Side-blotched lizard

Rain here in Escalante, I have come to find, is a double edged sword. On one hand, the recent rains in southern Utah have been a boon for the plants and animals. Enormous populations of globemallow and yellow beeplant have been bursting out from the sand and clay, coloring entire hillsides, valleys, and mesas bright orange and yellow. Annuals are adding sprinklings of reds, purples, and blues among the grey-greens of vast flats near Escalante. Thus the palette of the monument has greatly expanded in the past few weeks with the arrival of several big storms; but these same life-giving rains have prevented travel to about 2/3 of our target populations on any given day. All but one of the main roads on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are unpaved, and the majority of these are only navigable with high clearance, 4 wheel drive vehicles. So it is that even in the best weather and road conditions, some populations are troublesome to get to, but with storms, they become wholly inaccessible for days on end.

Collared lizard

As a result of extended weather delays, we were occasionally unable to monitor and collect during late May. On those days my co-intern and I lent our help to the wildlife biologists on the monument and collected data for hummingbird, bat, and lizard surveys.

Male broad tailed hummer

Understanding the animal life in these ecosystems is crucial to understanding the plant communities themselves and their true value in restoration and resilience, so I have found these forays into wildlife biology to be enlightening. Each of the animal taxa being studied on the monument serves integral roles in pest management, pollination, food web stability, and climate change research, both locally and regionally. The hummingbird survey data are especially interesting because many of the species found on the monument migrate through annually from southern deserts and northern forests, thus giving us clues into what surrounding climates are like compared to our regional climate. The data being collected are helping to paint a picture of the temporal changes in migration patterns for each hummingbird species, as well as for the genus as a whole which, in turn, are showing researchers the real-world impacts of changing climatic trends.

Collared lizard

Additionally, my co-intern and I have become particularly invested in the lizard surveys and have taken to catching lizards during seed collection and population monitoring trips, just for the sake of learning. There is no comprehensive list of herpological diversity on the two million square acre monument, and both Jessie and I have decided to help change this in whatever way possible. Herps represent important members of the food webs in these ecosystems, and I believe strongly that documenting biodiversity is crucial to any management strategies. Globally, herpological diversity is declining rapidly as species are being discovered, immediately listed as endangered, and then declared extinct with little more than a description and a name. While most of these tragedies are occurring to amphibians, which are naturally less common in such dry climes as Escalante, other herps are also eluding documentation and are thus at a unique risk of being lost. I don’t think that it is possible to overstate the importance of scientists and managers to know the biodiversity of their study sites, regardless of target organism, and I am thrilled that I am able to help gather data in the hope that the monument will soon gain insight into its herpological diversity and take steps to conserve the species here.

Desert spiny lizard

Despite the inclement weather, we have begun to collect seeds for two species of globemallow, three species of grass, and one species of mustard during the last two weeks. Rain is again preventing certain collections this week and may be knocking out our ripe seeds, but the rain is nonetheless a welcome visitor after such a dry winter and spring.

In the spirit of adventure,

Elise

Escalante Field Office, BLM

P.S. I’m building a theme with my titles because life is too short to not have a little intrigue every once in a while. If you can guess it, then I’ll send you an Escalante keepsake. I’m not joking. Hint: Mr Plant met an elf-friend and grew inspired. These titles are inspired by the resulting harmonious union.

“Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac.
I can tell by the way you smile he’s rolling back.
Come wash the nighttime clean,
Come grow this scorched ground green,…”

Hello again from the steppes of the grand Northwest. While the Pacific Northwest (in the strict West of the Cascades sense) is notorious for it’s rain, these typically dry rainshadow leeward slopes of the Cascades have been soaking in precipitation on and off for the last three weeks. So much so that the roads to BLM land were in such a poor state I had to take nearly a week off (where I largely fretted about lost scouting time, but rejoiced about the speculative effects on the flora). However, this week the clouds finally cleared. The rain has been a blessing, the drought conditions were pretty bad-and a lot of sites were looking like scorched earth and not much else when I arrived.  However following the rain, the steppe (while some parts) has turned into a verdant lush paradise. Many taxa which have had their whole cohorts go to seed, now have a new cohort of seedlings to feast the eyes upon (and voucher specimens for my opportunistic collections! *evil chuckle*). While a few of the taxa which set seed quickly were unable to benefit from the moisture (and thus have a paltry amount of seed this season)- eg. Lithnospermum ruderale, which I have developed a keen fondness for- it appears to be a help with many other species.

When I showed up here I was initially a little flustered. By my April 20th start date many flowers had already faded, so I had to learn the local flora, and already be scouting candidate populations. Over the last few weeks I have caught up and have learned the “usual suspects of the flora” (ya know the plants that make up virtually all of the diversity in an area-except those uncommon treats).  A working knowledge of about 150 species is needed to feel comfortable here. These are more species than I have had to learn for a field position before. I enjoy it very much so and am now working on dialing in my field ID’ing of the Astragalus/Lomatium/Erigonum genera.

I was constantly berated in college by a certain professor for studying too many things, and too broadly. I have tried to take the advice to heed, accordingly now each season I try to become very familiar with a few groups. Last year I focused on Carex, Asteraceae, Poaceae, and other wetland graminoids (Sparganium, and Eleocharis bring back joyful memories). This year I have focused on Lomatium, and Astragalus, largely due to the West being the Lomatium center of diversity, and both of their prevalence amongst communities, and interesting secondary chemistry. It is always interesting learning the morphology of a very similar looking taxa, how distinct subtle differences can be!

I finished scouting the week of the 25th and during the week of the 1st, I finally started collecting seeds (I’m SOS). I have finished five collections so far (all Asteraceae and Lomatium) and I’m looking forward to getting more. While I was initially slightly intimidated by collecting, I now find it to be immensely pleasurable. Today I had to be particularly on my toes distinguishing different Lomatiums that intergrade (and hardly look different even in flowering) by dry and crispy senescent leaves.

Over the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of going to monitor with the UW’s ‘rare care’ team again. I participated in monitoring a couple large dune areas for Cryptantha leucophea– one site exceeded all hopes; at the other site not a single individual was found. Speculation regarding the factors causing this is interesting- I (and some others) most strongly suspect edaphic factors due to plants (dune stabilization) is the primary factor. This past week I had the fortune of seeing some Cryptantha interrupta (rare-but not quite as rare) in the Wenatchee Mountains.

Aside from my working hours I haven’t been able to get out botanizing as much as usual, due to moving houses, and various errands. Fortunately, my new residency is much closer to the Wenatchee Mountains and I can get out hiking in a fraction of the time I could before. Once back from Chicago, I cannot wait to get out there again habitually. Although, I have seen some real beauties in my few trips recently. A new book which I have been very excited about is “Plant evolutionary Biology” by Niklas- I always felt slightly odd about how glossed over our kingdom was treated in undergraduate biology curriculum in lieu of a focus on Animalia.  This is a wonderful lens to use to refresh and deepen my humble (partial and fragmentary) understanding of evolutionary processes. It’s exceptional in tandem with the environment here.

I’m in Chicago now and just had the fortune of visiting the CBG library, whereupon I had the pleasure of finally reviewing a fascimile copy of Vol 2 of Linnaeuss’ ‘Species Plantarum’.  I was able to partially translate the latin descriptors of several species, but had to borrow a Stearns text to complete them. After finishing a few, I was on the verge of tears of joy, and then the librarian let me see a second edition (1830 copy) of “Species Plantarum’ whereupon I started balling tears of joy, smiling wickedly, and laughing madly for the next several hours. Definitely my favourite part of this trip to Chicago! I was also able to snag an 8th edition of Gray’s “Manual of botany”- and the $5 it cost me will go towards the library acquiring more old rare texts. Finally, reading the texts of our forebearers is darn cool. I was also able to read excerpts of a text on seed biochemistry and physiology that emphasized some traits that are seldom mentioned in newer texts.

Uhm ok, so we all know why we really come to the blog. PLANT PICTURES!! So one final anecdote: my truck and I went through a struggle, and both came out unscathed (or “a stragal’ “- ok still not funny? I thought I’d try again). So I decided the bonding experience warranted a name for it, thus I have dubbed my gold dodge “Cassady” an homage to the notorious road dog of the western states. Without further ado PLANTS!

“fare ye the well, Let your life proceed by it’s own design, Let the words be yours I’m done with mine, fare ye the well, let the words be yours I’m done with mine”

Frasera albicaulis

Lomatium cuspidatum

Asclepias speciosa

Physaria alpestris

This month we had a break from the suckers and helped do a survey for Applegate’s milkvetch for a week. Applegate’s milkvetch is a plant in the pea family that grows low to the ground. It is listed as endangered and there are only nine known populations in Klamath County. The largest of those locations is the Klamath Falls Airport. The airport is looking to build a new taxiway, so the plants that will be in the construction zone were completely censused and flagged. The flagging was so that seeds can later be collected and also so that plants that are in the construction imprint can potentially be avoided. We also did random belt transects throughout the entire airport so that ten percent of the total acreage was surveyed. To census the construction zone we would walk in a line and just flag all of the plants we could see. This was much more difficult than it sounds because milkvetch grows very low to the ground with small flowers. There were also a couple of look a likes growing on the airport, which complicated things.

Flagging Milkcetch

Applegate’s Milkvetch

Working at an airport takes a lot of coordination.  While there are no longer commercial flights, there is a military operation still in Klamath. That meant a lot of safety concerns and a lot of coordination. For a lot of the project we had to be with airport employees, who had radios and could communicate with air and ground control.

The milkvetch project gave us a nice introduction to the Endangered Species Act and the role of Fish and Wildlife Service. The project on the airport was done partly with federal money and had to be signed off by a federal entity, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For these two reasons the airport was required to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service about the endangered species occurring on their airport. The FWS had to determine if the project would cause jeopardy for the species.  While jeopardy was not found, the FWS still put stipulations on the airport’s development. They required a full census of the construction area and seed collections. In addition the rest of the airport was sampled randomly. We completed the construction project but will be working on the inventory of the airport next week.

The other focus this month was the ponds at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. I have been going down to monitor the ponds before we put any fish in them. We have been setting traps in the various ponds baited with cat food to try and see if we can catch anything.  So far, no fish, which is good.  The two smaller ponds should not have fish, so we are glad to see that no fish were brought in with the water supply. The larger pond, however, does have fish, so it’s a little confusing that we haven’t found any. We also have been looking for evidence of mammalian predators around the ponds. So far we have found evidence of both otters and raccoons. The next phase of the project involves designing artificial structure. Structure is really important for young fish, as it provides protection from predators and numerous other functions; because of the time frame it’s not possible to do things like plant native plants. We are going to add aquarium plants and decorative rocks attached to tiles to the ponds to provide structure. I’ll be spending the next couple of weeks coming up with arrangement of artificial plants for the ponds, stay tuned!

Ponds at LKNWR

Baited Minnow Traps

Hi there! My name is Anna DeGloria. I am thrilled to have this platform to help share my experiences with the New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS) and the CLM internship program. This is my first blog, ever, so please bare with me.

It’s only been 2 weeks and so much as already happened. Just a few weeks before this all started I was working as the program assistant for the Environmental Program at the University of Vermont (UVM). The whirlwind of starting this internship has been both intense and exciting. Not even 24 hours into this experience did my NEWFS team experience our first challenge: LaGuardia Airport. En route to our east coast training at the North Carolina Botanic Garden our flight was cancelled due to poor weather. As we watched the rest of the passengers scramble and moan in disappointment I was both shocked and pleasantly relieved how cooly our group took the news. We sat down briefly and discussed the options: wait for the next flight to NC, go back to Boston, or rent a vehicle and drive.

We ended up renting a van and driving from LaGuardia to North Carolina through pounding rain storms. We made it to North Carolina by 4:30 am. As we were checking in, I was given a key to a room occupied by another east coast CLM intern. I was nervous to barge into the room and scare the crap out of her, but luckily she didn’t even flinch as I stumbled into our shared hotel room, desperately collapsing on the most welcoming sight: a bed.

The next day was jam packed with lectures and informational talks introducing us to our internship. It was neat to learn about how the east coast Seeds of Success (SOS) differs from the large majority of SOS interns based throughout the west. SOS east is possible due to a federal grant responding to damage caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2013. SOS east is working to collect bulk seed from coastal wetlands for restoration projects.

I remember sitting in an advanced environmental studies course titled Adaptation to Climate Change when Superstorm Sandy battered the eastern coastline. While at UVM I learned quite a bit about our vulnerability to storms like this; Hurricane Irene hit Vermont in 2011 hard and quickly made me realize the seriousness of future strong storms. I became fascinated with the term resilience and have since then noticed its prominence in climate change dialogue. I am delighted that our work with SOS east will so directly apply to building resilience along the eastern coastline–an area I call home and care deeply about.

This week the NEWFS team has been busy getting in touch with land owners, reserve managers, and organizations that may want to partner with us or at least grant us permission to collect seed from their land. We traveled to Rhode Island to meet with National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) wildlife biologist Nick Ernst to discuss strategy and learn more about the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge and the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge.

NEWFS team walking with NFWF wildlife biologist Nick Ernst at the John H. Chafee Restoration site.

Nick showed us ongoing projects to measure a changing wetland and discussed the challenges his team is working on to build resiliency. He told us how Rhode Island is expected to experience 4 mm of sea level rise each year, seemingly insignificant but threatens the precious habitat and ecosystem services this wetland provides. The Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) for instance, is threatened by this sea level rise because they nest in the salt marshes.

As we walked around these sites we discussed plant species of importance, the challenges of collecting enough seed and how best to serve the need of restoring Rhode Island wetland communities.

Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge was once a dump site.

Salicornia, a tasty member of the Amaranthaceae, family commonly found in saltmarshes.

After meeting with Nick I believe the NEWFS team learned a tremendous amount about why our work is so important and why it’s going to be a challenge. We have a lot to do in the next 6 months and the only way we are going to accomplish our goal is by having partners like NFWF to team up with and to better understand what seed needs to be prioritized. Our goal is somewhat daunting but I am so happy to be working with the NEWFS team–we’ve already proved ourselves to be a resilient bunch and I believe our work will be rewarding and successful.

Thank you for taking the time to read my first blog, I hope it provided some insight into the SOS east program and how the New England Wild Flower Society is involved.

More to come!

Anna DeGloria, CLM Intern

This past week and a half at the North Carolina Botanical Garden (NCBG) has been full of settling in. The four interns here include Lauren, Jake, Emily, and myself (Maggie), and we have just begun to get to know one another, as well as our site.

This week began with our NCBG Intern Orientation. Though our specific CLM project revolves around the Seeds of Success East Program, the four of us have also been learning so much about NCBG and its amazing conservation programs in addition to SOS East. During Orientation, we had the chance to tour all of the Garden’s properties, including an arboretum and herbarium on University of North Carolina’s campus as well as hiking trails at Battle Park. We were also taken on a guided tour of the Botanical Garden itself. One special highlight included touring NCBG’s carnivorous plants exhibit, where we had the chance to cut open dried pitcher plants and examine the exoskeletons of all the unlucky insects that found their demise in the plants’ digestive juices.

The always beautiful pitcher plants.

Mmm, tasty bugs! 

This week has also been full of research. Over the course of the summer, we will be collecting seeds from native plants located across the coastal plain ecoregion in North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia. With that task at hand, we’ve focused thus far on familiarizing ourselves with the species we will be collecting from. Today, we spent several hours researching the plants and their defining characteristics. Luckily, we’ve already become new best friends with our favorite Weakley and Radford dichotomous keys! We have also been practicing the challenging art of identifying several species of grasses, rushes, and sedges, which we will collect seeds from in the field. They are tricky buggars to tell apart!

Dichotomous keys and species lists: what a good combo!

Getting to know Dicanthelium scoparium

Lauren, Emily, and our trusty leader and supervisor, Amanda, checking out some grasses.

Busy last month. Attended the Seed Collection course in Folsom, CA. Yes, of Folsom Prison/Johnny Cash fame. Even went and checked out the museum on the prison grounds (which is still an active facility). They had quite an impressive shank collection, and an entire section dedicated to Johnny Cash and movie made about his time there. Apparently, Rick James did some time there too (think Chappelle Show). Otherwise, went and saw some neat flora, lots of oats……

Clarkia sp.

So last Wednesday night a thunderstorm developed over Buffalo that didn’t stop for 10 hours.  The result was about 5 inches of water rushing into our office and effectively shutting down operations at the BLM BFO. We have no computers, files, furniture or anything. You could play a sweet game of indoor soccer in our office now. Our realistic time for getting back to normal is in September. Until then where people will work and how it will be done is up in the air. I am planning on doing a lot of fieldwork soon, but for now things are hectic and in disaster mode. Since things are busy I will keep this post short, but that is  what is going on in Buffalo!  Here are some pictures from my CLM training in Santa Fe!

The small town of Vernal has been growing on me.  The scattered oil and gas well pads amongst the beautiful high desert makes for an interesting landscape.  For a botanist, it is pretty awesome.  We have been spending most days scouting for plant populations looking for candidates for collecting seeds, vouchering, and of course getting lost trying to navigate the never-ending umarked roads….perfecting our map reading and GPS skills.  The afternoon rains have been promoting new plant growth as well as giving us some much needed 4-wheel drive time 🙂 We are targeting over 30 plants for the SOS collection this summer and so far we have found populations for about 3/4 of those and have made a few seed collections.  Making progress……slowly!

Jinny and I vouchering Cryptantha barnebyi on the amazing white shale formation!