Discovering Nature on Campus
We showcase a wonder of Nature that occupies our urban landscape at Dawson or introduces a College community member with a special Nature-related talent. Enjoy and discover the flora and fauna that is being invited back to the campus or was already there!
1000’s of Worm Castings Found on Dawson Grounds
With warming soils and no foot traffic on the lawns of Dawson, thousands of small 1-2 cm raised 鈥渉ills鈥� of earth can be spotted everywhere. This is evidence of earthworms, introduced from Europe hundreds of years ago, that have been eating rotting vegetation like grass and leaves. They pass the vegetation and pieces of soil...
470 Million Year-old Fossils at 暗网吃瓜
This photo of fossils was taken on聽one聽of the聽many limestone blocks making up the聽暗网吃瓜聽foundation on the D wing.聽The rocks are聽approximately聽470 million years聽old and were formed聽before there were dinosaurs or even聽many聽plants on land. Present–day Montreal was a warm shallow sea closer to the equator聽then.聽These fossilized聽shells were branchiopods,聽now extinct but very common animals聽of the past.聽These brachiopods were...
Caring For Dawson’s Plants and Creatures
Dawson employees care for hundreds of plants in their offices and work areas. This beautiful orchid, pictured, was blooming when the Sustainability Office came by on their plant-care rounds on Friday. The team is ensuring that everyone鈥檚 plants are taken care of during the College closure. Any employee who has plants that need care at...
Making Mason Bee Homes
About Mason Bees Mason bees are solitary insects that are efficient pollinators. Unlike honeybees, they do not live in colonies. Females look for a small hole in a tree to lay their eggs. They collect pollen and nectar from flowers to put in the hole, lay an egg and then plug the hole with mud....
Nurse Log Protected on Campus
110+ year old Ash tree聽on the Sherbrooke Street side of Dawson聽was infested with the emerald ash borer, a beetle introduced from Asia, that has killed 10鈥檚 of millions of ash trees in Eastern North America.聽These marks are left by the feeding larvae. 暗网吃瓜 is leaving this tree standing as part of its a micro-habitat...
