Wildflowers 2022

11/10, Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI - 75 degrees!

• False Rue Anemone (one lone bloom)!

8/19, Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI

• Jewelweed

5/28, Millboro Springs, Bath Co., VA

• Swordleaf Phlox (Phlox buckleyi)
• Bowman's Root (Gillenia trifoliata)
• Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
• Flame Azaleas (Rhododendron calendulaceum) - natives, not a cultivar
• Golden or Roundleaf Ragwort (Senecio aureus or obovatus)
• Eastern Smooth Beardtongue (Penstemon laevigatas)

5/28, Gaudineer Knob/Scenic Area, Randolph/Pocohontas Co., WV

• virgin/old growth Red Spruce
• clubmoss
• Wood Shamrock

5/24, Grand Ravines, Allendale, Ottawa Co., MI

• Starry False Solomon's Seal
• Buttercups
• Daisy Fleabane
• Wild strawberries
• Canada Anemones *

5/23, Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI

• False Lily of the Valley
• Wild Phlox
• Virginia Bluebells (the tail end of them)

5/15, Blandford Nature Center, Grand Rapids, Kent Co., MI

• False Lilies of the Valley
• Mayapples
• Wild (Virginia) Strawberries
• Yellow Rocket / Wintercress
• Wild Geraniums

5/5, Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI

• Hepatica
• Spring Beauties
• Spring Cress
• Trillium
• False Rue Anemone
• Wood Anemone
• Dutchman's Breeches
• Squirrel Corn
• Cutleaf Toothwort
• Blue Cohosh
• Early Meadow-Rue
• Wood Betony
• Trout Lilies
• Large-flowered Bellwort

4/29, GVSU Arboretum, Allendale, Ottawa Co., MI

• Trout lilies

4/14, Blandford Nature Center, Walker, Kent Co., MI

• Common violets
• Sweet white violets

4/12, Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI

• Hepatica
• (also: 2 Garter snakes, chortling frogs)

Birding 2022

August 19, Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI

• mink

August 16, Blandford Nature Center, Grand Rapids, Kent Co., MI

• milk snake

June 2-3, Millboro Springs, Bath Co., VA

• Bluebirds 

Heard calls:

•  Barred owl

May 31, Millboro Springs, Bath Co., VA

Heard calls:

• Yellow-billed Cuckoo
• Wood Thrush
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Blue-headed Vireo
• Whippoorwills (evenings)

May 30, Millboro Springs, Bath Co., VA

• Phoebe
• Brown Thrashers
• Mockingbird
• Catbirds
• Carolina Wren

May 28, Gaudineer Knob/Scenic Area, Randolph/Pocohontas Co., WV

• Yellow-rumped Warblers (heard calls)
• Magnolia Warblers (heard calls)

May 24, Grand Ravines, Ottawa Co., Allendale, MI

• Common Yellowthroat Warbler (heard call)
• Bald Eagles
• Eastern Wood Pewee (heard call)

May 15, Blandford Nature Center, Kent Co., Grand Rapids, MI

• Catbird pair
• Baltimore Orioles - 2 pair

May 11, Home, Kent Co., Walker, MI

Indigo Bunting at the feeder

May 5, Leonard between 8th and 14th, Ottawa Co., MI

Egret (probably Cattle)

May 5, Aman Park, Ottawa Co., MI

• Black-throated Green Warbler
• Brown Creepers

May 2, Home, Kent Co., Walker, MI

White-crowned Sparrow

May 1, Blandford Nature Center, Kent Co., Grand Rapids, MI

• Blue Jays
• Cardinals
• Canada Geese
• Catbird
• Chickadees
• Crows
• Downy Woodpecker
• Goldfinch
• Grackles
• Mourning Doves
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Red-winged Blackbirds
• Robins
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Song Sparrow
• Tree Swallows
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• White-throated Sparrows 
• Yellow-shafted Flicker

Home:

• Chipping Sparrow
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Starlings
• Tufted Titmouse

April 24, Home, Kent Co., Walker, MI

White-throated Sparrow (heard call)

April 21, Home, Kent Co., Walker, MI

Chipping Sparrow

April 14, Blandford Nature Center, Kent Co., Walker, MI

Hermit Thrush

April 3, Home, Kent Co., Walker, MI

Eastern Phoebe (heard call)

April 1, GVSU campus, Ottawa Co., Allendale, MI

Red-breasted Nuthatch

March 18, Home, Kent Co., Walker, MI

Turkey Vulture

March 13, Blandford Nature Center, Kent Co., Walker, MI

Bald Eagle 

Song Sparrows

March 10, Walker Village Dr., Kent Co., Walker, MI

Great Blue Heron

March 5, Standale Bike path, Kent Co., Walker, MI

4 Sandhill cranes flying

March 3, Blandford Nature Center, Kent Co., Grand Rapids, MI

Bluebirds

Red-winged Blackbirds

Rough-legged Hawks (pair)

Song Sparrows (pair)

Pileated Woodpecker

March 2, home, Kent Co., MI

male Merlin perched on backyard fence

March 1, traveling, Ottawa Co., Spring Lake, MI

Bald Eagle

Professional Development 2022

Badke, William. (May/June 2022). "Should We Give Up on Information Literacy?" Online Searcher, 46(3), 33–35.

Multimedia Journalism: News Literacy

Amazeen, Michelle A. and Erik P. Bucy. (2019). "Conferring Resistance to Digital Disinformation: The Inoculating Influence of Procedural News Knowledge." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 63(3), 415-432. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2019.1653101

Cited by 22 articles as of 2/14/22. 

The article, "tests procedural news knowledge as a consequential civic resource" and shows that, "working knowledge of how the news media operate aids in the identification and effects of fabricated news and native advertising" (p. 2). The authors identify working knowledge of how the news media operate as, "procedural news knowledge (PNK)" (p. 3). "The PNK measure included 10 multiple choice questions, each with one correct answer (see Appendix A)," and "The composite measure was based on summing the correct number of responses to all 10 questions" (p. 15). In their discussion: "What divides individuals recognizing legitimate journalism from fabricated news and commercialized content is an understanding of how the news media operate" (p. 23). PNK happens as a result of "formal news training," a.k.a. news literacy.

I'd like to use these in a LibWizard:

Appendix A: Procedural News Knowledge Questions

Q1. In what section does a newspaper's editorial staff endorse candidates and express their opinions about current issues?

• On the front page (15.4%)
• On the editorial page (61.7%) 
• In the business section (4.8%)
• In a special weekly advertising section (5.0%)
• Mainstream newspapers don't endorse candidates or take issue stands (13.1%)

Q2. How long is a typical nightly newscast on the three main broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC)?

• 15 minutes (5.4%)
• 30 minutes (54.1%)
• 1 hour (36.6%)
• 90 minutes (2.4%)
• 2 hours (1.6%)

Q3. Do television anchors generally go out and report news stories on their own, or do they mostly present stories that others produce for them?

• Mostly report stories on their own (10.6%)
• Mostly report stories that others produce for them (63.2%)
• Equally report on their own and present stories that others produce for them (26.2%)

Q4. Which of the following newspapers is generally regarded as the national "newspaper of record," providing a "first draft” of history?

• USA Today (19.8%)
• The Chicago Tribune (3.9%)
• The New York Times (43.9%)
• The Washington Post (29.4%)
• The Los Angeles Times (2.9%)

Q5. Which of the following best describes a press release?

• A short news piece written or produced by a reporter (17.2%)
• A written statement or short video about a newsworthy event given out to reporters by an official or public relations specialist (69.1%)
• An opinion piece written by a syndicated columnist (8.0%)
• A paid advertisement that appears in newspapers and on news websites with the label "paid advertisement" (5.8%)

Q6. Most news websites prioritize the stories and columns that are most popular, or trending, with users rather than simply structure the news page according to what the editors think are the most important stories.

• True (84.3%)
• False (15.7%)

Q7. The most important information in a news story generally appears at what point in the story?

• In the first paragraph, in what is traditionally called the "lead" (67.0%)
• In the third paragraph, after the introduction to the story, in what is traditionally called the "nut graf" (11.4%)
• At the maximum narrative arc of the story, where the writer decides it should be (14.0%)
• At the end of the story, in the form of a summary (7.7%)

Q8. Most media outlets in the United States are:

• For-profit businesses (66.9%)
• Owned by the government (7.8%)
• Non-profit businesses (7.6%)
• Don't know (17.7%)

Q9. Which of the following U.S. news outlets does NOT depend primarily on advertising for financial support?

• FOX News (9.4%)
• PBS (52.4%)
• The New York Times (5.7%)
• Time Magazine (3.5%)
• Don't know (28.9%)

Q10. When it comes to reporting the news, the main difference between websites like Google News and a website like CNN.com is that:

• Google doesn't have reporters who gather information, while CNN does. (40.3%)
• Google focuses on national news, while CNN focuses on local news. (6.3%)
• Google has more editors than CNN does. (5.7%)
• Google charges money for the news, while CNN does not. (4.2%)
• Don't know (43.5%)

One of the citing articles is:

Tully, Melissa, et al. “Defining and Conceptualizing News Literacy.” Journalism, Apr. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211005888.

They "define news literacy as knowledge of the personal and social processes by which news is produced, distributed, and consumed, and skills that allow users some control over these processes." 

Then, they propose the measures of, "context, creation, content, circulation and consumption." These are further defined as: context is "the social, legal and economic environment in which news is produced," creation is "the process in which journalists and other actors engage in conceiving, reporting and creating news," content is "the qualitative characteristics of a news story or piece of news that distinguishes it from other types of media content," circulation as "the process through which news is distributed and spread among potential audiences," and consumption "as the personal factors that contribute to news exposure, attention and evaluation and recognition of the effects of such consumption."

Are these measures covered by the Appendix questions above?

Watched Shaping Narratives: Ngiiwe by Lin Thomas (Bardwell), 2020, about Michigan Native food sovereignty.

Fungi

How fungi are similar to and differ from plants and animals:

Witzany, Guenther (ed.) “Introduction: Keylevels of Biocommunication in Fungi.” Biocommunication of Fungi. Springer, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4264-2 

“On an evolutionary time scale, the kingdom of fungi emerged approx. 300 million years after the appearance of the first animal species, although they descended from a common ancestor (Lang et al. 2002)” (p. 17).

“Most fungi ... secrete powerful enzymes that enable the cells to digest organic matter from the nearby environment outside their body, in turn breaking this down to smaller molecules that can be absorbed in a dissolved form (Jennings 1995)” (p. 19).

I.e., plants make their own food (photosynthesis); fungi don’t.

“Although plants and animals seem to be descendants of fungi, the relationship between fungi and viruses is different from virus–animal or virus–plant relationships (Villarreal 2005)” (p. 24).

Doesn't this contract the quote from p. 17? [does he mean descendants of viruses?]

“There is new evidence that certain proteins that have been restricted to signalling pathways in animals so far are also common in fungal signalling pathways (Herranz et al. 2005)” (pp. 27-28).

“There is much evidence to suggest that the fungal and animal kingdom share common ancestors, such as protoctists [protists], which have a true nucleus like choano-flagellates (Villarreal 2005). In this sense, fungi and animals are more related to each other than is the case with the plant kingdom. This is further strengthened by the sign-mediated processes, which regulate cellular functions. Yet another indicator of their common ancestry is found in a particular signalling pathway, termed the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade (MAPK). This plays a crucial role in cell wall stabilisation of fungi and pheromone/mating interactions among mammalian cells. On top of that, MAPK is highly conserved (Lengeler et al. 2000)” (p. 37).

“Today, scientists consider the origin of the plant cell to be the result of the terrestrial activity of mycorrhiza, i.e. settlement on land was a co-evolutionary event that is comparable to that between flowering plants and insects (Villarreal 2005). The mutually beneficial relationship between subterranean fungi and plant roots is a fine-tuned network of sign-mediated interactions developed over millions of years (Besserer et al. 2006), whereby fungi excrete digestive enzymes into the surrounding soil, and convert nutrients into aqueous solutions that in turn can be readily absorbed by the plant. A staggering 80% of all terrestrial plants rely on the activity of mycorrhiza, especially trees (Schwarze et al. 2004)” (p. 38).

Moore, David. Fungal Biology in the Origin and Emergence of Life. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Evolution: "the first eukaryotes had the nutritional and cell-biological attributes of fungi as well as features that later emerged in plants and animals." Plants then split off. "Opisthokonts [were] ancestors of both animals and fungi." Then animals split off, "leaving their sister ancestral opisthokonts to evolve into fungi." (p. 6)

Plants produce food; animals consume food; fungi recycle or reduce (break down) food - they are saprobes - they decay organic material and digest it, like soil bacteria: saprotrophic nutrition (p. 7).

The Fungi Kingdom includes single-celled yeasts to organisms "that cover hundreds of acres of land." In Oregon, there is a mycelium that covers "2384 acres" and "is estimated to be 1900-8650 years old" (p. 8).

"But mushrooms are not organisms in their own right, they are the fruiting bodies of a much larger and more extensive mycelium growing beneath the ground within the soil." But some live in water, air, on animals. "Fungi are not able to produce their own food directly as plants do; rather, fungi recycle dead organic matter by discharging a full range of digestive enzymes into their surroundings. These enzymes degrade organic material outside the myelium and then the hyphae ingest the soluble nutrients produced by that external digestion" (saprotrophs = decomposers) (p. 9). 

That material can be plant or animal, or even inorganic minerals! Coal resulted from pre-fungal times when dead wood piled up and fossilized. Plants' cell walls are made of cellulose and lignin, and "fungi are ... the only organisms capable of breaking down both..." (p. 10).

Symbiosis = mutualism (both partners benefit), e.g., lichen, made of algae and fungi. The algae photosynthesize (use sunlight to make carbohydrates), and the fungi makes the body surrounding the algae, and takes in water and nutrition. This body, lichen, is different from both algae and fungal mycelium. (p. 11). 

Seems like an unequal partnership - maybe the fungus not only lives off the algae but also destroys it and only rapid algal reproduction lets it stay ahead of the destruction. 

Also, fungi hyphae help plants by increasing "the surface area available for absorbing minerals" (p. 12) and plants share the carbohydrates with the fungi (p. 13). The mycorrhizas extend the plant root surface and help the plant tolerate drought, larger temperature ranges, and acidity. Ruminant mammals have fungi that digest cellulose in their stomachs - the animals don't produce enzymes themselves to do that.

Lincoff, Gary. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. Knopf : Random House, 2002.

Fungi "differ from most plants in that they lack chlorophyll...." They get nutrition "in 3 ways: as saprophytes, as parasites, and as mycorrhizae. Saprophytes live on dead organic matter.... Parasites attack living plants or animals. Mycorrhizal mushrooms have a symbiotic relationship with plants...the underground...part...sheaths the roots of the plant, expanding the plant's root system; the mushroom receives necessary carbohyrates from the tree" (pp. 12-13).

Spores are the "reproductive units." When they sprout, they turn into hyphae (plural; hypha = singular), which are "threadlike strands" with cells that have 1 nucleus and "that are collectively known as the mycelium" (singular; mycelia = plural). When 2 or more mycelia meet, they create a mycelium whose cells have 2 nuclei. These are the "vegetative portion of the fungus" and they develop into the fruiting bodies, a.k.a., mushrooms. They produce spores "and the life cycle begins again" (p. 20).

Nice illustrations of caps (p. 14), gills and stalks (pp. 16-18) (rings are the leftovers from veils), the key (p. 35-color plates), and the plates. Also has good descriptions in the text, and a glossary following the text.