Poison Oak

I have traveled over the hill to a different ecosystem. An ecosystem is a place where certain plants and animals live in a specific place. This place has air, sun, water, and soil. In this place, there is an average amount of rain and an average temperature range. For example, maybe in the desert, the average air temperature is 92 degrees and there is 1 inch of rainfall per year. In the mountains, maybe the average air temperature is 55 degrees and as much as 14 inches of rain falls per year. So certain plants and animals that live in the desert cannot live in the mountains while plants and animals that live in the mountains cannot live in the desert. In this photo, we see Poison Oak living near a stream. Poison Oak lives in a riparian ecosystem. A riparian ecosystem has a stream or river touching land with plants and animals living in it. Poison Oak needs a lot of water to survive, so it grows near streams and rivers. It could NOT survive in the desert.

You need to know what Poison Oak looks like. Remember…leaves of three, let them be!!! If you hike near a stream or a river, stay away from Poison Oak. If the
sap gets on your skin, it causes itchy blisters that take about ten days to heal. Know that this Poison Oak is green, but it can be red at any time of the year. Incredibly, the people in some California tribes, like the Pomo, were not affected by Poison Oak. They even made baskets from Poison Oak vines! The Pomo were very adapted to their ecosystem.

In what ecosystem do you live? Do you live in a desert, in the mountains, in coastal sage scrub, or in California chaparral? How adapted are you for living in that ecosystem? When do you have to wear a jacket and when do you have to wear a bathing suit?

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