It has been an eventful few weeks in Vernal, Utah. June brought sweltering heat and lots and lots of ripening fruits and seeds. We took a break from our seed collecting to monitor some rare, endemic cactus, Sclerocactus wetlandicus. This was our first big monitoring project of the season and though we learned a lot, it was a bit of a bummer. Many of last year’s healthy cactus were trampled, munched on, or just GONE! These are the sacrifices that are made when land is multi-use. Many of our plots were adjacent to drill pads, split by tire tracks, speckled with hoof prints and littered with invasives like cheat grass and Lapula.
Sclerocactus wetlandicus
When we weren’t monitoring empty quadrats, we were diving into seed collection. Levi and I are becoming more and more independent every day, scouting out populations, keeping an eye on phenology and collecting bags and bags of seeds. So far we’ve made 6 collections. We’ve collected Cymopterus bulbosus, Allium textile, Artemisia spinecens, Graiya spinosa, Cymopterus terebinthus and Lupinus pussilus. Timing is difficult, we’ve missed some opportunities and collected some too early. We are using a big white board to track all of our populations. June is a very busy time, everything seems to be ready all at the same time.
Allium textile umbels
This last week was the CLM Workshop at the Chicago Botanic Gardens and it was a stellar week. CLM interns are pretty rad people, if I do say so myself.We got to hear from inspiring professionals in the field like, Peggy Olwell, Plant Conservation Program Manager at the BLM, Krissa Skogen, Conservation Scientist and our very own CLM program manager, and Carol Dawson, Colorado’s State Botanist for the BLM. The botany of the West review was extremely helpful! We were able to explore the beautiful botanic gardens and get to know our peers and share our experiences thus far.
monitoring methods
Getting to know that dichotmous key
We networked and networked and networked some more. It was wonderful to see some real-life trees and chat with some like-minded people. Now we’re back in Vernal and we’re right back to work. This week will bring temperatures in the high 90s and lots more seeds. We’re going to check out some Erysimum capitatum, Asclepias cryptoceras and check on some Oenotheras for Krissa. Hope all my fellow interns are back safe at their various stations. Can’t wait to hear how everyone’s seasons unfold!
Peace,
Hannah