Navigation

Natural History Information

The more you know about open space, the more you will enjoy being there and seeing what's there. Here are some short articles to make your trips more interesting:

     Allelopathy - How plants suppress competition.

    Deciduousness - What's going on with trees losing
                         their leaves.

    Droppings - Looking at yesterday's menu.

    Edge effects - What happens when one habitat
                           meets another?

    Fire following Plants - Fire creates an opportunity for plants
                           and great flower displays for us!

    Lichens - The colorful spots on rocks are pioneer
                   settlers.

    Mistletoe - You know about kissing under it
                      but what about the rest of its life?

    Oak galls - Those brown balls you see on oak trees.

    Geology of the Shell and Lime Ridges

    Oak Bark -  how it grows.

    Oaks - what kinds we have.

    Growing Up - why do plants grow upward?

    Dead Tree Ecology - part of life in the open space.

    Eyes - they aren't all the same.

    Wind Pruning - how the wind shapes trees.

    Spiders and Their Webs -  thinking about spider
                                             webs.

    Healing Wounds - how trees heal themselves.

    Trash in the Open Space - maybe things are getting better.

Thanks to Jerry Fritzke for the material contributed so far. We will continue to add new articles as we get them. If you have information on a subject related to our open space, send us an email with text and pictures and we'll try to use it.