UPCOMING NATURE WALK on 7 MARCH

Explore the wonders of your garden campus!

Aside from from walking around NTU from one lesson to another, have you ever stopped and noticed the rich variety of plants we have here?

Join us and trek through NTU for an entertaining and informative session on 7 March 2009 (Saturday), 9am!

We'll see you there!

Join us at our Booth!

Come join us at the Nature Guides' Booth during EAC from 29 to 30 Jan 2009 at Canteen A.

There will be a specimens display, digital photo album and many more other things to do at the booth.

See you there!

For more information, you can visit http://clubs.ntu.edu.sg/earthlink/eac2009/index.html.

Changeable Lizards

This changeable lizard was spotted in Hall 4's carpark, sunbathing on top of the branches of a Hongkong orchid tree.

Changeable lizards can change their colours quite rapidly while not as rapidly as chameleons. From this picture, you can see how the colour of the lizard matches that of the branch on which it stood. If I'm not wrong, we do not have chameleons in Singapore in the wild. Many people still seem to mistaken the changeable lizards commonly seen in Singapore for chameleons though, despite the various differences.

Changeable are usually spotted in brown, grey or olive hues with speckles or bands, but can also be seen in other colours such as bright green. Did you know that their colour changes may actually reflect their moods? Pretty interesting, right? Now I wonder what colour they would be when they're happy... What do you think?

During the breeding season, the male's head and shoulders turns bright orange to crimson and his throat black.

You may read more about them here: http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/changeable_lizard.htm

Changeable lizards are a pretty common sight within our garden campus. You just need a keen eye to spot them especially since they are so well hidden most of the times. So, if you'll like to take a photo of them too, keep a look out for them when they're out during the sunny hours of the day and don't forget to share your pictures with us! Just send it to earthlink-actmgr@ntu.edu.sg. We'll love to see them.

Nature Appreciation Night, 24 Oct 2008

Short message from the guides:

The nature walk had been very enjoyable for all of us and so I hope everyone else had fun too! We are still working hard to find out more about our garden campus but I hope the walk had been both interesting and informative for all of you. There are actually more than 30 types of plants in Yunnan Garden itself and that day's walk covered only a fraction of them. The route that day had been designed such that it catered to the special seasons of the trees - eg flowering/fruiting. The next time you visit the garden again, it'll be another different sight.

So, we hope to see all of you again soon for our next walk! It'll be yet another experience - different trees, different Yunnan Garden.

Epiphytic Plants

There are always interesting plants and trees to be observed when you walk around the campus. But sometimes, the ecological interactions between them are just as interesting. Last week, I came across an interesting tree located around hall 1 block 12. What makes it very unique is that its whole trunk has been covered with many other kinds of plants, right to the extent that you can barely see the trunk itself!

I took this picture at night with my phone camera, so I hope you will excuse its poor quality.

These plants should not be confused with parasites. Despite growing on the tree, they do not steal the nutrition from it. This ecological interaction falls under the commensalism symbiotic relationship, to which the plants gain benefits of better sunlight exposure without having to harm the tree.

Similar plants interaction can also be spotted along the Student Walk to canteen 2, in case if you want to see them as well.