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"I'm noticing lots of grasses here. Normally when you think og a patch of lawn it seems pretty homogenous, just one type of green grass, but that's not necessarily true."
In my plot there were common grasses with small blades that formed everywhere, and then more sparse grasses with larger blades. It could be that the latter of the two normally grow larger and live amongst the common grass before larger shrubs and bushes succeed these organisms. This cannot happen here due to the disturbance off the lawn mower, but an example of a more mature plain can be seen on the nearby hillside.

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Disturbances are natural events that reset an ecosystem (fires, storms, disease) and succession describes how the ecosystem rebuilds with basic organisms paving the one for more complex ones.

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"There are small grasses and leafy plants growing out of the crevices in the tree roots ... It seems that dirt may have accumulated in the channels between the roots allowing these plants to grow."

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The bark is solid and dense, not scab-like like the oak trees are. You would be hard pressed to be able to remove a peace of bark from this maple. There are deep cracks running throughout the bark, splitting it into almost scales of square pieces.

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The change of the earths orbit shape, tilt, and north facing direction (precession) which effect the climate.

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Being on a hill, the only source of water seems to be the rain and potentially a graveyard attendant. While the soil seems to be brown brown and moisture containing, the constant mowing may deplete the tended areas of some nutrients.

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During early fall there was far less rain and wind, the days were temperate and less thick cloud cover let in more sunlight. As the season progressed towards winter, rain, wind, and even snow became more common, increasing cloud cover and weather events while decreasing sunlight hours. Not to mention the Northern hemisphere tilted away from the sun causing shorter days due to less direct sunlight (Milankovitch Cycles).

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From September to October the temperature changed from warm and humid to cool and dry, starting around 70F on average and dropping to 40F.

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This maple is sufficiently old and thus has a thick trunk, more than I can wrap my arms around.

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In itself, lichen represents a mutualistic relationship between algae and fungi. The algae photosynthesizing for food while the fungus manages the structure by protecting and collecting moisture and nutrients. The rough bark of the maple tree allows for the lichen to get a good foothold and offers it some protection and exposure to moisture and rainfall, though the lichen doesn't affect the tree (commensalism).

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A biotic relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is not harmed.

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I saw signs of broken acorns and maple seeds strewn across the ground, and as well saw a squirrel frequent my tree. The squirrel seemed to frequent the tree for the purpose of shelter (commensalism) for preparing it's food and for the gathering of seeds which I'm assuming they created little dirt mounds for storing; this serves the dual purpose of scattering and planting tree seeds (mutualism).

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A biotic relationship in which both organisms benefit from eachother.

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My place has examples of disturbance/succession, Climate Forcing: Milankovitch Cycles, autecology: acclimation, mutualism and commensalism, though I'm sure there are many more I was unable to observe.

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The floor is spotted with broken branches, leaf litter, several types of grasses, and dirt piles.

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Everything non-living that effects the maple tree ecosystem.

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Every organism surrounding the tree and leaving a trace.

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"It's late fall and the leaves on my maple tree are all but gone ... The branches are bare, looking almost like root systems reaching into the air."

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"One fairly large and old tree stands here, not sure what type but if I had to guess I'd say it's a maple tree due to the shape of its leaves."

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"All fo the leaves on this maple seem to be suffering from some sort of disease causing leaf pigment to turn black in splotches, almost like a burn."

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From the mighty maple, you can view the whole of the graveyard.