Daily Archives: 3 July, 2024

Dakota Prairie Grassland: Wow I Love Grass

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Moving from Oklahoma to South Dakota, it’s funny how similar yet completely different the two are. Up here it feels like there’s a lot more moisture in the soil (however I’ve been told its been a big year for rain… so that might explain why) and the hills seem steeper and more abundant compared to the southern Great Plains. Most of the plant species are the same thought, however all the grasses/ anything that’s not an aster? Not very familiar with those.

Page from my field notebook. So far have been focusing on ID-ing grasses and other common plants, seen a lot of crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) that’s for sure, very familiar with those now
Grand River National Grassland + the Grand river

The Dakota Prairie Grassland (DPG) is a national grassland spread through North Dakota and South Dakota divided into three districts- Little Missouri, Grand River/ Cedar River (where I’m at!), and Sheyenne. This is also the first year the DPG is having CLM interns (woot woot!). So far my co-intern Claire and I have spent our first 3 weeks on the job exploring the Grand River district, where we’ve practiced plant ID and done some bumble bee surveying, along with on-boarding protocols and trainings. July 1st was our first day going out and collecting seed up on the southern edge of the Little Missouri district in the Badlands, was super pretty and the weather was great up until we got rained out. So far we have collected seed from needleandthread grass (Hesperostipa comata) and green needlegrass (Stipa viridula); H. comata seeds are very pointy at the base, so collecting them can be quite painful in you aren’t careful.

Morning in the North Dakota Badlands, from one of our seed collection sites where our target species was needleandthread grass (Hesperostipa comata)

The grassland has been absolutely stunning, I feel like whatever pictures I post here won’t do it justice. The sky is huge, there being very few trees means you can see so far ahead of yourself, the dashes of little badland hills, plus the variety in plant species makes the land kinda look like a watercolor painting with all its different shades of green, yellow, and blue (and also brown thanks to kentucky bluegrass going to seed), and don’t get me started on how good the sage smells.

Little Missouri National Grassland near Medora, ND. Took a tour and learned about creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) encroachment in the Badlands
Participating in the Great Plains Bumble bee Atlas on the grassland, the bumble bees really like yellow sweetclover (Melilotus officinalis)

Working with plants has been really great, because not only do I get to geek out about plants, but also about insects! As I’m learning my plants better, I hope to also grow accustomed to all the insects affiliated with them. Listening and being able to recognize most of the bird calls I heard while out in the field is another exciting perk, it makes for some good background music.

Couple of beetles hanging out in this plains pricklypear (Opuntia polyacantha) flower
Weevil!!!
Red cross-bills!!! (Loxia curvirostra) Haven’t had much of an opportunity to do bird watching yet, but hopefully by my next post I’ll have more pictures to show

By the end of this internship, I’m hoping I can accomplish these goals/ have these experiences:

  • See sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chickens
  • Learn the scientific names for all our target species (we have 16, that’s probably doable in 22 weeks)
  • Learn some stuff about range land management
  • Visit all the national parks/monuments/forest within at least 5 hours of me
  • Explore every inch of this grassland I’m allowed access to!
Here’s to a great field season!

—

Jenna

Dakota Prairie Grassland, SD

Change of Scenery

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I have lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania my entire life and have only been to western America a handful of times. I knew moving to a small town in northern South Dakota would be different, but I was not expecting such a big change. As I neared Lemmon, SD on my 26-hour road trip from PA there were rolling hills as far as the eye could see on the 80 mph highways. I have never driven on a highway with that high of a speed limit!! 

I got to town on a Wednesday and had a few days to adjust before starting work on the following Monday. I went out early the next morning to the Blacktail trail, which is the main trail in the Grand River district of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands NF, to explore! I have not spent much time in grasslands before so many of the plants were new to me. The first thing I noticed was the silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana) which adds a beautiful blue to the scenery and made the trail smell amazing. I was then very excited to see prickly pear cactus (Opuntia fragilis) which I had not seen growing wild before. Along the trail there are also many gorgeous badlands’ formations. 

The first week of work was a lot of onboarding and training, but we did get  to explore the grasslands. We went out into the field and got familiar with some of the very common plants and used our books to ID them. We were also introduced to the bumblebee atlas which we will be participating in throughout the season. This is a very enjoyable field activity and a great way to learn more about bees. I thought I was a pro after my first time because I didn’t let any of the bees escape when I was transferring them into the tubes, but my second time I lost 3!   

The second week of work We did a Juniper tour in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This was my first time visiting this NP and it was so amazing to see the wild horses and the badlands formations. The tour was very informative and hearing from Carissa Wonkka about her research on juniper control was fascinating. I also enjoyed hearing the opinions and feedback from the landowners that were on this tour. At the end of the second week, we went to the North Dakota State University extension center to learn about the project that we will be collecting native seed for.  

Our third week we have gotten to go out to the badlands to finally start collecting seed. We have been collecting a lot of needle and thread grass seed which is super sharp if it gets you (hence the name…). We also got to collect some green needle seed one afternoon, but it is not all ready yet. On the 4th of July, our office will participate in a local parade, and Smokey Bear will be making a guest appearance. It is an amazing opportunity to be working in such a beautiful area and I am looking forward to the rest of the season!!