Greetings,
This newsletter is dedicated to all of the weird life that hides in plain sight, right under your nose. Sure, we're working to preserve open space, but we are also protecting more forms of life than we can possibly imagine, and discovering new reasons to protect our parks every day.
Learn about the strange plants and animals that we discovered just last month.
In this e-mail:
25 Years of Chewing on Rocks
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Chiton hiding next to sea anemones (Looks like an armored shield below the seaweed)
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On a fieldtrip to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, Park Stewardship and dedicated Oceana High School students saw plenty of cool and strange intertidal creatures!
This chiton, a member of the mollusk family, can live up to 25 years old, and is evolutionarily much, much older than humans! While the first records of homo sapiens were found dating back to only about 200,000 years ago, these armored creatures have been found in fossil records from over 500 million years ago!
They even developed some of the first primitive "eyes" under their shell structure, sensing light through photo-receptors. Incredibly, these organisms continue to thrive on our coastlines in an ever-changing planet.
Eating Detritus
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Megan Whelan holding millipede
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Monster Millipede 6 inches long |
Pulling out invasive French broom at Alta Avenue on a cold rainy day in March, Megan Whelan discovered a giant millipede quietly crawling away from our work party into a quiet dark wet corner of the park. This millipede was the biggest millipede that I have ever seen. Millipedes are notoriously hard to identify and the best I could do was to get it to the genus Tylobolus.
Millipedes were the first animal to colonize land 428 million years ago. They breathe through holes in their skin called spiracles, which harken back to their watery past. Their heart runs the entire length of their bodies. A great aid to decomposition on forest floors, these gentle detritus-eating invertebrates have calmly chewed their ways through the millennia.
Carrot Algae
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| Trentepohlia aurea v. polycarpa |
What is that orange stuff growing on the underside of our coastal Monterey cypress? It looks like rust, it smells like dirt (yeah I smelled it)... is it a fungus or lichen? Actually it is algae!
Lichen is an amazing symbiotic relationship between fungus and algae. The fungus provides the housing structure and the algae produce sugars through photosynthesis to feed the fungus.
The fungus retains water and nutrients and feeds it to the algae in times of dryness. In this way the algae can stay alive in areas where it could not possibly do alone and in turn feeds the fungus the sugar it needs.
The orange stuff growing on the underside of this coastal Monterey cypress is a green algae called Trentepohlia aurea v. polycarpa. This algae doesn’t need the help of a fungus because it only grows in areas that are constantly wet. It is a green algae, but appears orange because of large amounts of beta carotene, (the same stuff that makes carrots orange!). It has been used as a dying agent and became famous in 2001 because it caused red rain in Kerala India.
Upcoming Programs & Events
 April 2 - Take a walk through nature’s grocery store!
Time: 1-2:30 pm
Meeting Location:
Milagra Ridge at College Avenue entrance.
Join the Park Stewardship Program, along with naturalists Megan Whelan and Sam Abercrombie, to learn about the native plants of Pacifica and how they are related to your everyday groceries! It’s an exciting way to get to know many California native plants.
Our volunteer workday is prior to the wildflower walk, so come out and
volunteer beforehand to restore the beautiful parks that we love so
much! Please RSVP to mwhelan@parksconservancy.org
as space is limited!
Alkatraz Night Tour: Year-Round, Thursday-Monday Evenings
The evening includes roundtrip ferry transportation, a live boat
narration, a guided tour from Dock to Cellhouse, the Cellhouse Audio
Tour, a keepsake souvenir brochure, recreation use fee, and a variety of
special programs and presentations offered only at night. To purchase
tickets please go to www.alcatrazcruises.com or call (415) 981-7625. Win tickets here.
 April 9 at Pheleger Estate - Saved at the Buzzer
How did five idealists on a budget save a $30 million
forest? Join Park Ranger George Durgerian and find out, while hiking
through
the most peaceful redwood groves in the parks. Details >
 April 10 - Mori Point Meander
Join Pacifica
historian Jerry Crow and hear tales of old Mori’s Tavern while strolling
through restored habitat for threatened and endangered species. Details >
 April 16 in Pacifica - Pacifica Earth Day Celebration
Lend a hand throughout Pacifica
and beyond. Cleanup and restoration activities will be happening at sites
throughout the Bay Area. Together we can keep our parks, neighborhoods, and
shorelines clean, safe, and beautiful for everyone! Details >
 April 17 at Milagra Ridge - Of Bombs and Butterflies
Take an easy stroll along Milagra Ridge, former gun
emplacement, Nike missile site, and now the last stand for a quarter-sized
endangered butterfly. Details >
 April 23 at Rancho Corral de Terra - A Short Walk Through a
Long Story
Join Ranger George Durgerian on a short stroll in Rancho
Corral de Tierra, the newest site in the Golden Gate National Parks,
and hear how the Peninsula Open Space Trust joined the community to preserve
this open space. Details >
April 30 at Marin Headlands - Species of the Year Kickoff Event
Kick off the year-long celebration of our Species of the
Year: the endangered mission blue butterfly (Icaricia icariodes missionensis)! With luck, you might get a glimpse at the first mission blues of the season! Details >
Volunteer Days
Our workdays are on Saturdays from 10 am-1 pm.
April 2 - Milagra Ridge
April 9 - Mori Point
April 23 - Milagra Ridge Earth Day!
May 14 - Mori Point
Directions & Program Information
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Workdays are from 10 am to 1 pm.
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Directions: Click here for directions to our sites.
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Carpool: We offer limited carpool; volunteers should arrive no later than 9:15 am at our office in Fort Mason, San Francisco, Building 34N for a ride. An RSVP sent to Megan Whelan, mwhelan@parksconservancy.org will help guarantee you a seat.
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What to Bring: Please be prepared for changing weather, dress in layers, and wear sturdy shoes and clothing that can get dirty.
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We Provide: Tools, training, and we serve snacks and water during break.
Thank you for loving your park and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Sincerely,
Price Sheppy and the Park Stewardship Team
"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging
to us. When we see land as a community
to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
We have separate updates for our park stewardship programs in Marin
and San Francisco. If you would like to receive updates for these
regions, please contact: parkstewardship@parksconservancy.org
or sign-up directly on our website. Visit the Park Stewardship Homepage for more details about our regional programs.
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