The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Snails, fish, insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located.
The usual images conjured up of Yellowstone National Park are big ones - large wildlife like bison, elk, grizzly bear, and wolves; amazing geology like geysers, hot pots, the caldera of a super-volcano, and the grand canyon of the Yellowstone river; historic buildings like the Old Faithful Inn; the huge wildfires of 1988; and, of course, massive crowds of tourists in the summer months. The Old Faithful area was my backyard when I worked summers in the park during my college years. I recently went back for a visit and I was amazed at all the smaller details that I never noticed before. So, let me take you on a tour of the often overlooked nature in Yellowstone. Yeah, sure, Old Faithful is going off again - but, wow, look over here at this dragonfly!
These insects are very common, hovering over the Firehole River. In flight, they look entirely rust-colored. I didn't see the clear ends of the wings until one settled down near me on a log. They are feisty and chase each other aggressively. I believe that this is a Flame skimmer (Libellula saturata).
The Firehole River flows through the Old Faithful area which was our home base during this trip. Hot water from several geyser basins flows into this river and raises its temperature (increasing it as much as 18° F). This makes it possible to tolerate a swim at the swimming hole in Firehole Canyon (the existence of which used to be a secret known only to employees, but now is legal and open to the public). After the initial shock (the water still isn't what you'd consider warm), it was a refreshing swim after several hot and dry days of hiking. The inflow also contains dissolved chemicals and minerals from the geothermal features. There are usually people fly-fishing along the Firehole although I just learned that the trout in the river were all introduced (Brown trout in 1890, Rainbow trout in 1923). I was excited to spot a pair of Sandhill cranes (life bird!) along the Firehole.
The wildflowers were spectacular!
Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), Elephant's head (Pedicularis groenlandica), Fringed gentian (Gentianopsis thermalis), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja mutis), Larkspur? (Delphinium sp.), Richardson's geranium (Geranium richardsonii), Monkshood (Aconitum columbianum), Lewis's monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii), Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), Evert's thistle (Cirsium foliosum), Sulphur buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum)
Charred trunk and new growth of Lodgepole pines
Evert's thistle has an interesting history. Truman Evert was a member of the Washburn expedition of 1870. He got separated from the party and endured a series of calamities before being found. For 37 days wandering alone in the wilderness, Evert sustained himself by eating the root of this thistle that now bears his name (also known as Elk thistle).
I don't remember wildflowers from my employee days, but I was probably just oblivious back then. Or it could be that the fires of 1988 have encouraged more wildflowers. The forests that burned are regrowing since the fires opened the pinecones and released their seeds. However, the trees are still relatively short and sunlight still reaches the forest floor as it didn't before.
Since we've talked about Shore pines (Pinus contorta) of the Pacific Northwest in previous buckets, it is still amazing to consider that the Lodgepole pines of Yellowstone are the same species. If they'd been named first, these stick straight trees could never have been called "contorta".
We found another native wildflower, the Indian Pond Lily or Rocky Mountain Pond Lily (Nuphar polysepala), in Isa Lake. What is interesting is that little Isa Lake sits on top of the Continental Divide (there's no upstream from here). How did the seeds for the pond lily get here? I am guessing that ducks ate some seed and transported it up to this lake, but it could have been human interference before that was considered inappropriate behavior.
Indian pond lily (Nuphar polysepala) in Isa Lake
Isa Lake drains both directions, but seemingly backwards (especially without seeing a map). The
west end of the lake ultimately drains into the Gulf of Mexico (via Spring Creek to the Firehole River, to the Madison River, to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers). The
east end drains into the Pacific Ocean (via Delacy Creek to Shoshone Lake, then into the Lewis River, the Snake River, and finally into the Columbia River).
While hoards of people congregate on the boardwalks around Old Faithful to wait for a scheduled eruption, one can take a short walk uphill to escape the crowds and view Old Faithful from Observation Point. Once up there, a very short side trip takes you to a cute little geyser that burps about 4 ft high from its pool every 5 to 7 minutes. Very few people take this detour, so in keeping with its name, you are likely to be all alone in viewing it.
Solitary geyser
Solitary geyser is interesting because it carries some park history and a lesson. Before 1915, this was just an out-of-the-way hot pool. So, the idea came about to tap it for hot water to use in the Old Faithful facilities just down the hill. They put in a pipe and drew the water level down 3 ft and the calm pool turned into an erupting geyser. Even after removing the pipe and allowing the water level to return to normal, it has stayed a geyser. Don't mess with Mother Nature!
The vibrant colors around hot springs may be caused by mineral deposits (e.g. iron oxide) as well as the microbial life that thrives in the extreme conditions of thermal features (hot temperatures, extreme pH, and various chemicals), collectively called extremophiles There is a great deal of microbiology research currently being done in Yellowstone. According to Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center:
Research conducted on the “extremophile” microbial communities of Yellowstone has enhanced the scientific understanding of the physical and chemical limits of life. Because Yellowstone thermal environments offer such a diversity of challenges to life they provide great places for studying the capabilities and limitations of organisms adapted to life in the extreme. Yellowstone hot springs provide a glimpse into the nature of the early biosphere. Comparisons of genetic sequences of many microorganisms suggest that the last common ancestor of organisms living today may have come from a high-temperature environment, not unlike those that exist today in Yellowstone’s thermal areas. Many scientists think that Yellowstone hot springs provide a glimpse into what environmental conditions on early Earth may have been like.
Studying Yellowstone thermal features not only helps us better understand the past; it is helping us prepare for the future. Some of the current research in Yellowstone thermal environments is being used in applied ways. Taq Polymerase, a heat-stable enzyme isolated from the bacterium Thermus aquaticus, an organism first identified in Yellowstone, revolutionized modern day biology with the automation of the PCR process, which allows scientists to replicate and identify DNA rapidly. Rapid identification has had repercussions in forensic science and in biomedical research. DNA analysis is one tool Yellowstone resource managers use to better understand and manage Yellowstone’s wildlife populations. Other applications that come out of thermal research involve the use of thermostable viruses, the process of alkaline hydrolysis, the natural breakdown of materials at high pH levels, and the use of thermophilic gene products to create biofuels.
Talk about small details!
I hope you'll forgive a Yellowstone diary lacking the big attractions of the park, but I wanted to focus on things I newly discovered in my old favorite places.
Your turn! What are you discovering for the first time in your own familiar haunts?
"Green Diary Rescue" is Back!
After a hiatus of over 1 1/2 years, Meteor Blades has revived his excellent series. As MB explained, this weekly diary is a "round-up with excerpts and links... of the hard work so many Kossacks put into bringing matters of environmental concern to the community... I'll be starting out with some commentary of my own on an issue related to the environment, a word I take in its broadest meaning."
"Green Diary Rescue" will be posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.