The last three weeks have been filled by looking for grasses. The grasses we have been looking for are Orcuttia tenuis and Tuctoria greenei, both species are listed as federally endangered. These species exist in areas known as Vernal Pools. Vernal Pools are wetlands which only have water in them seasonally, as in winter or spring, and then become dry during the summer. They form in depressions, which have no access to an inflow of water or groundwater generally.

We have been looking for these grasses in the region known as the Gerber Block, which is just a bit southeast from Klamath Falls, OR, and also extends into California.  The Gerber Block has many different kinds of vernal pools and also many associated species of plants which also grow with the grasses. Surprisingly, Orcuttia tenuis has been found on the California side of the GB, but have somehow been undetected on the Oregon side. This is the main reason that these surveys are needing to be conducted is because we are not sure if it has just not been looked very hard for in Oregon, or if it really does not occur in the state. However, because the state line is completely arbitrary, there is not really a good reason the grasses should not exist in Oregon, being that the habitat is the same.

So, the surveys being conducted are following a previous study performed in 2010 and 2011, which covered a good chunk of the block and contained 118 different sites of various vernal pool habitats; from intermittent streams, to vernal meadows, actual vernal pools, and stock ponds. The surveys are only presence/ absence of either grass species and also we were helping BLM survey for a species of mint, Pogogyne floribunda, and Disappearing Monkeyflower, Mimulus evanescens.

We have now completed the surveys, and we did not find either species of grass. We were able to survey 74 of the 118 sites. We tried to hit the spots which were considered “better” habitat, and also we tried to hit the spots which had the most relevant species, which would be in areas where ORTE is currently found.

It was definitely an interesting couple of weeks looking for mysterious species of grasses, and I was really pretty happy that in the last week and a half the temperature starting getting to a more enjoyable level for surveying. I believe that these were the last plant surveys of the summer, and now onto more fishy days 🙂