Journal

__Journal Page Questions__ I worked at Briar Bush Nature Center, with Mark Fallon, the Senior Naturalist at Briar Bush. A major part of my volunteer work at Briar Bush Nature Center has consisted of planting native species. Briar Bush only allows plants that are native to this area to grow, for several reasons. Native species are better adapted to surviving in our environment than plants from other areas, because they naturally grow here, and are able to survive our cold winters without being damaged. Introducing alien or foreign species to an ecosystem can be detrimental to the health of the ecosystem, as they usually have few or no predators, and will multiply rapidly, using the space needed by the other species to survive. I also helped with animal care. Briar Bush has many animals that I helped with, like the Lovebirds. The Lovebirds at Briar Bush are very messy, and the nature center was having a problem with mice; because of this, I vacuumed up the leftover food, and cleaned out their cage nearly everyday.

__Reflection Product Questions__ My major goal that I set while working at Briar Bush Nature Center was to try to learn more about how the invasion of non native plant species can affect an environment. While planting native plant species, I asked Mark about this, and he told me how alien plants use valuable nutrients that native species need. He also explained that often animals in an area that are unfamiliar with the new plant species may not eat it, and because of this there is nothing to control the population from spreading, causing the native species to die. I really enjoyed volunteering at Briar Bush, and I hope to take what I learned there, and apply it to my studies at college.