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=**Mesa de Arroz (Wright's Field) in Alpine California.**=

The Mesa de Arroz, more commonly known as Wright's Field, is unique for so many reasons. This page is for those who are familiar with the property to contribute to the constantly growing wealth of knowledge about the field. Cultural, scientific, and personal reflections on the field are all welcome.

Soft Shelled Flower Beetle on Blue Eyed Grass

In class we got to go out to Wrights field and collect bugs. And me and my partner found a really cool beatle so we put it into our little container and the next day when we came into class it we noticed something very strange. At first we didn't know what it was but then we looked closer and we noticed that our beatle had laid miny yellow eggs in our container. Here are some pictures of it and it's eggs.

-Tanner Lehr

__Thorn Mint__ location: N32 49.374, W116 46.301, Elevation:1870ft The Thorn Mint is being out competed by other species. We don't know what pollinates these plants. We never even got to see this plant in the fall. "The Thorn Mint also know as the Acanthomintha ilicifolia is a beautiful plant but is endangered. There habitat is clay soil. They are slowly dying because of the weed overload. My class went out to wrights feild a couple weeks ago and picked all the weeds we could, so in the spring we are hoping there will be lots of Thorn Mint." Jordan Kelly

__Buckwheat__ - location: one study spot is N32 49.720, W116 46.212, elevation: 1814ft. The buckwheat seems to grow in association with sage brush. It likes no shade, water and course desert-like soils. The red (iron rich) soils seem best for the plant. The plant provides habitat for rats and butterflies. I think that the buckwheat is a powerful competitor in the field. Buckwheat has 80% the protein of eggs, contains 8 amino acids, it is closer to being a complete protein than any other plant source including soy beans. Buckwheat fluor has no glutin ([|http://www.whfoods.com]). Beckham, Berger, and Orozco, 2008.

__Olive Trees__ - location: There are only a few trees in the field and they are not indigenous. N32 49.389, W116 46.291, elevation: 2093ft. These trees were originally planted in the area a long time ago (1920's) by farmers who wanted to make olive oil. The few trees in the field don't seem to be doing that well except for one. They grow the most in August and September. Wood rats seem to like to live under these trees. Its weird that we don't really find any insects that seem live on the tree. Mason and Ramos, 2008.

__Moss__ - location: one location is N32 49.386, W116 46.292, elevation: 2014ft. Moss likes to be close to water and in the shade most of the time. They live on rock in the field, but can live anywhere there is the right amount of light and water. Some animals eat moss. It is also habitat for animals like spiders and small insects like beetles which live under it. There is a lot of information on mosses around here at (http://sci.sdsu.edu/plants/sdpls). Lepetri, and Crutchfield, 2008.

Animal Life-
__Wood Rats:__ Location: one spot is N32 49.636, W116 46.226, elevation: 1842ft. There are over a hundred locations around the field. They like loose branches to build their homes which are mostly along riparian areas. There are 90 nests in the wood lands alone. Most seem to be actively used. Many of these nest are built around the Spiny Red Berry bushes. About 10% of the nests were over 1.5m high! We know that these rats are food for coyotes and hawks. The rats like to eat berries, nuts, and seeds. Villalobos, Wild, and Sager, 2008.

__Wood Rats:__ Location: another study spot is N32 49.609, W116 46.095, elevation: 1879ft. Snakes also eat Wood Rats. The nests seems to be built in the center of bushes and small trees. None of the wood rat nests are found in the grasslands. Wood Rats are nocturnal to avoid predators. Wood Rats can carry Chagas Disease. Wood Rats may migrate since some of the nests were found in the river wash. Bodger, Coririossi, and Ladou, 2008.

__Coyotes__: Location: one area we found is N32 49.361, W116 46.241, elevation: 1868ft. The scat that we found was usually by the bunny trails and it is pretty clear that they eat bunnies and berries because they can't digest the berries and rabbit fur. The hills south of South Grade road is one of the best places for these coyotes to live. Coyotes travel duringthe day if they need to, but in the night hunt as a pack and make freaky sounds when they find something. This is actually a good thing because it keeps the rabbit population down. Coyotes also eat insects. You should never mess with a coyote during pupping season. McCarthy, 2008.

__Spade Foot Toad__: Location: One spot is probably N32 49.237, W116 46.292, elevation: 1989ft. These animals live in vernal pools with Fairy Shrimp, Tiger Salamanders, and many types of insects. These toads actually like to live in pools that are disturbed by people as long as they aren't squished. The young like to eat vegetation that grows in the pools, but when they get older they like to eat insects. Wade and Knobloch, 2008.

__Tiger Salamanders__: Location: N32 49.237, W116 46.292, elevation: 1989ft. We never actually saw any this fall because their wasn't enough rain. These slamanders have been found sterile because of pollution. They like to live in holes until the rains come and then they mate. Hamilton, Krantz, and Werling, 2008.

__Harvester Ants__: location: N32 49.655, W116 46.195, elevation: 1825ft. We don't know if these animals migrate. They seem to like the debris next to the eucalyptus tree. We didn't see any in December though. Logan and Johnson, 2008.

__Funnel Spiders__: Location: One spot has been N32 49.674, W116 46.195, elevation:1817ft. We can't really figure out the different types. Wind and rain probably destroys these webs because we can't find any after these things have happened. Some webs can last as long as 1 month, but we're not sure if they are still useful this long. Most of these webs are found under cover. Some nests are found in wood rat nests, but we think these must be empty since we think the rats would eat the spiders. The biggest enemies to spiders are birds, wasps, and scorpions. We couldn't find any of the funnel webs in the grasslands, most were in the oak woodlands. Stacey and Heyser, 2008.

(Related to Big Foot) media type="file" key="Wild Peckham 2.MPG" width="300" height="300"
"Based on what i've seen from living right next to the field, there is a huge assortment of animal and plant life" (Ryan Krantz) "Not only are there insects, but there are also large mammals, like coyotes, rabbits, and sometimes even bobcats! There is also a huge variety of reptiles, and amphibians, like salamanders and snakes. people in the environmental science class might not of seen them there, but I have definitely seen my fair share of snakes. even so people shouldn't neglect plants or insects because they play a vital role in the ecosystem too. If an insect goes extinct, then maybe that insect polinates a certain plant, then that plant goes extinct, then the animal who eats the plant may go extinct. This process is called the food-chain, if any part of the chain is dissrupted, it could be catestrophic. So next time you step on an ant hill, or pull a plant out of the ground, think about it." - Ryan Krantz 1/12/09

"Also there is a rare butterfly called the Hermes Copper which needs two plants to live. These plants must be next to each otherwise the Hermes Copper will have to work harder to get to the different plants. The plants are called the Spiny Red Berry and the most commenly known as the buckwheat. The Hermes Copper lays its eggs at the base of the Spiny Red Berry shrub and eats he buckwheat. The Spiny Red Berry bush must be 10 years old for the hermes copper to lay its eggs on it." - Austin Knobloch 1/27/09

**Soil-**
"The soil in which the Thornmint grows is clay soil. The clay soil has many cracks and that creates shelter for some animals and plants. Clay soil is soft and almost peels off in flakes. It is not made out of just clay, it has a very small amount of sand and silt. When the soil cracks it creates large loose blocks of clay. The Thormint only grows in clay soil and many other things grow in clay soil. Many weeds try to take over where the Thornmint grows." Melissa Paine 1/20/09

Personal Reflections
Wrights Field is full of beautiful plants, one of my favorite plants is called the Thorn Mint, its scientific name is Acanthomintha ilicifolia. The Thorn Mint is a plants that is very rare to Wrights Field. it only grows in clay soil, and during spring time. When spring time comes the Thorn Mint will blossom into delicate white flowers. The Thorn Mint sprouts up in clay soil and only clay soil. The clay soil breaks off in chunks so the Thorn Mint has a hard time growing. Please keep Wrights Field clean(:

[|Back Country Land Trust Web Site (The non-profit organization who are the stewards of Wright's Field)]