Nature Journal 12

I believe that my nature place will face a lot of challenges within the next couple years. One main issue being the soil. If they decide to make it officially a tailgate area and remove most of the plants and trees it will cause a lot of species to die or even cause animals to relocate to somewhere else. Also this place faces the ability to have more buildings built on it. If the school decides to expand the Devault Alumni Center or add a parking lot behind because of the new basketball facility, the place would not be a place to relax and visit anymore. Another challenge that my nature place faces is the threat losing its resources. What I mean by that is that students would decide to plant trees and flowers elsewhere on campus instead of putting them in a place that people do not visit as much of other locations on campus.
As I look at my nature place I think that in five years the place will have more plants and trees planted there. After those five years I can see the school adding a parking lot behind there because of the addition to the basketball facility and the new baseball field being built. Also they will need more parking for Briscoe and McNutt dorms because they will use up all the spots at assembly for sport activities only. That is what I see this place evolving into because of the way things are shaping up around campus now and the expansion to everything around campus.

Nature Journal 11

I think with my nature place I would change the entire landscape. I would want it to be the most desired place to be on campus. Like people visiting the Zoo or Museum, that is how I would want them to come to this location just to escape and see the nature that is lurking in their own backyard.

I would chop down some of the trees that look to old and plant new ones that only grow in certain states and countries to represent the diversity that we have here at Indiana University. I would do the same for flowers by planting them along a trail creating a pathway up to the back of the Devault Alumni Center as well as to McNutt and 12th street. This area would have to be maintained and kept safe all the time to make sure animals do not get in and destroy the plants. So it would only have to be kept open during the day and locked up during the night by a 6ft gate.

I think that this would be a great improvement because the campus does not have that many places that are so intriguing and that attracts everyone. Students will feel right at home when they see the plants or trees from their home state. I think that it would open the doors for the science department to even take part and do studies with the area to see how some of these different trees can survive or adapt in a different environment.

Nature Journal 10

By Darius Willis
By Darius Willis
By Darius Willis

My nature place consists of a lot of plants that are being grown by and managed by the Alumni Building Maintenance. They take care of the plants and the area as you can see from the pictures. Over the years the senior class of Indiana University gets together and plants some trees and plants. I do not know the detail of this but on every tree that is planted it tells the name of the tree and the senior class that planted it.
So the vegetation that I captured is of a Red Maple also called Acer Rubrum, Silver Maple called Acer Saccharinum, Daffodils also called Narcissus, and the Dogwood Tree called Benthamidia Florida. Without these trees growing in this area it would not be a pretty place to relax and think at all. Other plants that I would expect to see would be daisies or roses. But I think the number of weeds out grows the plants in this area thanks to all the dandelions. I think for those flowers to grow you need a healthy clean environment with fresh fruit and water around. So the reason why these flowers grow here is because they are common among any location.
So the one that caught my attention is the dogwood tree because of all the white flowers that it has on it. It can be labeled as the as a spring tree because home-owners and landscapers like to grow them. Some characteristic for it is it needs good soil and you have to water them weekly so that it gets many nutrients. But the tree can be dangerous as well. Dogwood anthracnose is a disease that it gets when the leaves are light brown (treehelp.com).

http://www.dogwood-tree.com/dogwood-borer.htm

Nature Journal 9

As you can see in my sketch some animals that I decided to post was a bird which Latin name happens to be Avis, groundhog Latin name marmota monax, frog Latin name canus lupis, and rabbit which Latin name is cuniculus.

the animal that I was interested in knowing about was the rabbit. There are sorts of rabbit types but the one I am more focused on is the wild rabbit. They typically live in thickets, forests, meadows, and the woods according to rabbit habitat. Rabbits like a moderate climate, so I see why they wouldn't mind being a pet. Rabbits are very quiet and can be loud when they scream if they are frightened and knocks on the ground to warn other animals that danger approaches. Other than that they are not angry creatures if bothered they just use their speed to get away quickly.

Some other animals that I could have saw would be a deer. But it probably doesn't come around until there are less people outside so that it can feed on the plants. The main animal that dominants this area I think are squirrels. They like this habitat because they have all the food that surrounds them and plenty of space to live free without their tree getting chopped down.









http://courses.ttu.edu/thomas/classpet/1998/rabbit1/new_page_2.htm
http://www.petwebsite.com/rabbits/rabbits_behavior.htm

Nature Journal 8

picture by Darius Willis
picture by Darius Willis
picture by Darius Willis
Some signs that you can notice when the weather changes from the winter to more warmer weather is the plants. This includes the grass because when it is cold the ground is hard and the grass can not grow because it gets no sunlight if the snow is covering it. You can see all the holes in the ground and tell where plants are growing as well as mushrooms and onion grass. Some tracks that you couldn’t notice before was spider webs. They are all over the trees and little bushes and that always gives me goose bumps because I dislike spiders. You can see all the bird nests as well and bird droppings in the grass. Which leaves to dog droppings as well from people walking their dogs all around the area. Also the leaves are growing compared to in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees at all. A sign of human life is if there is trash on the ground from littering or food dropped on the ground. Another track that is noticeable is from the groundhogs, that have dirt paths all over the place.

Although you can notice some signs in the warmer weather I think that winter is easier because you can notice all of the tracks from all of the different kinds of animals that have surfaced the area. You can also see stains or droppings from all the animals and trace of food that they left behind. Having the snow on the ground makes it easier to track footsteps. So I think that Austin makes a reasonable statement about the winter time

nature Journal 7

Well for one you can tell this place has changed because of the ground is not frozen. Though the trees are still leafless, I give until the week after spring break and you will see the leafs on the trees starting to grow as well as plants growing all over the landscape. Winter is officially over. Spring is upon us, and as it approaches this nature place will be filled with all kinds of animals and insects. One thing that I noticed was that they planted new trees all over the area. And in some areas that was low on grass they are trying to make it grow. The nature place will be evolving slowly into a beautiful spring like area filled with happiness and joy for those who use its wonders. The season has changed once again and this place will take on new tasks.

Nature Journal 6

(photo by indiana maps database)

(photo by historicmaps.com
As I have studied this nature place it has become very hard to fine tune what this area really was. Since there is a creek nearby I can say that this place was designed to be like this. A former president of the university once said, “To cut a tree unnecessarily has long been an act of treason against our heritage and the loyalty, love, and effort of our predecessors who have preserved it for us. So when this campus was drawn out it was planned that this be a beautiful place filled with plants and trees, to make the campus of Bloomington stand out.
This location today contains many plants and trees not as many as before thanks to tailgating though. But this area was used for recreation. It was once a park where people could come enjoy the beautiful scenery of gardens and trees and smell the freshness of the air. This area was reserved to serve a purpose on campus and that was to maintain as a beautiful grassy display area. The land use to have a couple of homes as well but they were moved when the land was bought. Now the edition of the Devault Alumni Center occupies some of the space since its completion in 1997. By taking a look at the area you can tell that it has been a plain area for some time now. But as the Indiana achieves show, back in 1887 the university did not even extend this far. So the area could have even been used as farm land since there was so much space and not many streets reached to the 45/46 extension.