Streams or creeks produce a blending place for aquatic and terrestrial life and plants from higher and lower elevations. For example, salmon return from the sea to spawn in freshwater streams and salamanders return to quiet stream areas to reproduce. Plants from higher elevations do best on the cooler north-facing slopes than those from the dryer south-facing slopes. The one-half mile of Secret Ravine creekside habitat surrounding the Sierra College Nature Trail supports the greatest diversity of life of all California habitats.
Pond - A pond contains everything necessary for the survival of the plants and animals that live in or near it, except for sunlight which is needed for photosynthesis. This is an excellent place to observe the natural relationship between plants, animals and the environment; the most obvious being the food web or pyramid. At the bottom of the food chain are green plants which manufacture food through photosynthesis. Herbivores (beetles, mayfly nymphs, and small crustaceans) consume these and are in turn eaten by small carnivorous animals, such as small fish, frogs and dragonflies. In our pond, turtles have been dining on the small fish and frogs.
If not eaten, every plant and animal eventually dies and decomposes to the basic materials that the plants use to grow and the cycle begins again. Also seen at the pond are a variety of birds such as green and great blue herons. Other visitors include many different mammals such as raccoons, skunks, rats and humans. As a pond matures it gradually fills with detritus and becomes a marsh.