Field Study Wrap-up

By Nick Bergo
Period 5/6
Analysis
Throughout my entire field study, many things have changed. For instance, the thistle
coverage increased significantly, more red hot poker appeared then decreased a little, the bees
increased over time, and the spittlebugs eventually were less apparent. Three dominant
organisms in my area are the spittle bug, bee, and hummingbird. I learned that the spittle bug
lives off a plant stem, however it doesnt really harm it. The spittlebugs thrived until the end of
my study, for some reason they were less common around my site, possibly weather. It seemed
as if abiotic factors like wind and random weather patterns affected the state of the insect. As the
end, I saw less of them. This insect is dominant because its froth protects them from predators, as
it gives a bad taste and smell. I learned several things about bees. However the ones I studied
were worker bees, the ones that gather the nectar for the hive. One thing I learned was that the
worker bees dont actually intentionally pollinate the flowers, but suck up the nectar while the
pollen is unintentionally picked up and transported by the bees. The bees havent changed much,
but they slightly increased in their density. I believe this happened because more flowers were
blooming and growing, appealing to the bees. Other factors are the temperature and abiotic
contributions to the thriving of the bee attracted plants. These bees are dominant because they
have a well supplied amount of nectar from the plants in my area. Lastly I learned little more
about hummingbirds than i did before. However from research I found out that hummingbirds go
into a state of torpor, similar to hibernation, that slows its metabolism to 1/15 its normal state.
This explains their dominance as well. Things that have changed is that the hummingbirds I have
observed seemed to appear at the beginning and end of my study. I cannot explain this
disappearance besides the fact that I happened to not see them during my visits. I believe that the
blooming of plants have affected the appearances of the hummingbirds because of the
availability of nectar of the plants in my area. And again, the dominance of the hummingbird is
explained by its great metabolism and availability of nectar. I learned the difference of biotic and
abiotic factors. I learned about many of the native plants of marin county. And lastly I learned
how plants and animals interact. This is all connected because the roles that our own ecosystem
enacts, is close to the same that operates on the world level.
Conclusion
I believe that i met my objective because I learned more about my native environment.
Whether it was what our native plants actually are, or how our ecosystem works, I learned from
this experience. During this, I learned the reasons behind why animals and plants interacted. My

original predictions were both incorrect and correct. My first prediction was incorrect because
only one of the plants actually died because of the lack of water and that plant was the daisies. To
my observation I believe this was one of the only non drought resistant plants at my site. The
others seemed to not be affected by the weather. My second prediction was correct but the
flowers didnt necessarily bloom significantly. I think this didnt happen as I expected because
there is very little nutrients like nitrogen in the soil of my site. The weather of the spring had
little effect on the blooming of this seasons plants. My last prediction was correct because it is
true that there were different variations of organisms at my site at different times of day. The
times I visited my site besides during class, I saw different animals than I would have seen at the
regular times. I saw more insects at my site in the morning, probably due to the less intense heat
levels. My final thoughts on this project was that it was my favorite due to the originality and
fascination for my site.
Opinion
I loved the originality and individual bond with your chosen area. Plus the exploration
was really fun. Its something different than ordinary class that I really enjoyed. Parts that could
be improved could be the transportation aspect and a way to let people know what time to leave
without their cooperation like a message on the phone or something to let people know.