Daily Archives: 7 August, 2024

Plants of Pollinator Friendliness

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“Bees are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and, by supporting healthy plant communities, a long list of ecosystem functions”

– Of Bees and Blooms, 2023
Queen bee Bombus rufocinctus pollinating Agastache utricifolia, one of our seed collection species in the Swan Valley of the Flathead National Forest

This field season (May through October) I was hired as a Seed Collection Intern by the Chicago Botanical Garden for the U.S Forest Service. I am stationed far North in the Flathead National Forest of Montana, and as late summer approaches for most of the continental United States, the species that we will be collecting seed from have just begun to flower.

Target species (from left to right) Symphyotrichum laeve, Heuchera cylindrica and Monarda fistulosa blooming in late July in Flathead Nation Forest

While waiting for our target species to bloom (and seed) we assisted with many other projects. Mostly, we helped out on Timber Unit Vegetation Surveys. This is where botanists go into a section of the National Forest known as a Timber Unit, a section of the forest that will be logged in the next few years, and conduct a vegetation survey. This vegetation survey involves recording every plant species in the unit and GPS marking areas of water (water=high biodiversity) and flagging rare and endangered species that we come across so that the area around them doesn’t get logged and they don’t get ran over/disturbed.

For us interns (Grace and myself) this mostly served as a way for us to familiarize ourselves with the plant species and habitats of Flathead National Forest so that we could properly identify our target species we are collecting seed from and be able to scout out the habitats they are found in. Two months later we are confident in our plant and habitat identification skills, and are now able to scout of populations of our seed collection species ourselves.

Subalpine Heuchera cylindrica population and wildflower meadow containing a Monarda fistulosa

Another project we helped on was the Bumble Bee Atlas project. This research project was started by The Xerces Society with the goal of gathering data needed to track and conserve bumble bees (bumblebeeatlas.org). Many bumble bee species are in decline, the exact causes have yet to be determined but it as been surmised that it is due to a combination of climate change, habitat lost, pesticides and herbicides, and lack of conservation efforts.

Bumble bees are strong, hearty and efficient pollinators that have coevolved with flowering plants. It has been estimated that 60 to 80 percent of all flowering plant species require bees for pollination and that more than a third of the food consumed by humans is pollinated by bees (Glenny, Will Et al., 2022). Due to these factors, the Forest Service and multiple other entities are collaborating to collect data in order to develop a conservation plan so that we don’t continue to loose these valuable pollinators.

The data that needed to be collected was; What species of bumble bees are on the landscape? What plant species are the pollinating? What plant species do they prefer? What disturbances are in the area if any? If we can answer these questions than we can move forward with developing a conservation plan for native bumble be species (bumblebeeatlas.org)!

We assisted with this project by conducting a few bumble bee surveys. We did this by going out to lovely montane meadows full of wildflowers and catching bumble bees! We used big bug catching nets and put them in little tubes so that we could put them on ice in order to put them to sleep and take pictures so that they could be identified to species later. Putting the bees on ice does not hurt the bees! It’s simply puts them to sleep, like the freezing cold air of an early spring night in the mountains.

Within a few minutes of removing them from the cooler, they were waking up, stretching and
flying off (often before we could even get all of the photos that we needed!)

Photos of native bee species from conducting Bumble Bee Atlas surveys outside Glacier National Park in the Flathead National Forest

Little did I know that this cute week with bumble bees would go on to play a roll in the rest of my field season.

As it turns out, the plant species that we are collecting seed from this year were chosen because the have a high pollinator friendliness score. What does pollinator-friendliness mean? and how does a plant get a high ranking? Plants with high pollinator friendliness is defined by the paper Assessing Pollinator Friendliness of Plants and Designing Mixes to Restore Habitats for Bees in 2022 as follows: plants with high pollinator friendliness were plants that had the highest bee visitation rates, attracted the most bee species, supported specialist bee species, and bloomed for extended periods of time (Glenny, Will Et al., 2022). In addition, the target species that were chosen to collect seed from also had to a line with the conservation needs of Flathead National Forest specifically.

The seeds the we care collecting will be added to a seed mix that will be used for roadside restoration. The open areas created by road construction and logging are great areas for grass and wildflower filled meadows and, additionally, great habitat for bumble bees.

Bumble bees photographed pollinating native plant species: Chamaenerion angustifolium, Cirsium scariosum and Lupinus argenteus on gravel road sides

Previously, the only plant species used for these road side restoration projects were grasses. Grasses are great at recolonizing gravel areas, but, being that they are mostly wind pollinated, not so great for native pollinator species. By adding native wildflowers to these seed mixes, roadsides, gravel pits and old gated off forest service roads can become great habitats for declining native bumble bee species (Glenny, Will Et al., 2022).

So, with all this in mind, the parameters that a plant species must meet is as follows

– Must be a native species
– Must have a high pollinator friendliness score
– Must prefer disturbed, gravely habitat

With these parameters in mind, the species that were selected were

  1. Monarda fistulosa (bee balm)
  2. Grindelia howellii (Howell’s gumweed)
  3. Heuchera cylindrica (roundlead alumroot)
  4. Agastache urticifolia (nettle-leaf horsemint)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Target Seed Collection Species in flower

5. Erigeron speciosus (showy aster) (not pictured because it’s not in flower yet)
6. Chamaenerion angustifolium (fireweed)
7. Symphyotrichum laeve (smooth blue aster)

(6)
(7)
Native Bumble Bee Species on Target Seed Collection Species!

Identifying and collecting seed from native flowering plant species that thrive in disturbed and are preferred by native pollinators is a crucial for restoration project because “bees are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and, by supporting healthy plant communities, a long list of ecosystem functions including but not limited to- food and habitat for animals, soil stability, and water quality” (Of Bees and Blooms, 2023). I feel incredible grateful to be working to restore biodiversity of our native forests and working to build habitat for threated native pollinator species. The seed that we are collecting this summer and fall will be sent to the Forest Service Nursery in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho were it will be grown out, the seed collected from those plant, and then CBG interns next year will spread that seed in restoration areas.

Now isn’t that a beautiful cycle.

– Erynn, Flathead National Forest


References

Glenny, Will; Runyon, Justin; Burkle, Laura. 2022. Assessing pollinator friendliness of plants and designing mixes to restore habitat for bees. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-429. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 54 p. Assessing pollinator friendliness of plants and designing mixes to restore habitat for bees (usda.gov)

Of bees and blooms: A new scorecard for selecting pollinator-friendly plants in restoration (usda.gov)

https://www.bumblebeeatlas.org/pages/about

For more information and how to participate in the bumble bee atlas! – Bumble Bee Atlas: Ecology and Conservation

Nodding Onion Firework and Other Bitterroot Happenings

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These past few weeks, the nodding onions have exploded from their papery cocoon, dotting the understory with cute purple bundles. To me, these flowers seemed to come out of nowhere. During early surveys I glimpsed the little white bulb and marked down Allium cernuum in my survey form, barely sparing a thought for the plant. Then it seemed, all of a sudden, like beautiful fireworks were all around me.

I though for a moment that because they were so pretty, these plants might be the other rare onion in the Bitterroot Forest, Allium acuminatum. They were not. They were just regular old nodding onion.

As the fireworks of nodding onions began, the onion I overlooked became one of my favorite plants in the forest. I started to appreciate the bulb before the flower bloomed. When I looked closely I was able to see a neatly wrapped and protected umbel of flowers, reminding me of a caterpillar in a cocoon before it emerges in a display of beauty. I liked how the buds swelled and broke through the thin membrane surrounding them, how the buds hung in perfect little drops from the stem, how they then exploded into a ball, each bud stretching away from the others, how the petals slowly darkened from white to pink, and how green fruits swelled in the middle of each flower as the petals faded back to a wispy white. I loved that each plant seemed to go at its own speed, meaning every day I saw each step of the development in different parts of my survey, or even in a small clump of plants.

Besides admiring the nodding onion, we have done some bee surveys, seed collection, and more rare plant surveys.

The bee surveys are a part of Xerces’ Montana Bumble Bee Atlas project. The goal of this project is to track bumble bees across all of Montana. They do this by splitting the state into a grid and having trained volunteers adopt and conduct bee surveys in a grid-cell.

To conduct the survey, we find a spot to survey and time ourselves for 45 minutes. When we spot a bumble bee we catch it in the net, place it in a vial, and then put it in a cooler so it goes to sleep. Then we take pictures of the bee and record data about the flower the bee was on, the surrounding flora, and environmental conditions. When we are done taking pictures we let the bee fly away.

Our seed collection season has also begun. This means driving around the forest and looking for populations of target species that are big enough to collect, and also timing the collection when the seeds are developed but have not dispersed.

Seed collection bag for Penstemon albertinus and a meadow where we collected Camassia quamash

And, we have done a lot more rare plant surveys.

Here, Li and I are getting the aspect (cardinal direction) of the slope of a rare plant population.

And this is Li and me at the top of a very tall and steep hill.

This past month has been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to our transition towards seed collection and vegetation monitoring.

July Adventures

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The second month of my stay here in Dillon, MT is coming to a steady end. Work has definitely picked up quickly in terms of seed collection, with various species predicted to seed here in the next few weeks. There’s been a lot of prep work and anticipation, since most of our collection species at Beaverhead-Deerlodge seed later in the season. It feels like the season has been working in multiple stages as work ebbs and flows, and I can feel a new stage approaching. I’m eager to focus more on seed collection, since a lot of the scouting so far has been more of a multitasking effort.

Working with the botany crew has given me many opportunities to explore Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest while scouting for collection sites. I’ve found it super exciting to come in everyday knowing I’ll see and definitely learn something new. We got to join on a wildflower tour earlier this month, which was quite beautiful and made for a great scouting experience.

Gravelly Range Wildflower Tour. Pictured: Mikhaela (left), Riley (right). Photo by Joe Lamb

One of my favorite things we did this month was camping out in Maxville. There was a beautiful lake directly across the street from our campground, and it was great to cool off from the heat every night. We also went to this amazing candy shop in nearby Philipsburg. I was not like a kid in a candy store, I was better. My life has been changed. I’m also incredibly excited to share that my dream for the season has been fulfilled. I saw a moose! Unfortunately, I was so excited that my photos were very shaky, but I do have witness accounts.

Georgetown Lake, Philipsburg, MT

July has gone by much faster than expected. It’s taken me a while, but I’m finally feeling adjusted here in southwest Montana. Some days I miss the Appalachians. The green lush mountains and summer tomatoes (there are tomatoes here too, but if you know you know), or the muggy sweet smells of the forest. But I also know that, someday, I’ll miss the smell of sagebrush, or the tart yet sweet taste of a fresh-picked huckleberry. I’ve completed field seasons far from home before, but this year has brought me a greater appreciation for the importance and uniqueness of place.

Clark Canyon Reservoir, Dillon, MT

P.S. Cat update: she is doing absolutely fabulous. Her favorite summertime activity has been watching the black-billed magpies from the window and clawing at it. She has an unmatched focus face.

Pictured: Skateboard the Cat

July

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This month, I have been reminded of the resilience and beauty of the desert. I love seeing the giant tarantulas crossing the campsite roads in Payson and seeing the wild Palo Verdes reminiscent of a certain Dr. Seuss book. It’s striking to me the amount of life that lives and thrives in a place that regularly saps my strength at over 90 degrees every day. I put my hand into the soil at a site in the Tonto Forest the other day. The site is called Leo Grove, and over the last few weeks, we’ve been weeding, fencing, and making transects to turn it into an experimental plot. It’s been thinned, but has Ponderosa Pines all around the area. It was striking to me that I could very nearly slip my hand into the soil almost without needing a shovel, and seeing how soft and moist it was under the surface beneath the pine needles. I thought it was funny how consistent Arizona was with spiky things- spiky plants, spikey snakes and insects, and even spikey dirt. Under the surface, however, everything is soft, delicate, and full of life, waiting to sprout. I think that seeing the resilience of the things here gives me hope for the life to come in the future, and maybe, more things could benefit from being a little prickly.