Time has flown by; the last 10 months have been jammed pack with various forms of experience. This experience involved weed mapping, range assessments, drought monitoring, fire monitoring, sensitive species monitoring, herbarium management, native seed collections, various trainings and data management. While working in Nevada we ran into many interesting things, these many interesting things proved that Nevada is random. Here are a few examples:

An old building from an abandoned farm.

An old miners cup found at an old site.

A tree carrying a heart that was carved into it a long time ago.

Sometimes while working you find yourself in the middle of Fire Suppression practice.

Just another vehicle on the road… an armored vehicle.

A full belt of bullets that was discarded and still rests under an Artemisia.

In the middle of nowhere there is a random hot spring.

A random red gate that pops out of nowhere.

These are only a few of the random things that Nevada provided. Nevada definitely became a wonderful source of entertainment while we worked. Thank you  Nevada.

We all have less than a month of work left in Carson City, NV and we all went on a week-long seed collecting trip that took us next to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains. It was a unique botany experience to see the gnarled trunks of Pinus longaeva rise up out of the alkaline dolomite soil, in some cases the tangled roots wrap around large rocks forever keeping them from rolling downhill. The ancient P. longeava are a magnificent sight to behold.

Inyo Forest Bristlecone Pine Forest

At the top of the mountain I discovered a baby pine cone that held little nodules of sap between its tiny scales. As the sunlight reflected off of the little sap bubbles it gave the appearance of gold flakes resting between the tine blue scales.

A baby cone with glistening gold sap

Within the ancient P. longeava forest we chanced upon an old mine with dilapidated cabins and mine shafts still standing. Near one of the hidden dilapidated cabins there were trees that presented carved hearts in their trunks. Whoever carved these hearts carved them deep into the heartwood; they have left a lasting scar on the trees.

Old miners cabin

A heart carved deep into the trunk of a tree.

Within the stillness of a lake the surrounding hills can be clearly defining resulting in picturesque seed collecting. When the beauty around you is magnified within the moments of working, it reminds you that there are few jobs that provided such breath taking views. The lake picture is Walker Lake.  It is known for being dirty and rather nasty because it was used as target practice for missiles. In fact, as the water level lowers missiles are uncovered and have to be removed. While we were collecting at this undesirable lake we got to see the beauty within the ugliness.

Beauty found in the stillness.

On another seed collecting adventure within a riparian area I was privy to many delights. The first involved seeing a frog jumping around amongst that dense foliage of Carex and Juncus.

As we traveled to another riparian site the butterflies were out enjoying themselves on a pair of thistles. Within that same area a caterpillar was discovered munching on some leaves.

A pair of thistles with a pair of butterflies

Hungry caterpillar munching on a leaf.

Again a delightful beauty was found within this riparian area, a pregnant Praying Mantis. Her engorged abdomen displayed be labored breathing.

Beautiful pregnant mantis

After a morning full of fire monitoring, a group of us went seed scouting while the other group went back to the office. I was in the seed scouting group and to my surprise we stumbled upon something odd. A random cellar door in literally the middle of nowhere. Why is this cellar here? All sorts of stories have begun to form in my mind as to what the purpose of this cellar could be. In one story it the secret entrance to an underground laboratory where undesirable experiments take place.

What does this door lead?

These are just a few of the delightful things that I have been able to discover within the Nevada wilderness.

Monday:  The week began as usual with office work and preparation. We use this day to research the area that we will be going to so that we know the species that have occurred in that area previously. While preparing to go to our field sites we make maps of the area so that we can get to our sites quickly and efficiently.

Tuesday-Wednesday:  We all arrive at the field office earlier than the time we plan on leaving so that we can load up the trucks with all of our equipment and water. Once the trucks are loaded we head out. This Tuesday we headed out to the Pinenuts to do some Fire Monitoring. Each of these sites required a bit of a hike in but provided a wonderful view of the valleys below and the fire scars marking the surrounding hills.

The view from one of our monitoring site.

The view of the burn scars on the hill sides from one of our monitoring site.

Thursday:  Half of us went to the Herbarium to verify vouchers collected for seed collections and from field sites.The other half of us went on a seed collecting adventure. We traveled to a riparian area where we collected four species. It was at this site that I found a beautifully constructed spider web.

A beautifully constructed spider web.

Seed collecting within the Great Basin has provided an environment equal to collecting within a sauna. As the sun beats down and the wind neglects to blow it is not uncommon to find yourself sweating spontaneously. After hours of working within this environment I have become increasingly grateful for the wind. The wind is a beautiful force that has so many wonderful qualities. Not only does the wind provide a wonderful and delightful environment to cool you off, but it is also a great pollination mechanism for many plants. If it was not for this delightful entity many plants would not have developed or even maintained the morphology that they have today. Those traits would have been selected against and the world around us would be a very different place. On that imaginative note, I hope you have a great week.

Recently we as a team were collecting seeds within a dune system and I saw this beautiful amazing plant. This plant’s name is Oenothera deltoides (birdcage evening primrose). O. deltoides has a central stem that has decumbent basal branches, each of which hold elegant flowers on the upper half of the plant. The petals of the flowers hold a magnificent ability, the petals are a radiant white but age to a pink/violet color.

A beautiful representation of O. deltoides within a dune system.

The beautiful flowers O. deltoides presents to its pollinators.

It holds the name birdcage evening primrose because when its season of life is over it dries out, forming what appears to be a small birdcage, naturally.

The desiccated remains of O. deltoides.

This plant captured my attention right away and nestled its way into a special place within my heart. I am mesmerized by the beauty this plant provides. I thought that I would share with you all the plant that brightened my day.  O. deltoides seems to hold a beauty of its own while in bloom and when it desiccates.

It is exciting to see all of the Great Basin plants coming to life and sharing their beauty with the world. As the world wakes up around me, my work here has begun to increase at an alarming rate. The increase of work is fantastic! If I am not in the field doing a drought assessment, grazing utilization, rare plant survey or an outreach event; I am in the office keying out plants, working on GIS projects or keeping up with all the data entry. Soon the workload will increase as the blooming plants begin to produce seeds, as SOS collections begins so will fire rehab monitoring. Intermixed with all of this work we have had many unique training opportunities. We are have had pesticide applications training, GIS training, CPR training and MIMS training. It is hard to believe that I have only been here for three months and have learned so much. I am excited to see what new learning opportunities will present themselves in the months to come.

Ivesia Webberi  is a proposed threatened species that is native to Nevada and California. We had the pleasure of trying to seek out this low growing plant that has a way of melting into the landscape and mapping out its occurrence within Eagle Canyon (area located North of Reno). Eagle Canyon is a large OHV area full of dumping sites and shooting range disturbance.

The I. Webberi that we were documenting has a knack for hiding within communities of Lomatium austinae, which also has yellow flowers and is low growing. I. webberi has a distinctive red stem protruding from a rosette that leads up to its beautiful star shaped flowers as well as, lobbed red tipped leaves that are numerous, 4-8 leaflets per side. This beautiful little plant enjoys sandy clay soils and is associated with Artemisia arbuscula communities.

The beautiful little Ivesia webberi.

A wonderful image showing the red tipped leaves of I. webberi.

We as a team canvassed a previously mapped out polygon indicated Ivesia webberi existence within a large area. We were able to refine the polygon by finding and mapping out the occurrence and presence of these plants within the large polygon. We helped determine and refine search areas for future mapping surveys.

Within the new small polygon communities that we were able to find, we had the opportunity to set up a few photo plots. It was educational to see all the work that goes into creating a photo plot. A photo plot aids in monitoring the species over time, helping managers see how communities change and hopefully see competition that is occurring.  I will give you a small insight into a quick version of work put into setting up a photo plot. This is only a very quick representation of the work and a few key point needed for a photo plot.

Quick Key points needed for a 1 meter square Photo Plot:

1. Find a patch of the species of interest within the associated polygon of distribution. This patch of species should contain a grouping of native perennial plants that live in association with the species of interest.
2. The plot needs to be set up with the leading edge facing north.
3. Hammer rebar into the ground at two of the 1meter squared corners, make sure the rebar is not sticking up to far or is so low that is will be hard to find later. You want to find the plot in the future.
4. Take a picture of the plot. It is after all a Photo Plot.
5. GPS the center point of the photo plot. DO NOT stand in the middle of the plot to take this point. The idea is to document the area without disturbing it with your large feet.
6. Draw out the plot, yes with pencil and paper. This includes documenting the species both annuals and perennials, as well as any key identifying features, such as large rocks.
7. Count and document the number of species and their size. Number each of the species of interest, they are their own individual.
8. Count the amount of flowering stocks on each flowering individual, keep each count specific to that individual.
9. Document the stage class distribution of the plants ex: Seedling, Juvenile, Mature (flowering and Non-flowering), Senesced and Dead.
10. Measure the distance from the center of the photo plot to the transect. The transect is the line of interest that was run through the polygon community, so the relative number of individuals within that whole area could be counted and documented.

This is only a small simple version of some of the work that goes into setting up a photo plot it is in no means a complete accurate representation of all of the work and documentation that goes into setting up a photo plot.

My time here in the great basin has been full of new experiences. One of these new experiences has been creating a simple dichotomous key focused on riparian areas. I have been working on these keys with some of my fellow interns. The dichotomous keys that we create will be used in a Native American youth camp that we will have the pleasure of assisting with in a few months. The youth camp is going to be with high school aged students which creates a scope of challenges. The key needs to entertain the kids as well as inform them. As we all know dichotomous keys can be complex and at times hard to follow.  We are trying to avoid that hardship, especially with grasses. The keys also need to be short because the students will be working on identifying these plants within a small block of time in a field setting. My team mate Andrii and I have come up with this preliminary key:

Grasses, Sedges and Junceae

1a Plants have a triangular stem with parallel veined leaves up to 1″ wide; stems are round to oval with leaves extending from the base; inflorescence is found on the stem

    2a Stem is roughly triangular with flat leaf blades. Inflorescence is at the tip of the plant extending from multiple branches that have fruit like seeds surrounded by scales; fruit length is approximately 0.7-1.6mm. Scirpus microcarpus

     2b Stem is oval to round with leaves extending from the base of the plant. Inflorescence is found on the stem.

          3a Leaf blades flat and broad, some have rolled edges. Inflorescence is cylindrical found at the top of the plant, appearing like a large speared hotdog.  Fruit is like a seed surrounded by hairs.  Typha latifolia

3b Leaves are basal, bladeless sheaths. Inflorescence is found on the side of the stem, not at the terminal end. Flowers are small, dark and brown. Juncaceae Juncus balticus (articus)

1b Plants differ in size and appearance  (never triangular). Usually  have hollow stems and swollen leaf nodes. Cauline (on the stem) leaf consists of a tubular sheath  on the lower portion and a free narrow leaf blade; basal leaves often form dense tufts, a combination of both types is very common.   Poaceae; true grasses

     4a Plants that are very tall – 7-14’, rhizomous. Leaves are alternate  along the stem; leaf blades are about 1’ long and up to 2″ wide.  Panicle is open, sometimes reddish in color. Plants tend to form very dense stands, occupying moist to wet areas of riparian zones. Phragmites australis (common reed)

     4b Plants that are much smaller.

5a Inflorescence is dense and compact; spikelets are sessile or sit on very short pedicels

6a Plants are annual, up to 8” tall. Awns are densely arranged, 5-9 mm long. Leaf blades are flat, glabrous; ligules are membranous 5-6.3 mm long. Can be found in riparian zones and disturbed areas. Polypodium mospeliensis (rabbitfoot beardgrass)

6b Plants that are perennial, usually taller.

7a Grass grows in tufts, with culms about 4-25” tall. Awns are loose, 1-4” long and are widely divergent in maturity. Leaves 1-6 mm wide, can be flat or involute; collars usually yellow with 0.4-0.6 mm membranous ligules. Plant can grow in a broad range of soils and is valuable forage for large animals. Elymus elymoides (bottlebrush squirreltail)

7b Awns are shorter or absent.

8a Glumes are narrow, needlelike. Ligules are always membranous, but well distinctive – 1-8 mm long. Leaf blades are flat, scaberulose and glabrous. Plants are common mainly along streams, or in dryer sites of riparian zones. Leymus cyneresus ( basin wildrye)

 8b Ligules are absent or very short.

9a Plants are perennial and tufted. Culms are up to 3’ tall,  spikes are no longer than 6”. Spikelets are awned. Leaves are long, involute and coarsely veined. Collars can be yellowish in color, usually with short 1 mm long ligules. Commonly grows on dry, rocky hill sides or plains. Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass)

9b Perennial and tufted grass. Spikes are shorter –1-2.5” long. Leaves can vary from flat to involute, collars are often yellowish with 0.3-0.7 mm long ligules. Can be found on grazing areas, disturbed lands like roadsides and burned areas. Agropyron cristatum( crested wheatgrass)

5b Inflorescence is open, can be narrow but spikelets are on distinctive pedicels

10a Plants are annual. Culms are usually 2’ tall with relatively large, drooping and awned spikelets. Leaves are slightly haired. Plants can occupy a wide range of habitats, from uplands to riparian zones. Bromus tectorum(cheatgrass)

10b Plants are not alike. How are the plants not alike, not like the above plants or not like each other?

11a Inflorescence is diffuse with distinctive branchlets. Spikelets have one flower and dark seed when mature. They can commonly be found in sandy, clayey and well drained soils throughout the Great Basin.  Oryzopsis hymenoides (Indian Ricegrass)

11b Inflorescence is narrow to diffuse. Spikelets are awnless but bear many flowers. Poa; (bluegrass)

12a Plants are rhizomatous and usually don’t form dense tufts. Panicle is often pyramidal, about 2-6” long. Leaves are flat or folded with 0.4-0.6 mm long ligules. Commonly foundon moderately dry roadsides, meadows and open woods.  Poa pratensis; (Kentucky bluegrass)

12b Small, densely tufted perennials. Spikes are 1.5-3.5” long. Leaf blades are soft, folded or involute, often boatshaped at a tip. Ligules are membranous, about 1.7-5 mm long. Commonly grow in relatively dry habitats, sagebrush valleys, and wooded areas. Poa secunda (Sandberg bluegrass )

I have only been in Carson City for a few weeks and I have already begun to learn about the land and plants that are found within this beautiful area. The main focus these first few weeks of our internship has been invasive noxious weeds, as well as graze land utilization allotments. Since the Carson City area has been in a drought for many years the amount of land utilization by grazers (cattle, deer, ect..) has become increasingly important. If a grazing allotment becomes over grazed and the plants are not able to re-establish or recover, then the land has an increased chance of being invaded by invasive plants and noxious weeds. An example of a current invasive plant that has a drastic effect on grazing allotments would be Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae).

 (Image obtained from google images)

Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) is an invasive and aggressive species within Nevada as well as other surrounding states. This grass will infiltrate an area where the native plant life has been eradicated or reduced from overgrazing, fires or cultivation. The presence of medusahead can reduce the carrying capacity of a lands livestock by 75%. The grazers within an allotment find medusahead to lack palatability. The lack of palatability is a result of the grasses’ rich silica content, as well as having a seed head with long awns that are stiff and slightly barbed, which cuts the mouths of any grazer attempting to eat it. Ouch, I am sure that if I were a grazing animal I would find this grass unpalatable as well.

With this invasive grass in mind it is then apparent how important it is that we as individuals become more aware of the cause and effect of land utilization within the whole country. It is also important for some individuals to realize that the BLM is not evil and does not reduce land utilization because it feels like it, there is a valid reason. All decisions are carefully discussed before any action takes place.