between life and rocks.
For most of human history the earth beneath our feet
has just seemed like it was a handy platform on
which to stand; but to which we bore little or no relationship. Research over the past 100 years has
demonstrated that arrangements are very different
than we had imagined. The planet turns out of
course to be a sphere rather than flat, and while it
remains a handy place to stand, it has proven to be
vastly more animated than previously thought. Not
only does it have molten core that is the same temperature as the surface of the sun, but the continents
themselves have been crashing around on the surface
of the planet for the last three billion years, joining
together at least twice into solitary land masses
(Rodinia and Pangaea), only to the periodically split
apart and go floating off in different directions.
Our understanding of the movement of the
earth’s crust is something quite new. As recently as
1980 20% of all professional geologists held the theory of plate tectonics in utter contempt. Most of the
world’s scientific community has now successfully
weathered that paradigm shift. But apparently paradigms are like oceanic crust, constantly churning and
metamorphosing into new material. One of the more
recent insights to spring from the study of the planetary system is that not only does plate tectonics drive
crustal plates and move continents, but it now seems
that this dynamic force may be the single most critical factor for maintaining the diversity of life on the
planet.
It is not just energy that runs downhill; so do the
nutrients essential to life. When we plant a tree we
assume there will be enough phosphorus, potassium,
carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and other essential elements
for the plant to grow. But why would these nutrients
still be in the soil after four billion years of erosion
and water running to the sea? The answer is, because of plate tectonics. The oceanic plates that
form the floor of the world’s oceans are being
Dana Visalli is the editor of The Methow Naturalist
If this box is checked your subscription is due or expired, see back cover; subscriptions are $10 or more/year
APPROACHING MICROCONTINENT
THE METHOW
THE CASCADES
A simplified view of the forces that formed the Methow. The heat of the mantle creates convection currents that force the earth's crustal plates to move.
Denser oceanic crustal plates will sink under lighter continental plates when the two are forced together. Sediments that had washed off the continents into the sea are compressed and deformed when two sections of continental crust are forced together. The Methow is largely deformed sedimentary rock.
Briefly put, carbon dioxide reacts with high silicate, continental rocks—such as granite, which there
is a lot of—to form calcium carbonate (limestone)
and silica (quartz), both of which are then sequestered as sediments, removing carbon from the atmosphere. The chemical reaction is faster at higher
temperatures, so the warmer it gets, the more carbon
dioxide is removed, forming a negative feedback
loop. The process requires a continual supply of silicate rocks, which is both produced and uplifted by
the forces of plate tectonics. Without this removal
of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere earth would
soon resemble Venus, which has a surface temperature of 900° F. Without the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere from tectonic activity the
surface of the earth would freeze solid.
There is another interesting twist to this story,
and that is that the sun has increased in luminosity
and heat output by 25% over the past three billion
years. During that time the earth’s temperature has
remained within that narrow range suitable for life.
This has been possible because the quantity of silicate rock—which is continental rock, as opposed to
the lower-silica basalt of the oceanic crust—has increased greatly over time. Evidence indicates that
there was only 10% as much continental rock (and
continental landmass) three billion years ago. The
amount of continental rock on the planet has increased greatly over time due to the differentiation
pushed apart in mid-ocean by rising plumes of molten rock, sliding on the fluidity of the upper mantle.
As these oceanic plates move east and west from
their point of origin they cool, thicken, and grow
heavier. Where they are forced against continental
rock, which is composed of less dense material, they
sink back into the earth, carrying the essential nutrients that have flowed to the sea with them.
One might think this might be the end of the story, like Frodo throwing the Ring of Power into the
cauldron on Mordor, but it is not. The essential elements conveniently reappear a short time later, geologically speaking (in about 100 million years), in
the form of uplifted mountains and volcanic magma,
both of which erode back to soil. Without plate tectonics life on land would grind to a standstill in short
order.
Plate tectonics is intricately involved with both
the addition and removal of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere, the balance of which is critical to maintaining earthly temperatures with the narrow range
acceptable to life (roughly 0° to 120° Fahrenheit).
Carbon dioxide is constantly seeping into the atmosphere from volcanoes and ocean vents (there are
approximately 600 currently active volcanoes and
thousands of hydrothermal vents). It is also constantly removed from the atmosphere, both by photosynthesis and by a chemical reaction with
continental rocks driven by plate tectonics.
Continued on page 10....
3
A Red-tailed Hawk, molting wing and tail feathers sequentially so that it can continue to fly.
Plumages and Molt in Birds
By Art Campbell and Michelle Dewey
much more complicated than suggested by the simple division into breeding and nonbreeding plumages, in fact so complicated, that the process has
seemed to defy attempts to organize it into an understandable sequence.
This situation began to change in 1959, with the
publication of a paper by Philip Humphrey and Kenneth Parkes. They proposed a new system of describing plumage successions in birds, a system that
could be uniformly applied to all birds. This new
system incorporated the key innovation of defining
plumage sequences based on the types of molts rather than when molt occurs during the year or at what
stage during the bird’s life history. The HumphreyParkes system recognizes four general sequences of
bird molt and resulting plumages, with birds of the
same species all following the same one of the four
sequences. They named these sequences: Simple
Basic, Simple Alternate, Complex Basic, and Complex Alternate.
Just as we humans replace our old worn clothes
with new clothes, all birds periodically replace their
“clothes” – the suits of feathers that are called plumages. This process of shedding feathers and growing
new replacement feathers is called molt. Birds molt
not only to replace feathers that are worn, but also to
grow plumages that serve specific purposes, for example to attract potential mates (kind of like those
new Levi’s and the pearl snap shirt). While bird
identification guides depict the most common plumages of each species, birdwatchers often encounter
individual birds that don’t fit the pictures in their
guides. Understanding the process of bird molt and
the plumages that result can help us identify those
birds that don’t “fit” our guidebook description, and
can enhance our appreciation of our feathered
friends.
Most of us are aware that some birds have a distinct plumage in the summer breeding season that
differs from their “nonbreeding” or winter plumage.
But ornithologists have long recognized that bird
molt and the sequences of plumages that result are
Art and Michelle are Methow residents, avid birders, and regular
contributors to The Methow Naturalist
4
Mature American Pipits in summer plumage (left) and winter plumage (right). Identifying birds requires knowing their plumage variations.
Before we describe these four sequences in detail, we need to introduce some molt and plumage
terminology used by Humphrey-Parkes. All postjuvenile birds periodically molt all or almost all of
their feathers. This complete (or almost complete)
“change of clothes” is called a prebasic molt. The
plumage that results from the prebasic molt is
termed the bird’s basic plumage. Some post-juvenile birds also undergo a partial molt, typically a
molt of the head and body feathers, which results in
the bird’s alternate plumage. This partial molt is
called a prealternate molt. The period between one
prebasic molt and the succeeding prebasic molt is
termed a molt cycle. The duration of a cycle is typically a year, but in some birds may be more or less
than a year. Recapping those terms, we have:
Prebasic Molt: full change in plumage leading to
Basic Plumage.
Prealternative Molt: partial change in plumage leading to Alternate Plumage.
Molt Cycle: period of time between prebasic molts.
Now, back to the four molt sequences:
1. Simple Basic, the simplest of the four sequences,
is one where a recently hatched chick molts all or
almost all of its downy feathers into a juvenile plumage and then later molts all or almost all of its juvenile feathers into an adult plumage. Subsequent
molts, typically once a year, simply replace the adult
plumage. Turkey vultures are common valley visitors that follow this sequence. The other three molt
sequences can be viewed as variations on the Simple
Basic sequence.
2. The Simple Alternate sequence is like the Simple
Basic but with two molts, rather than one, per cycle.
One of the two molts is the complete prebasic molt
that results in the bird’s basic plumage. The second
molt is a partial prealternate molt. In the bird’s first
molt cycle, this alternate plumage occurs after the
juvenile plumage and before the basic plumage of
the second cycle.
In the Simple Alternate sequence, the downy
hatchling molts into a juvenile plumage, and then
later in its first cycle, the bird undergoes a first prealternate molt leading to a first alternate plumage.
This first alternate plumage is succeeded by a first
prebasic molt leading to the adult basic plumage, a
second prealternate molt leading to the adult alternate plumage. That sequence of prebasic molt, adult
basic plumage, prealternate molt, and adult alternate
plumage then continues throughout the bird’s life.
Loons, cormorants, and some gulls follow this Simple Alternate sequence. The alternate plumage of
these birds is different from the basic plumage, but
the extent of difference varies. Loons in their striking alternate plumages (the contrasting black and
white with stripes and bars) look quite different than
they do in their relatively drab basic plumages
(mostly battleship gray). By contrast, the alternate
and basic plumages of double-crested cormorants,
which occasionally can be found on large lakes in
the Methow, are quite similar.
The third and fourth sequences have an additional molt (the preformative molt) in the first cycle
leading to a distinct formative plumage.
3. The Complex Basic sequence adds a preformative
molt sequence, where the bird’s juvenile plumage is
succeeded (after a preformative molt that is typically
partial) by the formative plumage, which in turn is
succeeded (after a prebasic molt) by the adult basic
plumage. Many songbirds, such chickadees and
crows, follow this sequence of plumages. Because
adults of species following the Complex Basic sequence molt out of their worn basic plumage into a
fresh basic plumage once per cycle – typically once
per year – they look essentially the same yeararound.
Continued on page 11....
5
Slime Mold: It's Crazy!
by Eddie Torr
A common plasmodial slime mold throughout the United States, Physarum
polycephalum is obviously brainless but also somehow quite intelligent..
When sexual maturity is reached, the young
come together in pairs, naturally enough, but instead
of mating and giving birth to new offspring, they
have the ultimate sexual experience and melt into
one another, becoming a new, solitary individual.
Observing anthropologists are shocked by this unheard of and possibly immoral behavior. Genetic
material, which had existed as single strands of
DNA in the parent generation (known as a haploid
condition, from the Greek, haplos, “single”), is in
this new being diploid (“double”).
These newly-formed individuals begin to feed
and grow, but tests by doctors show they have an
unusual condition. While increasing in size, they
prove to be single-celled. The nuclei of these odd
super-celled creatures are reproducing, so that soon
there are hundreds, thousands, even millions of
nuclei—but there are no cell walls. Thus these individuals become quite corpulent, even gelatinous, and
move with a flowing motion, like warm honey. The
observing anthropologists can scarcely believe they
eyes when they see these corpulent individuals begin
to grow multiple heads, each raised on a long, thin
neck. As the scientists watch in a state of shock, a
hole opens at top of each newly-formed head and
new individuals crawl out and begin to feed. It’s crazy.
The life and times of a slime mold does seem a
little crazy, at least by human standards, when one
learns about the lifecycle of this odd group of organisms. The easiest way to convey how unusual they
are is to imagine for a moment that an isolated group
of human beings is found that grows and reproduces
as slime molds do. In fact we will need to find two
hitherto unknown human tribes, because there are
two primary types of mycetozoans (the scientific
name for the slime molds; it translates from the Latin as “fungus animals,” although as we shall see they
are neither fungi nor animals). The two types are the
plasmodial and the cellular slime molds.
We will start with the plasmodial tribe. The
word plasmodium comes from the Greek plasma,
meaning “to spread thin.” Plasmodial slime molds at
times form communal structures that moves around
either like a quivering mass of jello, or alternately
flow outward like a widely branching root system
(see image above).
For the plasmodial human tribe, life begins normally enough, as small individual organisms. Early
in infancy we notice some markedly unusual behavior however. Some of the young crawl about on the
ground; others are drawn to pools of water and are
endowed with whip-like tails that make them excellent swimmers. Then we observe, to our great surprise, that the two body types can change back and
forth from one to the other, depending on environmental conditions, wet or dry.
Eddie Torr combined his expertise in the Kingdoms of Animals
and Fungi to study Slime Molds, which are neither of the above.
6
Unlikely as it seems, the life of the cellular tribe is
even more bizarre. Early in life they crawl, as did the
young of the plasmodials, but they never have tails and
never swim. After a period of feeding, the individuals
of the tribe come together in one spot, but instead of
mating as couples, all tribal members simply form a
pulsating pile of individuals, moving now as one but
all still separate. When the time is right, by some unspoken signal some members of this commune know
to lift others up above the seething mass, and somehow
those lifted up are 'born again,' and become the young
of the next generation. While such lifecycles are a bizarrely mythical for humans, they are reality for the
slime molds.
The Partly-hairy Slime Mold, Hemitrichia calyculata. It may not look
Both plasmodial and cellular slime molds are comhairy now, but it soon will.
mon in the Methow, in the Cascadia ecoregion, and
visible. Many of our local species can be identified by
throughout the world. There are an estimated 1000 spechecking the celebrated new “slime mold page” at the
cies of plasmodial slime molds and 70 species of celluMethow Naturalist website and comparing visual charlar slime molds globally. That’s relatively few species
acteristics.
compared to flowering plants
The life and times of
(250,000 species) or mamslime molds parallel the imagmals (4400 species), but beinary stories told above. Plascause they reproduce by
modial slime molds first
microscopic spores, most
appear as germinating spores.
species are very widespread.
They can be “amoeboid”
As fate would have it the
(crawling) or “flagellated”
cellular slime molds are min(tailed). They are singleute and unavailable for gencelled at this stage and foreveral observation, but the
er. Individuals switch beplasmodials are easy to find
tween the two body types
and observe. Their preferred
apparently “at will,” dependhabitat is humid, decaying
ing on environmental condiwood (especially under dead
tions. They feed on bacteria
bark), and the humus of the
The Partly-hairy slime mold with the sporangia open.
that are decomposing organic
forest floor. The highly visimatter on dead wood and on the forest floor.
ble plasmodium and/or the spreading network of veins
As the individuals feed, they grow by increasing
are visible from spring to late fall. The gooey plasmotheir protoplasm (their cellular material) and by repeatdium and the tiny, globular reproductive sporangia are
often brightly colored, making many species highly
ed divisions of the nucleus; but individuals remain a
single cell. As they grow they become visible to the
human eye as a plasmodium and/or as a network of
veins. One plasmodium may have hundreds of nuclei
or a billion and can weight up to several pounds
(several ounces is the norm). When the time comes to
reproduce, the single-celled, multi-nucleated plasmodium somehow “knows” to produce stalked fruiting bodies called sporangia, which grow multiple spores
within, each capable of germinating into a new individual, haploid slime mold.
Cellular slime molds vary from plasmodial mostly
in that they retain an individual cellular structure as the
community organism grows. When the chemical signal is given, crawling (amoeboid) cells will come together into an aggregate structure that moves as a unit,
The Creeping Pretzel Slime Mold, Hemitricha serpula.
Continued on page 12....
7
Changing Bird Populations
The physical world changes constantly. One ecologist illustrated this fact well when he observed that "plant species
and plant communities probably never catch up with the changing climate." 15,000 years the Methow was under a
river of ice. By 13,500 years ago (ya) the continental glacier was completely melted. 13,000 ya there was a rapid
cooling, called the Younger Dryas, followed by: 12,800 ya: major Glacier Peak eruption. 10,200 ya: warming. 8000
ya: rapid cooling. 7000 ya: major Mt. Mazama eruption. 6000 ya: rapid warming, the Hypsithermal. 5000 ya: cooling, the Neoglaciation. 4000 ya: major Mt. St. Helens eruption. 1000 ya: warming. 600 ya: rapid cooling, the Little
Ice Age. Recent human impacts are of course another formidable force of change.
A small booklet printed in 1895 titled A Preliminary list of the Birds of Okanogan County, Washington by ornitholigist William Dawson is one of the rare wildlife documents available for our area from that time period, and it offers
a window into how some bird populations have changed in the past 118 years. Dawson spent 14 months in 18951896 in the area, traveling often. Copied below are species of current interest along with Dawson's observations, followed by Methow Naturalist (MN) commentary.
Common Raven: 'Some strange croaks heard and a brief glimpse obtained at Halloween Basin (elevation 6500')
entitle this bird to a place on the list of suspects.' MN: In 14 months Dawson saw no Ravens. This species is now
one of the most abundant birds in the Methow, and probably the species seen the most often. Entertaining and intelligent though they are, Ravens are nest predators, and having thousands of them in a county where previously there
were almost none has taken a toll on some other native bird species.
Sharp-tailed Grouse: 'The common bird in open situations. An invariable accompaniment of stubble-fields, and a
habitué of grain stacks. In portions of the county they are still very abundant, but where hunted they soon become
extremely wary.' MN: This species was present in the Methow as late as 1975, but is now extirpated from the county. Ravens are implicated in their decline and disappearance, as are domestic dogs and cats.
Red-tailed Hawk: 'On the list based on a single specimen. The buteos are rare in Okanogan County.' MN: Redtailed Hawks are now abundant in the Methow and throughout the west.
Bald Eagle: ' Comparatively rare. Only three or four individuals were noted during my stay.' MN: Bald Eagles disappeared completely from the county by 1963, when there were only 500 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states. This
collapse was due to hunting as much as it was to DDT. In the past two decades the population has rebounded, and
there are currently 10,000 breeding pairs in the lower 48, a few of which are in the Methow.
Peregrine Falcon: MN: Not on Dawson's list, while Prairie Falcons are. Apparently there were few or no Peregrines in the county in Dawson's time. There are currently 4-5 known breeding pairs in the Methow.
Prairie Falcon: 'Next to the Sparrow Hawk (Kestrel), the commonest raptor. One coulee in particular sheltered half
a dozen pairs of these falcons. Except in places where they congregate for sport, the presence of these birds is likely
to go unsuspected, until the screaming of the falconets betrays the nesting site.' MN: Prairie Falcons must have been
much more abundant in Dawson's time. A few pairs breed in the Methow currently.
Say's Phoebe: 'This bird is the frequent associate of the Prairie Falcon, preferring to haunt just such cliffs as the nobler bird selects for nesting sites. Here it takes up its station about the middle of March, and it is rarely to be found
at any considerable distance from home.' MN: We always wondered where these birds nested before there were
front porch lights to nest on.
Great Horned Owl: 'These birds were seen only at the upper end of Lake Chelan.' MN: Now abundant.
Burrowing Owl: 'Occasionally found in the semi-arid and treeless portions of the county at lower elevations.' MN:
We have testimony from now-deceased 'old-timers' that they used to throw rocks at burrowing owls during recess at
the Beaver Creek schoolhouse. The species is now extirpated from the county.
Bronze-headed Cowbird: 'Rare. only two specimens were seen.' MN: Now extremely common, which is unfortunate, as they are nest parasites of other birds.
Red-winged Blackbird: 'Found sparingly in the few suitable localities.' MN: Now one of the most abundant birds
in the Methow.
American Robin: 'Common, but nowhere abundant.' MN: Everywhere abundant now.
Western Bluebird: 'Very irregular. Ten birds were sighted on the 9th of March, and a group of ten on May 1st, but
no more were noted during the season.' MN: Western Bluebirds are more common today than 120 years ago because of nesting sites offered by bird boxes.
Mountain Bluebird: 'These exquisites, in their quadruple extract-of-azure garb, are justly ranked the topmost twig
of the American ornithological tree. They pass at their leisure in great flocks in the spring, breeding at higher altitudes.' MN: Our favorite bird, reasonably abundant at higher elevations in the Methow.
Birds present in the Methow today that were absent in 1895: California Quail, Gray Partridge, Chukar, Wild Turkey,
Rock Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Barred Owl, House Sparrow, European Starling.
The Heart of the Appaloosa
Sonnet, Without Salmon
Fred Small
Sherman Alexie
From the land of shooting waters to the peaks of the Coeur d'Alene,
Thimbleberries in the forest, elk grazing on the plain,
The People of the Coyote made their camp along the streams
Of the green Wallowa Valley when fences had no name.
And they bred a strain of horses, the treasure of the tribe,
Who could toe dance on a ridge or gallop up a mountainside,
Who could haul the hunter's burden, turn a buffalo stampede –
The horse that wore the spotted coat was born with matchless speed.
1. The river is empty.
2. Empty of salmon, I mean.
3. But if you were talking to my grandmother, she
would say the water doesn’t matter if the salmon
are gone.
4. She’s been gone for thirty-one years. The water
doesn’t matter if my grandmother is gone.
5. Has anybody ever said that dam building is an
act of war against Indians?
6. And, yet, we need the electricity, too.
7. My mother said the reservation needs a new
electrical grid because of all the brown- and
blackouts.
8. “Why so many power outages?” I ask her.
9. “All the computers,” she says.
10. Today, in Seattle, I watched a cute couple at the
next table whispering to their cell phones instead of
to each other. But, chivalrous, he walked to the selfservice coffee bar to get her a cup. Lovely, I thought.
She was busy on her phone while he was ten feet
away. When he sat back down, she said, “Oh, I was
texting you to get me sugar and cream.”
In the winter came the pale ones near frozen in the cold,
Bringing firearms and spyglasses and a book that saved the soul.
The people gave them welcome, nursed them till their strength returned,
And studied the talking paper, its mysteries to learn.
In the shadow of the mission sprang up farms and squatter towns.
The plains were lined with fences, the plow blade split the ground.
In the shallows of the Clearwater, gold glittered in the pan,
And the word would come from Washington: remove the Indian.
The chief spoke to his People in his anger and his pain:
"I am no more Chief Joseph. Rolling Thunder is my name.
They condemn us to a wasteland of barren soil and stone.
We shall fight them if we must, but we will find another home."
They fled into the Bitterroots, an army at their heels.
They fought at White Bird Canyon, they fought at Misery Hill.
Till the colonel saw their strategy and sent the order down,
Kill the Appaloosa wherever it be found.
Twelve hundred miles retreating, three times over the Divide,
The horse their only safety, their only ally,
Three thousand Appaloosas perished with the tribe,
The people and the horses dying side by side.
Thunder Rolling in the Mountains said, "My heart is sick and sad.
Our children now are freezing, the old chiefs are dead.
Hunger robs our spirit, our wounds are deep and sore.
From where the sun now stands, I shall fight no more."
They were sent to Oklahoma, where malaria ran rife.
But more died of broken hearts far from the land that gave them life.
And the man once called Joseph at death was heard to say,
"We have given up our horses. They have gone away."
But sometimes without warning from a dull domestic herd,
A spotted horse of spirit wondrous will emerge.
Strong it is, and fearless, and nimble on a hill.
Listening for thunder, the Appaloosa's living still.
Heart of the Appaloosa is a folk song, written by Fred
Small. It can be heard here, with rather poor graphics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sefa3322aME
So Many Faults
Tom Tereszkiewicz
Stress on Earth’s crust produces
compression, shearing and tension.
Faults are cracks in earth’s crust
resulting from stress. must I mention.
Faults and folding of the crust cause mountains
to form on the surface of the Earth.
These geological forces have been shaping
our planet since its primordial birth.
These powerful forces work both to the benefit
and the detriment of humankind.
Nature is indifferent to our fate
you will most likely find.
Unleashing earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes,
tornadoes, hurricanes, landslides and fire,
But take heart, the situation is not entirely dire,
For it’s the dynamic earth
that gave life its razor thin chance,
And without it, how could you
take your next breath, laugh or dance?
Tectonics, continued from page 3
(also known as fracproductive habitats,
tionation) of ocean
such as exist in the
crust into lighter and
tropics, and 2) from
denser rocks via the
habitats that vary conpartial melting that
siderably over a given
occurs during subducdistance. Having what
tion. Because there is
was just one continent
far more continental
250 million years ago
rock now than previsplit now into six conously, the rate of retinents (Europe being
moval of carbon
little more than a hangdioxide has increased
nail on Asia), and havover time, maintaining
ing three of the six
a fairly steady atmocontinents arranged
spheric temperature.
along a north-south
(The evolution of conaxis, optimizes varitinents was explored
ability of temperature
in detail the previous
and climate along
issue of The Methow
coastlines. This creNaturalist).
ates what may be the
An increase in
ideal conditions for
The changing positions of the continents over the past 250 million years.
plant biomass will also
diverse life on the
increase the transformation of atmospheric carbon
planet. The configuration of continents as they exist
into calcium carbonate, because plants pump carbon
today is due to the force of plate tectonics.
dioxide into the soil. This creates another negative
What would happen if plate tectonics ceased?
feedback loop in which rising carbon dioxide in the
Once created, does high biodiversity require the conatmosphere leads to an increase in plant growth,
tinued presence of plate tectonics? If plate tectonics
which then increases the rate of chemical reactions
stopped, nutrients running to the sea would no lonin the soil. On the other hand, if carbon dioxide
ger be cycled back to land. Creation of continents
were not continually injected into the atmosphere by
would cease, but erosion would continue, washing
natural processes, it is estimated that plants would
all dry land into the sea within about 200 million
remove the 390 parts per million of the gas that does
years. While removal of carbon dioxide from the
exist in as little as ten years. (This cycle works too
atmosphere via photosynthesis and chemical reacslowly to have a meaningful impact on anthropogention with silicate rocks would continue, the infusion
ic carbon dioxide.)
of that gas into the atmosphere from magma would
The distribution and arrangement of the conticease. Plants would remove existing carbon dioxide
nents across the surface of the planet has a profound
within a few years, photosynthesis would cease and
impact on the potential diversity of the biosphere.
the global biosphere would collapse.
Species arise primarily from 1) relatively stable and
100%
Oldest Rocks
50%
First evidence
of life on land
0%
1
2
3
Growth of continental land mass over 4 billion years.
4
Major eruptions of Cascade volcanoes in the last 4000 years.
10
4. The Complex Alternate sequence adds a preformative
molt in the bird’s first cycle between the juvenile plumage and the first alternate plumage, all three of which
occur in sequence before the bird’s first prebasic molt.
Nuthatches, tanagers, and some of the warblers are examples of birds that follow this sequence. In the Complex Alternate sequence, as in the Simple Alternate
sequence, there are birds, such as adult nuthatches,
whose appearance changes little between their alternate
and basic plumages. By contrast, the brightly colored
red, black, and yellow alternate plumage of adult male
western tanagers that we see in the summer in the Methow, looks quite distinct from the birds’ relatively dull
yellow and sooty black basic plumage. Males and females both put on their basic plumage“traveling clothes”
as they are leaving the valley in late summer.
Now that we’ve introduced the sequences, note that
there is a remarkable amount of variation in these four
fundamental sequences. Here are some of those variations we birdwatchers will often see in the field.
Some birds take more than one cycle to reach adult
plumage. This is the situation with some large birds,
and many readers will recognize that bald eagles and
several species of gulls are familiar examples of this
trait. Herring Gulls, which can be found throughout
most of the year on Lake Pateros at the mouth of the
Methow River, exhibit the Simple Alternate sequence
of plumages, with two molts, one prebasic and one prealternate, each cycle. But the Herring Gull doesn’t acquire fully adult plumage until at least its fourth
plumage cycle. Starting from its juvenile plumage acquired in the first cycle, each subsequent cycle of molts
produces a progressively more adult plumage. Likewise, Bald Eagles take about four cycles before displaying their distinctive adult (white) heads and tail.
Some birds molt all their flight feathers at once and
become temporarily flightless. Except for some birds
that are permanently flightless (penguins, for example),
birds are generally aerial creatures that depend on their
flying ability to find and capture food and to avoid predators. So, during their prebasic molt, most birds molt
their flight feathers sequentially over an extended period, thereby preserving their ability to fly. Ducks, such
as the familiar mallard, drop all of their flight feathers
simultaneously in a post-breeding molt and remain
flightless for several weeks until their new flight feathers have grown in.
In a given species, alternate plumages may or may
not look different from basic plumages. Male yellowrumped warblers in alternate plumage show bright
grays, whites, and yellows. After breeding, these birds
undergo a prebasic molt resulting in a distinctly drabber
basic plumage that we see as the birds pass through the
Methow on their southbound migration. Male yellow
warblers, with reddish breast streaks and bright yellow body, look slightly brighter in their alternate
plumage, which they wear during the breeding season, but the birds’ alternate and basic plumages are
essentially the same.
Some adult birds undergo more than two molts
per cycle. The reader may have noticed that there are
either one or two adult plumages per cycle in any of
the four molt sequences. Adult ptarmigans, alpine
breeding birds in the family containing grouse and
turkeys, have been found to molt three times per year.
The basic plumage of the white-tailed ptarmigan,
which breeds in alpine areas of the North Cascades, is
a cryptic all-white plumage held during the snowy
non-breeding season. The birds also undergo two
additional molts, one as winter recedes and one in
late summer. Both plumages resulting from these
two molts have varying amounts of dark mottling,
which help camouflage the bird as it moves among
the alpine vegetation.
Some birds start molting, then suspend molt for a
period, before later completing the process. A single
molt process, which can involve the replacement of
many feathers, typically occurs over an extended period of many weeks to several months. For example,
some birds, such as some species of hawks, that migrate long distances molt some flight feathers as part
of their prebasic molt, suspend their molt while they
migrate, and then finish molting their flight feathers
on their wintering grounds.
There are many more variations on the four basic
sequences, plus many fascinating aspects of molt not
covered here that bird lovers could spend many hours
studying. Of the various publications available that
discuss molt, there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest for readability: Molt in North
American Birds by Steve N.G. Howell published in
2010 (in the Peterson Reference Guides series).
Clearly written with excellent figures and photos, this
reference will reward whatever level of attention you
give it. And, help to explain why what we see in the
field doesn’t always match the field guides!
Wilson's Phalarope, juvenile plumage
11
Slime Molds, continued from page 7....
B.
A.
A.
D.
C.
B.
D.
C.
Lifecycle of a cellular slime mold. A. Spores germinate into amoeboid
cells. B. After feeding cells aggregate into a mass, but remain individual
cells. C. Aggregation forms a tight mobile mass, called a 'slug,' which
moves towards light in preparation for reproduction. D. The still-individual
cells form spore-bearing sporangia.
Lifecycle of a plasmodial slime mold. A. Spore germinates into
either a flagellated or amoeboid cell. B. Two cells fuse into one,
creating a diploid nucleus. C. New cell creates many nuclei and
increases cytoplasm but remains one cell, now a plasmodium.
D. Plasmodium produces spore-bearing structures, sporangia.
It might go without saying that slime molds exhibit
a certain intelligence; otherwise how could their genetic line have survived almost four billion years of competition and natural selection? (As biologist Lynn
Margulis notes, “All organisms alive today are equally
evolved, all can trace their ancestry back to the inception of life on earth”). Recent experiments have illustrated this non-cerebral acumen. Plasmodia that are
chopped up—remember they are a single cell-can
somehow communicate with the lost body parts and
move back together. Slime molds placed in a maze in
a laboratory setting with viable and blocked routes to a
food source will find the shortest route to the nutrients
in short order. One point of astonishment here to those
of us with neural ganglia is that slime molds demonstrate intelligent action without any nervous system
whatsoever. All action is accomplished through chemical communication between and within cells.
but is still composed of individuals, each with dreams
of their own value and self-worth.
One of the striking twists in the reproductive cycle
of this group is that when the sporangium is formed,
some individual cells form the stalk, and others transform themselves into the spores atop the stalk that will
become the next generation. Those that form the stalk
are sacrificial in the sense that they die without reproducing; they altruistically give their lives for the continuation of the communal genetic line. Altruism
(self-sacrifice) adds an element of confusion to the biological principle of natural selection and the general
theory of the survival of the fittest.
So what are slime molds: animal, vegetable or
mineral? They are none of the above. When most of
us were growing up there were three Kingdoms of
Life; now there are six. What are they? Animals,
Plants, Fungi; those are the original three Kingdoms
recognized by the scientific community. The additional
ones are the Bacteria, the Archaeans (ancient, earlyevolved forms of bacteria that do not utilized oxygen
for respiration), and the Protists (from the Greek protos, “first”, although they definitely were not first),
which are the non-bacterial, eukaryotic (as cosmologist
Brian Swimme notes, “there is just no way around the
term ‘eukaryote’"), single-celled organisms of the biosphere. Some of these are familiar to us at least in
name, such as amoebae, paramecia and diatoms.
The black and white images on the following page give a
sense of the shape and texture of some Methow and
Cascadia slime molds. To see them in a color format that
can be printed to serve as a guide in the field see this issue
of The Methow Naturalist online at methownaturalist.com.
For a web-based photo-gallery of slime molds see:
http://englishrussia.com/2008/09/23/slime-molds/#more2059
Information on and a second photo gallery of slime molds:
http://hiddenforest.co.nz/slime/index.htm
12
Slime Molds to Know and Love in the Methow
Fuligo septica-Dog Barf Slime Mold- is one of the most common, conspicuous, and best known myxomycetes. The
fruiting body can be quite large, sometimes reaching the size of a dinner plate in maximum extent and a thickness of
up to an inch. The color can range from white to pale or bright pink to red to bright yellow. Fuligo septica can be
found on decaying wood and bark, forest floor litter, wood debris and soil; it sometimes fruits on living plants and in
lawns. The most common, visible slime mold in the Methow.
Hemitrichia calyculata-Partly Hairy Slime Mold- is a very common and easily recognized myxomycete found
worldwide. The fruiting bodies are stalked, scattered to loosely clustered, and less than a quarter of an inch tall. Hemitrichia calyculata is bright to dark yellow in color. The stalk is slender, reddish brown to black, and represents up to
one half the total height of the fruiting body. Decaying wood and (less commonly) bark are the usual substrates for
this species.
Leocarpus fragilis-Fragile Big-fruit Slime Mold- The fruiting body of Leocarpus fragilis is not likely to be confused
with that of any other myxomycete, although a small fruiting could be mistaken for a mass of insect eggs. These fruiting bodies are stalked, clustered, and appear ovoid or egg-shaped. The color can range from pale yellow to deep maroon. Leocarpus fragilis is more likely to be encountered in coniferous forests. Fruiting usually occur on forest floor
litter though ot sometimes fruits on living plants.
Lindbladia tubulina-Tubular Slime Mold- The plasmodium is brown or black. The fruiting bodies form dense
groups which are mainly sessile or, rarely, borne on a stipe. Lindbladia tubulina is widely distributed. It has been
found in Ceylon, Japan, North America from Canada to Texas, and in Europe from Scandinavia to Portugal. Many
specimens are found on deadwood, brushwood or conifer needles, and rarely on the wood of deciduous trees. Seasonally they appear from late spring to early autumn.
Lycogala epidendrum- Tree Slime Mold- is one of the most widely distributed and best known myxomycetes. The
fruiting body is relatively large (up to half an inch in diameter) and typically more or less globose, although it can be
somewhat angular when individual fruiting bodies are crowded together. The color can range from pink to yellowishbrown to olive to nearly black. Lycogala epidendrum occurs on decaying wood and less commonly on bark.
Physarum cinereum-Ash Breath Slime Mold- is a pathogen of turfgrass. It forms an ashy-gray coating on lawn
grasses under special conditions of moisture and humidity, is unsightly but harmless and soon disappears.
Physarum polycephalum-Many-headed Slime Mold- is often referred to as the “many-headed slime,” is a slime
mold that inhabits shady, cool, moist areas, such as decaying leaves and logs. It is sensitive to light; in particular, light
can repel the slime mold and be a factor in triggering spore growth. It is is typically yellow in color, and eats fungal
spores, bacteria, and other microbes. P. polycephalum is one of the easiest eukaryotic microbes to grow in culture,
and has been used as a model organism for many studies involving amoeboid movement and cell motility. The movement of P. polycephalum is termed shuttle streaming. Shuttle streaming is characterized by the rhythmic back-andforth flow of the protoplasm; the time interval is approximately two minutes. The forces of the streaming vary for
each type of microplasmodium. Many-headed Slime Mold has been shown to exhibit intelligent characteristics similar to those seen in single-celled creatures and eusocial insects and mammals.
Stemonitis fusca-Dark Stem Slime Mold- fruits in clusters on dead wood, and has distinctive tall brown sporangia,
supported on slener stalks with a total height of approximately 6–20 mm tall
Methow Slime Molds
Leocarpus fragilis- Fragile-fruit Slime Mold
Fuligo septica- Dog Barf Slime Mold
Lycogala epidendrium- Tree Slime Mold
Lindbladia tubulina- Tubular Slime Mold
Physarum cinereum- Ash Breath Slime Mold
Stemonitis fusca- Dark Stem Slime Mold
Physarum polycephalum- Many-headed Slime Mold
14
Hemitrichia calyculata- Partly Hairy Slime Mold
bird day. Our record season for these arctic birds in 16
years was 53 counted in year 2000. In just three days we
have tallied 84 of them. Dark morph, light morph, and
intermediate birds showing all plumages. Both adults and
young birds." He also noted that, "A week ago today
[that would have been October 3rd] we had over 1000
Sand-hill Cranes pass through in one day - 500 in one
hour. Today we captured two Golden Eagles, by far the
most powerful birds we get to see up close."
Steve Bondi reported some interesting hydraulics and
dynamics from North Cascades Basecamp: "Probably the
best naturalist story of the fall from our home is that of
the lost Methow River between Mazama and the real Lost
River confluence. In this stretch of five river miles or so,
the Methow River, including the seasonal spring ponds
on the Basecamp property that flow to the river, dried up
completely during October, stranding 100's of fish (some
very expensive fish too!), and thus feeding countless raccoons, bears, weasels, otters, etc. By early November, as
the water table rose, the river reappeared completely
along with the seasonal spring ponds. It was as if the river never went below ground!?
Sort of tough on the upper
Methow fish populations, especially considering the river may
go subterranean again this winter, leading to perhaps a second
fish kill."
One more unusual bird to
report; both Sue K. and Kent
W. had White-winged Crossbills in their yards in Twisp in
the late fall (image below).
This is one of the rarest birds
that can be expected to to visit
the Methow, in fact Sibley
shows it as rare anywhere in
Washington. Cannings (in Birds of the Okanagan Valley)
notes that it is seldom seen below 4000' elevation, and
that "irruptions occur irregularly," noting that 1918 and
1977 were "good years" for the species in the Canadian
Okanagan.
Wildlife Sightings
Wildlife
Sightings
I was trying to get some images of the summer chinook salmon spawning in early October near Winthrop
when I came across this female breathing her last
.(above). Pacific salmon are programmed to die soon after they spawn, but the programming is clearly not popular with the fish, and they struggle against the inevitable.
Her tail is white because she
has beaten all the scales off of it
in the process of digging her
redd, or nest (female salmon do
not dig per se but turn on their
sides and pull upward powerfully with their caudal fin, excavating with the resulting
suction). I went back the following day to see what had be
come of her, and she was being
transformed into a Great Blue
Heron (at right). Thus nutrients
from the Pacific Ocean, 550
miles away, were enriching the
montane ecosystems of the
Methow watershed.
Birds never fail to captivate naturalists. Bruce M.
watched a Northern Shrike repeatedly attack a Northern
Flicker near Twisp. Flickers weigh twice as much as
shrikes and have formidable bills, so there is some question what would have transpired had the shrike succeeded
in catching the larger bird. Ann D. has been fascinated to
see a resident Goshawk near her home in Mazama picking off quail one by one. Merle K. found the first Barn
Owl in the Methow in many years roosting at Bear Creek
Lumber. The only previous Barn Owl reported in the
Methow in the last 30 years was one at Pearrygin Lake in
1998.
Art Campbell spotted a very light Rough-legged
Hawk near his home near Winthrop, while Kent Woodruff found a pure white Rough-legged on Fraser Creek.
This species summers in the Arctic, and is only in the
Methow briefly in late fall. Kent reports from the Chelan
Ridge Raptor count that it is a banner year for this hawk:
"Today it rained Rough-legs - 39 birds - as part of a 122
15
There has been some initial progress
on learning which bee species inhabit the
Methow watershed. Here at The Methow
Naturalist we have developed a key to
bee genera of northcentral Washington,
but it is not particularly easy to use; a
dissecting scope is pretty much a necessity (send a SASE if you want a copy).
Bees are small and intricate organisms,
and identification to species can only be
done at a few specialized labs in the
country. We have developed a list of
170 species likely to occur in the Methow from two regional studies. Don Rolfs
in Wenatchee has devoted himself to the
study of bees in recent years and has a
species list of 600 for the state; he plans
to publish a field guide to bees in the not
too distant future.
Two vascular plants were added to
the Methow's list of known species this
fall. Barri B. encountered a rather diminutive grass species in October while working on the Washington Native
Plant Society--Okanogan Chapter's native vegetation
project along Highway 20. She is a trained botanist and
was able to key the plant out to Purple Lovegrass, Eragrostis pectinatus. This is a native species, but is also a
colonizer, capable of thriving on disturbed ground
(including near highways). It is quite an attractive grass.
A second, possibly new species offered some early
winter excitement for local naturalists and botanists. On
the gravelly hill above the former mill site in Twisp a
miniature lupine grows in abundance, each plant widely
spaced from the next due to the harsh, rocky substrate.
The plant was noted in early December, when it was dried
and dormant for the winter. But Bruce M, who frequents
the hill all year, was able to report that when the plants do
An eye-opening, mind-expanding program for Methow
residents is coming up starting January 28th. The
Methow Conservancy's Winter Conservation Course:
Ecology Through History: From the Cosmos to the
Methow. 6 classes, $130, to register call Mary Kiesau
at 509-996-2870.
For a variety of resources aids for recognizing and understanding the natural world of the Methow, see the
Methow Naturalist Resource Page at www.methow
naturalist.com. Subject areas include: Amphibians,
Birds, Bats, Butterflies, Ecology, Energy, Fish, Forests,
Fungi, Geology, History, Insects, Lichens, Macroinvertebrates, Mammals, Plants, Reptiles, Tracking and
Changes in Methow Wildlife. Some worksheets are
available for download at the website.
bloom, the flowers are largely concealed
by the leaves--an unusual growth form
for lupines. This seems to peg it as Cusick's lupine (Lupinus cusickii), which is
reported to grow only in a few places in
the Blue Mountains of Oregon, and not
at all in Washington. But, in the regional
botanical bible, Flora of the Pacific
Northwest, Leo Hitchcock reported in
1965 that this species grows in the "Blue
Mountains of Oregon, and Okanogan
County, Washington." We will now
have to wait for spring flowers to know
for sure what this odd little plant is.
Perhaps the most surprising sightings of the late fall and early winter have
been three species of "December mushrooms." We would not have thought that
such a thing was possible, but nature has
proven us wrong. In early December
high winds blew over a dead cottonwood
on my property, revealing an Oyster Mushroom
(Pleurotus ostreatus) growing under the bark. We fried it
in butter and gobbled it up. Hikes on the snowless trails of
the Golden Doe Ranch revealed an abundant small mushroom known as Common Agrocybe (Agrocybe pediades)
in Mushrooms Demystified. These little mushrooms were
frozen when collected but gave spore prints when they
thawed out. And then to round out our collection of December mushrooms Virginia H. found and took the image
above of Velvet Foot, Flammulina velutipes, which she
encountered growing on a stump in her field. It is edible,
and the inimitable David Aurora informs us that, "It is
called the winter mushroom because it fruits very late in
the season, even in winter, when other fungi are not available. In it's pure-white form it is known as the 'Snow-puff
Mushroom."
In nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I
can read.
William Shakespeare
Most of the miracles we hear of are infinitely
less wonderful than the commonest of natural
phenomena.
John Muir
Sometimes you can see a lot just by looking.
Yogi Berra
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