{"id":216,"date":"2016-11-07T14:05:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T21:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/?page_id=216"},"modified":"2017-09-17T13:55:09","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T20:55:09","slug":"plant-and-animal-key","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/plant-and-animal-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant and Animal Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"After

After the Restoration<\/p><\/div>

\"Bald

Bald Eagle<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Bald Eagles<\/strong> (Haliaeetus leucocephalus<\/em>) can often be seen along the Nisqually River, especially when the salmon are spawning. They nest at the Refuge.\u00a0 Bald Eagles were Federally listed as a threatened species until 2007.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Adult

Adult Chum Salmon<\/p><\/div>\n

Chum Salmon<\/strong> (Oncorhynchus keta<\/em>) spawn from November to January.\u00a0 They are one of 5 species of wild salmon in the Nisqually River. The others include Summer\/Fall Chinook, Pink Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Steelhead.\u00a0 The Nisqually River, Estuary<\/span>, and Reach support over 90 species of fish\u00a0from 30 different families.\u00a0 Once the adult Chum Salmon head out to deeper waters, they go to the Gulf of Alaska where they feed for 2-3 years before returning to spawn. \u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Great

Great Blue Heron<\/p><\/div>\n

Great Blue Herons<\/strong> (Ardea herodias<\/em>) nest at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and can be seen fishing on the low tide (both incoming and outgoing), especially along the boardwalk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Manila

Manila Clams, Barnacles, and Rockweed<\/p><\/div>\n

Rockweed<\/strong> (Fucus distichus)<\/em> and Barnacles<\/strong>\u00a0 (genus Balanus<\/em>) grow along rocks in the mudflats.\u00a0\u00a0Native Littleneck Clams<\/strong> (Leukoma staminea<\/em>) burrow underground.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Microscopic

Microscopic Organisms<\/p><\/div>\n

Microscopic organisms — Diatoms<\/strong> (genus Chaetocerus), Dinoflagellates<\/strong> (genus Ceratium<\/em>)and Zooplankton<\/strong> (genus Acartia)<\/em> — form the foundation of the estuary<\/span> food chain.\u00a0 Some species are photosynthetic making energy from sunlight.\u00a0 Others eat plants.\u00a0 Some do both which makes it hard to classify them as a plant or animal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Greater

Greater Yellowlegs<\/p><\/div>\n

Greater Yellowlegs<\/strong> (Tringa melanoleuca<\/em>) are among the shorebirds that use the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge as a migrating stopover and wintering grounds. They are common at Nisqually in the spring, fall, and winter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Crab,

Crab, Mussels, Pickleweed, and Worms<\/p><\/div>\n

Crab<\/strong> (genus Hemigrapsus<\/em>), Mussels<\/strong> (genus Mytilus<\/em>), Pickleweed<\/strong> (Salicornia virginica<\/em>), and Worms<\/strong> (phylum Annelida, <\/em>class Polychaeta<\/em>) are common in the salt marshes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Chum

Chum Salmon Alevins<\/p><\/div>\n

Chum Salmon Alevins<\/strong>.\u00a0 From November to January, Chum salmon lay eggs in the freshwater gravel of streams, such as Red Salmon Creek, that flow into the Nisqually River estuary<\/span>.\u00a0 The embryos develop inside the egg sack and hatch after about four months.\u00a0 They live in the gravel and absorb their egg sacks for another six weeks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Chum

Chum Salmon Fry<\/p><\/div>\n

Chum Salmon Fry.<\/strong>\u00a0 Once the young salmon absorb their yolk sacks, they emerge from the gravel as fry.\u00a0 They are about 1 \u2013 1.5 inches long.\u00a0 They head downstream toward the Nisqually estuary<\/span> where they live through the summer or longer before heading to the ocean.\u00a0 They seek shelter and food in the protected estuary<\/span> channels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Red-Winged

Red-Winged Blackbird, Lyngbye Sedge, and Pacific Silverweed<\/p><\/div>\n

Lyngby Sedge,<\/strong> (Carex lyngbyei<\/em>) and Pacific Silverweed<\/strong> (Argentina anserina<\/em>) grow in coastal salt marshes, a perfect habitat for the territorial Red-winged Blackbird<\/strong> (Agelaius phoeniceus<\/em>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Pacific

Pacific Silverweed<\/p><\/div>\n

Pacific Silverweed<\/strong> (Argentina anserina<\/em>) flower in coastal salt marshes along with Lyngby sedge. \u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Seaside

Seaside Plantain<\/p><\/div>\n

Seaside Plantain<\/strong> (Plantago maritima<\/em>) is a common salt marsh plant.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Mallards\"

Mallards<\/p><\/div>\n

The male (green head) and female (brown body) Mallards<\/strong> (Anas platyrhynchos<\/em>) are abundant nesters at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.\u00a0 They can adapt to both salt and fresh water.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Belted

Belted Kingfisher<\/p><\/div>\n

Belted Kingfishers<\/strong> (Ceryle alcyon<\/em>) are common birds at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and feed on the abundant small fish found there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Racoon

Raccoon and Glaucous-Winged Gulls<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Raccoons<\/strong> (Procyon lotor<\/em>) frequent salt marshes looking for bird hatchlings and eggs, fish, crabs, and shellfish.\u00a0 Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens) guard their nests against raccoon predators.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Red

Red Breasted Mergansers<\/p><\/div>\n

Red Breasted Mergansers<\/strong> (Mergus serrator<\/em>)are almost always found in the estuary<\/span> closer to McAllister Creek.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Reed

Reed Canary Grass<\/p><\/div>\n

Reed Canarygrass<\/strong> (Phalaris arundinacea<\/em>) thrives in freshwater wetlands and was introduced as forage for cows and to bind the soil.\u00a0 In the Northwest, it is invasive, crowding out other wetland species of plants and limiting species diversity of wild animals.\u00a0 It can choke waterways and make it difficult for fish and birds to pass.\u00a0 In the Nisqually, this invasive species was recently controlled by removing the agricultural dikes to allow flooding of the estuary<\/span> with salt water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) can often be seen along the Nisqually River, especially when the salmon are spawning. They nest at the Refuge.\u00a0 Bald Eagles were Federally listed as a threatened species until 2007.         Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) spawn from November to January.\u00a0 They are one of 5 species of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/nisqually-puzzle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}