Working 10 hour days doing repetitive tasks can seem boring and hard to some, and some days it is not the most fun, but what really makes it enjoyable is the people you work with. Crew culture can make or break your season. It is the people you smile with while it rains on you, the people you sing in the car with, and the people you rely on when the going gets tough.
Crew taking in a waterfall while treating weeds on a local trail.
I have been lucky to have a large crew on the Umpqua Nat’l Forest. I get to work with 3 USFS employees, 2 interns through the Scientists Conservation Association, 2 interns through the local community college, and of course my fellow CBG intern, Hannah. Having such a large team allows me to work with different people everyday, sharing stories, and making memories. Another plus is that everyone is from all over the United States. We cover the Southwest, Midwest, East Coast, and the Pacific Northwest. With that I have gotten to experience the cultural differences from across the U.S. It has been so interesting to hear about crab boils from Maryland or meeting people from Arizona who have never seen snow (that is crazy as a midwesterner).
Me and my co-worker Bridget, taking a funny selfie to capture pre-work vibes
In the field it is really great to have such a large group to pull from. We each bring a different set of skills and knowledge. I have been able to learn just as much from my crew lead as I have from my co-workers. The local interns have such an impressive knowledge of the native species. They have helped me learn how to identify our collection species more quickly than I would have by myself. One of my assistant crew leads, Bridget, comes from the Midwest with a background in invasive species management. She has really helped us be more efficient when dealing with weeds and even helps us estimate how long a treatment area may take.
A bunch of the crew taking our ”album cover” photo
At the end of the day this crew has become a second family. We regularly hangout outside of work, and are able to be true selves with each other. When you take a field position your crew can make or break your season. So show up with a smile, open heart, and be ready to make some of the closest friends you will ever have. It makes the beauty of your surroundings shine even brighter.
Group Photo to celebrate one of our co-interns leaving for the season. Taken in front of the National forest sign
There’s much to talk about here at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Boise, ID! In the short two and a half months since I’ve began this position my partner and I have been darting all over the Great Basin involved in some cool research. Most of our time these days is dedicated to searching for a particular plant species, but we have also gotten involved in some smaller projects that needed extra hands.
Though first, I suppose I’d like to talk more about the Great Basin itself. Despite growing up in Colorado, and seeing parts of the greater Great Basin ecosystem, the basin isn’t something I have thought of very much. In fact, it took several hours of unbroken driving throughout this region to really appreciate its magnificent vastness, like a rolling sea of scrubland mottled with pinyon-juniper woodland in-between stark mountain ranges. Much like the sea, the magnitude of the apparently desolate land is intimidating, yet amazing.
A view from the top of Yellow Peak in the Sheldon National Antelope Refuge in Nevada.
The Great Basin is defined primarily by the fact that the rivers flowing through this region do not drain into any major ocean or worldwide system. The water that enters the Great Basin, stays in the Great Basin (and now I know where Vegas ripped their slogan from!). This region is dominated by scrubland and pinion-juniper, but is home to a wonderful suite of forbs, one of which has been our primary focus for the past month, ERUM. ERUM stands for Eriogonum umbellatum, or sulphur buckwheat, a perennial from the family Polygonaceae. My field partner and I spend most of our time traveling to locations with presence records of this species, and collecting leaf tissue, herbarium vouchers, and seed from them when available.
Eriogonum umbellatum.
These materials are raw inputs into a research pipeline. Genetic material and phenological information are used to characterize varieties of this species while seeds from various climates are grown in several so-called “common gardens” across the Great Basin. All of this information gets united in an effort to identify “seed zones” for ERUM and its many varieties. These zones are areas throughout the Great Basin associated with particular environments and climatic conditions which result specialized in adaptations in ERUM. For instance, a sample of ERUM seed collected in a high-altitude forest meadow zone would likely not grow well in a low-elevation scrubland zone, and vice versa. So by identifying these seed zones, and characterizing the seed collections by said zones, restoration projects can use this information to select ERUM seed suited for the proper climate and environment. Developing large quantities of native seed is an extremely expensive process, and much seed can go to waste if the environment isn’t suitable. My mentor, Jessica, mentioned to us that after all the labor, permits, equipment, and resources, a bag of seed can be worth more than its weight in gold!
Hunting for ERUM feels like one great scavenger hunt, and it’s always a bit of a rush to stumble upon some. My time so far in this position has been pleasant. I feel very fortunate to travel to so many breathtaking places I likely never would have gone to otherwise. The great outdoors sure has a way of making one feel whole…
As we transition from traveling around the Great Basin collecting seed to setting up common gardens, I hope learn whether development of a reference genome is in the works, what sort of genes are being used as markers to identify varieties, as well as some general curiosities about the potential link between plant breeding, agronomy, and restoration.
Field of Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed) and a freight in our dolomite prairie labeled as our Exxon site due to it being crammed between an Exxon refinery and intermodal train centerLogan and Naomi feeling Politically distraught on the Prairie ( PLANTS IN VIEW: Monarda fistulosa, Ratibida pinnata, and Silphium terebinthinaceum)
As I start to write this second blog post while sitting outside the office the Midewin ambience buzzes around me. Surrounding the main office is a cow pasture allotment ( One of the 50 or so lots we graze cattle on, for forest service profit), the cow pasture is an ecological refuge compared to the grotesque development encroaching the land adjacent to us. To the south, not far at all, I can sometimes get a whiff of Prairie View Landfill and the Exxon refinery to the north. Prairie View Landfill gives Illinois’ usually flat landscape some more intriguing topography, although it is probably not a fair trade for the smell of garbage. Surrounding Midewin is a plethora of warehouses, row crops (mostly corn and soy), suburban sprawl, parking lots, and industrial parks. I don’t mean to set the tone for pessimistic attitudes but I wanted to lay out the visual scene for people who are unfamiliar with Illinois and it’s unique approach to biosphere collapse. The prairie is rich with biodiversity and compared to the sterile conservative approach to landscaping and land management here in the Midwest, the prairie feels like a coral reef or an exotic land full of life.
Midwest storm rolling in over Prairie Glacial PlainsImpatiens canadensis ( Jewelweed/ Touch-Me-Not)Exxon views from my daily commute to work, rare dolomite prairie on the other side
Living here all my life for 21 years I am astonished that is has taken me this long to truly experience the prairie, some residents here have never even seen one. The power struggle dynamics and lack of political will within the mission here can be quite saddening. I am glad a small number of people truly do put their heart and soul into the goal of bringing the prairie back. The integrity and strength to keep pushing for what’s right even when it seems like nobody understands what we are loosing and what we have already lost. It surprises me that a lot of people will know more about environmental issues across the world(Amazon rainforest) but they won’t be aware of any habitat loss of local ecosystems. Not to say we shouldn’t advocate for protection of land everywhere ( these things are not mutually exclusive) but I believe all ecosystems are equal in the grand scheme of things. The prairie and it’s hard working plants sequester tons of carbon and helps put organic matter back into the soil. How do we get people to care about native ecosystems if they haven’t even seen one in the first place? What type of incentives can we practice either personally or politically that would engage people in nature and ecology more? That being said I think even the people making insensitive decisions on the top of Exxon may not be complete demons, just confused, very very confused, human beings. I believe educating people, while remaining open and compassionate, is absolutely essential for restoration and native plant efforts. We can only move forward as much as we ALL move forward, and it’s hard not to get angry with the way things are and the lack of care from the general public. But I believe things will get better and people are increasingly more interested in learning when the opportunity presents itself.
I am very grateful for all the fellow CLM interns, it gives me comfort and restores some sanity knowing there are other people that feel passionate about native plants. Each one of the other interns is uniquely clever, intelligent, funny, and warm hearted and I couldn’t have asked for a better team:)
Logan and Vlad botanizing!Female Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) on Liatris spp.“Scrap” full of Silphium terebinthinaceum (PRAIRIE DOCK) Sagittaria brevirostra Aka Midwestern ArrowheadDelaware Skipper Anatrytone loganTrailing fuzzy bean (Strophostyles helvola)
June is over and the heat of July is finally here!
July at Midewin started with placing transect flags at various locations on the prairie that had their fair share of hazards! I was in primarily mesic habitats with the botany technician, Anna, where we faced thickets of sandbar willows (Salix interior), horsetails (Equisetum sp.), and of course the disgusting Phragmites (Phragmites australis).
The Salix interior ”swamp” at Midewin
Following setup, we began the transects and gathered data for the Floristic Quality Index (FQI). During data collection, it reminded me of a live auction where people would shout their bets at a person, but instead it was the latin/common names of the plants being shouted at the tablet holder!
Within the middle of transect season, a few of us CLMs assisted the previous CLM interns, Harsha and Veronica, in brush cutting the awful Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellatum). As a whole, we managed to cut down a great amount of the shrubs and also break a sweat which attracted the sweat bees!
A goofy closeup of me taken by Jonahafter brush cutting!A very happy Orange-legged Furrow Bee (Halictus rubicundus)!The adventure during the Autumn Olive brush cutting
Aside from transects and brush cutting, the latter half of July was spent collecting and scouting for sedges, rushes, and wetland species. While collecting on the prairie, we found ourselves to be dwarfed in comparison to the pillaring beasts that are in the genus Silphium. The largest plants tended to be seven feet tall (or taller) and had golden inflorescences that would sometimes had a critter in the bloom! All four species of rosinweeds were also relatively abundant in most habitats, but only 3 of the 4 species tended to grow with each other. How rude of the plants to not include the fourth species!
Prairie Rosinweed (S.integrifolium)Cup Plant (S. perfoliatum)Compass Plant (S. laciniatum)Prairie Dock (S. terebinthinaceum)The Silphium of Illinois
The Silphium, in my opinion, are like the trees of the prairie, as they pillar over most prairie vegetation aside from some Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi). Additionally, they also act as pillars within the prairie as they are workhorse species within restorations. Truly, they act like pillars with other species to support a small part of the prairie’s foundation.
I hope to one day view these pillaring plants, with their immense leaves, tickle the bellies of Bison within the tallgrass prairie once again just as Aldo Leopold wished. With that, I hope other people can appreciate the absolute behemoths that are within the genus Silphium as much as I do!
A “forest” of Compass plantA Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) on the leaf of Prairie Dock The Silphium “forest” and one of its many residents
Hopefully August will bring more fun on the prairie when the season changes and more plants bloom! See y’all soon!
This month has been full of new plants, insects, and adventures! Seed collection has started to pick up in early July, so we began trying to scout as many populations as possible before they started to disperse. Dean and I found a gorgeous site for one of our target species, Penstemon newberryi, as well as a neat wetland with native pond lilies. I had to go take a look at the blooms!
Mountain Pride (Penstemon newberryi)Yellow pond lilyYellow pond lilyWater Lily Pond
We began exploring further away from the office and came across Pyramid Creek Trailhead, which happened to have a significant amount of our target species there, as well as gorgeous views of Horsetail Falls and the Desolation Wilderness. We have spent a few days going back there for phenology checks as well as seed collections! So far, we have collected Penstemon newberryi, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, Hosackia oblongifolia, and more to come soon!
Lover”s LeapPenstemon newberryiFireweedPyramid CreekPyramid Creek
My family came and visited me to see my new home! we explored the area and went to Lake Tahoe. They were so excited to see California again after moving to Idaho! We also went to see the Rubicon Trail, which is an off-roading trail that is some serious business. I don’t think my little Jeep is up to the task!
My familyMom and Dad!Rubicon Jeep TrailI love you both so much!
Dean and I have had the amazing privilege of assisting the Pollinator Team from Cal State East Bay. We collected data for a pollinator network for Lewisia kellogii and Calochortus clavatus var. avius. Learning more about pollinator work is fascinating, and I’m feel so lucky that we made some amazing new friends!
Calochortus clavatus var. aviusMajestic DeanPollinator surveying! (no bumble bees harmed)Dean with a rare bumblebee he found!
Yosemite!! I have been waiting for this for a while, and I finally got to go with Iris and Matt! We explored the park for a weekend, and it was absolutely fantastic. This park is very special and definitely worth the visit! We were there during a stormy weekend which was fantastic to see so much water and lightning!
Matt, Iris and I in yosemite!Matt and Iris botanizingTuolumne MeadowsTuolumne MeadowsTuolumne MeadowsIris and I in Yosemite ValleyHalf Dome at sunset
Then, it finally happened. Dean and I drove to the north zone of the forest in search of some target species and stopped by a creek to eat lunch. There it was, sitting on a rock in the shallows… a NEWT! I have never seen a newt before, and it was magical. Best day yet!
Newt swimmingNEWTNewt
On my free time, I went to Grass Lake with Matt, which is California’s largest fen. I have never been in a fen before, which the feeling is like a waterbed. Matt and I explored, finding some neat, rare Carex species, some little friends, and a rare mushroom that Dean collected for sequencing!
Dean and I went to go check on an Anderson’s Thistle site to see if seeds were ready to be collected, and Dean spotted something amazing! There was a large bright yellow bumble bee, that turned out to be Morrisons Bumble Bee which is a threatened species. So wonderful to see two of them in one day!
Finally, to end this month, we assisted in a training for Botrychium surveying. Seeing these in real life was pretty insane, they are smaller than I imagined! I am excited to now know what habitats they like to go look for them on my free time! We then finished off the day by watching a baby Saw-whet owl up in a tree.
Botrychium!!!!!Botrychium!!!!!Botrychium!!!!!Botrychium!!!!!Baby Saw Whet OwlDaddy long legCaterpillarDean kissing a mushroom
And a little bug appreciation section!
Really cool and large spiderMonarch in YosemiteCool crab spiderMilkweed beetle in YosemiteCaterpillarPainted Lady ButterflyMillipedeNeat beetleNeat beetleCicadaRare bumble! Bombus morrisoniNeat bee
July was amazing, I’m looking forward to what comes next!
One of the most enjoyable activities so far at Midewin has been vegetation monitoring. We are collecting data to be used for floristic quality assessment, to monitor the quality and progress of our restorations. Each site that we monitor has several (4-5) 100 meter transects running north-south, each containing 25 points (spaced 4m apart). 1m*1m quadrats are placed at each point a random distance away from the transect (0-10m). At the start, a coin is flipped to determine whether the even random numbers will be east or west. Within the quadrat, every plant species is recorded, beginning with a .25m*.25m corner. After all species in the corner are recorded, all species present in the rest of the quadrat outside of the corner are recorded. Dead biomass (fuel) thickness is recorded at three points along the edge of the quadrat. Also, the species comprising 70%, 20%, and 10% of the dry weight in each quadrat are recorded.
Left: bluish stems and short, hairy ligule of Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem). Right: “bunny ear” ligule of Sorgastrum nutans (indiangrass).
Conducting vegetation monitoring requires plant identification knowledge beyond what I’d ever employed before in everyday botany. You must not only be able to identify mature plants in flower or in seed (which can be keyed out even if you have never seen the species before), but you must be able to identify every seedling in the understory, which is a daunting task. They will lack the floral parts often necessary to be keyable, and are best identified by someone who has grown the plants from seed, seeing them at every stage of their life. Luckily, I have grown many prairie species from seed at my native plant garden at Northwestern, taking special care to document the species in their seedling phase and putting the pictures in a native plant guide for the future generations of my Prairie Cats Ecological Restoration Club.
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) basal rosette. This one stumped us for a long time until we saw a fruiting stem coming from such a rosette.
Still, many of the specimens I encountered in the field were completely enigmatic. The wetland plots were difficult, containing many wetland plants I had little to no experience with (all those silly little Lamiaceae). Grasses also presented a challenge — I had only ever paid attention to the floral characteristics of grasses (I have attempted to key numerous grasses from family, but the keys usually rely on floral characters). Foolishly, I had paid essentially no attention grass vegetative characters. However, thanks to Anna, our great botany technician, I was able to quickly learn how to distinguish some of the more common grasses. Also, the previous horticulturist at Midewin, Eric Ulaszek, is somewhat of a graminoid connoisseur and a great field botanist, and he created a vegetative key for the grasses of Midewin.
One of those annoying little opposite wetland plants that feel impossible to identify. Our best guess is Laportea canadensis (wood nettle).
Every time I did quadrats, I derived a great amount of joy from finding the small, unobtrusive little things that you can expect to find in nearly every quadrat. For something like Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass), finding it is almost a formality (it was in almost every single upland plot). However, they are small and often don’t show their inflorescences at the top, so finding them requires digging through all the small grass-like foliage at the bottom of the plot. I’d keep pulling little tufts of grass and looking for the Poas (also Poa compressa). And then all of a sudden… success! Poa on the Prairie! (This message is brought to you by the Don’t Kill Your Lawn Foundation).
Poa compressa tiller. Note how flat the leaves are (Poa compressa is even flatter).
Month two in Plumas! Andrea and I are really starting to get into the swing of things now. We’ve spent the majority of our time this month working on seed collection which has been very satisfying. After learning the ropes for the first couple weeks, we’ve grown more confident and competent out in the field on our own. Scouting is still the bulk of our work but many of our populations are now ready for harvest. This may go without saying, but when monitoring populations for future collection, we want to be 100% sure on our species ID. With some plants like Veratrum californicum or Elymus elymoides, correct identification only requires a quick glance. However, with some other genera and species we really have to get into the weeds – if you will – to lock down that latin binomial. One genus in particular that is a priority for collection and a challenge to ID has been haunting our dreams and sometimes nightmares for all of July.
The Lupinus genus or Lupines are fairly ubiquitous across the Sierras and much of the American West. They come in all shapes and sizes, most often with obvious palmate leaves and whorled, long inflorescences of white, lilac, purple, blue and sometimes yellow flowers. They grow well in open areas and are nitrogen fixers like many other genera in the Fabaceae family, making them a great candidate for restoration projects in burn scars. Their fruit are pea-looking pods that are seemingly easy to collect and they grow in thick patches all across Plumas National Forest. All this makes the perfect recipe for seed collection. However, there are so many different species and identification has proven to be quite tricky. In the Jepson, the list of lupine species in California takes up seven whole pages and in our local flora, the Oswald Guide, they take up four. A search on Calflora yields 39 different species and varieties in Plumas County. All this means that we had a lot of learning to do when it came to differentiating between all these lupines.
Starting with the basics, we learned relevant lupine morphology and the various terms that would be relevant for identification. The aspects of the flower that are typically of note are: how glabrous or ciliate the keel is, whether or not the keel is covered by the wings, the width of the banner petal, how pubescent the banner backing is, the prominence of the calyx spur, the color of the petal, the length of the corolla, and I’m sure several other features. For the rest of the plant, we learned its important to look at, the height, the growth habit, how woody the stem is, the length or presence of stipules, whether or not the leaves are adaxially or abaxially hairy, the pattern and openness of the inflorescence, and the habitat its found in. Even when we figure out all of these features – to the best of our ever improving ability – some species are still unclear. For example, only a couple millimeters of stipule length might separate the decision to call population Lupinus andersonii or Lupinus albicaulis – two species which the Jepson describes as “morphologically indistinct”. The presence of an almost invisible patch of hairs on the inside of the wing petals could be the only signifier between L. argenteus var. heteranthus and L. arbustus. Without a doubt, there was a strong learning curve. Several weeks of non-stop lupine action did wonders for our identification skills. We went from a half an hour of keying only yielding more questions to fairly confident species IDs in a matter of minutes. The trick seemed to be constant exposure to different species and that repetition of the ID process. At this point, it feels like we have many of the Lupine key breaks memorized.
The tiny annual Lupinus bicolorA shriveled Lupinus argenteusvar ???A robust Lupinus andersonii populationLupinus latifolius var columbianus – our first collection!
Unfortunately the satisfaction of gaining a new skill came with other unforeseen complications. Correct ID often meant that we could start collecting as soon as the seeds were ready. Throughout July, we watched as flowers shriveled and green pods emerged. The pods slowly turned brown and were ready for harvest. After putting so much work into these populations, we were very excited to finally do some collections. The first lupine collection for the year was a population of Lupinus latifolius var. columbianus that was growing along a remote mountain road. The pods were hard and brown, ready to pop. I cracked open the first pod looking forward to seeing those little pea-like seeds and was greeted with a large grub. Cracked another one, another squirming grub. The day went on and the pattern stayed pretty consistent – it felt like 80-90% of the pods had some fly larvae inside which had already consumed many of the seeds. Lupine tribulations just seemed endless. Fortunately, after collecting a few more populations of different species in a variety of habitats, we learned that not all lupines are that infected. I’ve come to accept that worms are simply a part of the lupine collection process and so many have popped out of pods into my face that I don’t even mind them anymore, maybe they are kind of cute.
Long story short, lupines are hard and will most likely remain hard but it was a satisfying challenge to throw ourselves at. Check out some other highlights from the month:
California tortoiseshell Nymphalis californicaNorthern Pacific Rattlesnake – Crotalus oreganus oreganusCrazy skies from the Park FireSo very stuck in the mud
It is HOT, it is SMOKY, it is NOT a delicious barbecue chicken sandwich, but it IS the weather of Montana in July! We are reaching the end of our survey season, because the heat is drying up the plants to the point of being unidentifiable (hence the title – our Castilleja is crunchy now).
Can you find the senesced Allium parvum?
It’s been amazing seeing an almost full life cycle for several of our species already during the season. Plants that weren’t anywhere near bloom when we arrived have now gone to seed. I feel quite lucky to be here long enough to see the forest change over time, and if fall is anything like our bosses/botanists Lea and Laura are hyping it up to be, I haven’t see the half of it yet. But that comes later; right now is fire season! This is important for the vegetation since many plants are pyrophytic (adapted to fire), such as lodgepole pine, whose seeds won’t germinate until the layer of resin coating them has been burned off. People tend to view fire as a destructive force – and it can be – but it often also creates, makes room for new and wonderful things to grow in its wake. In Hamilton, the smoke from the wildfires has caused a fair amount of haze, but has also given way to some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
View from the bunkhouse
As for the Botshots, we surveyed for pollinators with the Montana Bumble Bee Atlas! I highly suggest clicking the link because they have some neat citizen science opportunities that anybody can participate in. We trudged out into fields of beebalm and fireweed, prepared with bug-catching, bee-snatching goals. Sometimes of these arthropods are escape artists, trying to wriggle out of the bug nets and vials, but with the help of some folks from the Wildlife Department in Stevensville, Hannah and I still managed to catch 12 bees in one survey! There is a lack of data on pollinator populations, especially in the American West, so helping out in areas that had never been officially surveyed before felt really rewarding.
From left to right: Li, me, Laura, Cicely, and Hannah
That’s mostly been July! I’m excited to move into monitoring and seed collection. This month has shown me so clearly how bees depend on plants which depend on seeds which depend on fire and, right now, depend on us for their collection and future propagation. It is a good reminder of the web we live in. And, speaking of the interconnection of all things…
“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 Monardafistulosa
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
Monarda fistulosa (bee balm)
Grindelia howellii (Howell’s gumweed)
Heuchera cylindrica (roundlead alumroot)
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.
Filled with excitement and nerves, embarking on this journey had me filled with a concoction of feelings. I was to return to my home state and have my first taste of my desired career. Although I had made many amazing new friends during the CLM training at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I quickly realized how much I would be learning this season. I encountered feelings of doubt and imposter syndrome as we attempted to key out dried flowers. With no formal botany experience or education, I began questioning whether I knew enough about botany to be a successful seed collector. In the few weeks between the training in Chicago and my arrival in the Chugach National Forest, I prepared myself to acquire a plethora of new knowledge. Foraging throughout my life had nurtured a connection with many native plant species, but I only knew them by their nicknames (common names). These first two weeks back in Alaska have been a whirlwind of learning and reconnection. After being away from Alaska, returning to the land and the landscape I love has been grounding and exciting. It’s like reuniting with an old friend.
Week One
During my first week, I spent a lot of time completing online training for the Forest Service, much of which was your typical large agency type stuff. A few Alaska-specific pieces of training rang of nostalgia: the bear safety training and boating training. Not a single day was spent exclusively chugging away at required training, though. On day one, my field partner, Maggie, and I visited a potential collection site for scouting. I quickly learned how niche much of my plant knowledge was and how little I knew about the plants that occur on this side of Cook Inlet. I spent several summers studying species that occur in muskeg land as a guide in my little free time, but this was a new ball game. She was kind enough to guide me through the resources she had been using and patiently guided me through much of the jargon.
Aquilegia formosa littered the sides of the Ptarmigan Creek trail on day one.
The next day, we spent a few hours IDing some plants in the field with our Forest Service mentor. On our journey, we stumbled upon an old friend – drosera rotundifolia in a muskeg surrounded by peat moss, a few patches of cotton grass, and a few orchids. Finally- I am home.
Drosera rotundifolia, my favorite plant that is often found in a muskeg.
Wednesday was an inspiring day. I spent half the day shadowing my mentor and learning about the processes the Forest Service goes through to start a new project. So many experts are involved: archeologists, botanists, wildlife ecologists, parks and recreation specialists, engineers, and hydrologists! (I am sure I am missing a few as well.) Witnessing their conversation and collaboration drew me in.
The second half of the day was spent meeting the restoration site, to which much of the seeds we collect this season will contribute. I enjoyed witnessing the conversations between experts and how many people are involved in a project of that magnitude. The Resurrection Creek restoration project is in its second phase, and WOW, is it a big one. Seventy-four acres of riparian habitat are being restored in this project as they return the creek to a meandering, salmon-bearing system. I was privileged to meet and witness the SCA interns watering and maintaining the willows and sedges that have already been planted as part of the restoration project.
Several species waiting for their turn to find their new homes at the Resurrection Creek restoration site. Many of these were grown from seeds collected by last year’s CLM interns.
We dedicated much of Thursday to intimately getting to know the Chugach National Forest Herbarium as Maggie and I filed away vouchers from last year’s interns. Filing the vouchers allowed me to learn more about the taxonomy of many plants that I had previously only known the common names of and an opportunity to practice saying some whacky Latin names.
Herbarium voucher of Lupinus nootkatensis, one of our priority species for seed collection, collected by last year’s CLM interns.
We dove deeply into new references and keys with our mentor on Friday. We had more sources than I could have dreamed of!
Week one was a whirlwind of learning, excitement, and reconnections with my roots. While a significant portion of my time was spent in front of a computer, the other half was a thrilling journey of learning new plants, receiving invaluable advice from my mentor, and establishing a harmonious working relationship with my field partner. The excitement of learning was palpable and inspiring. I savored my free time visiting harbors full of nostalgia and hiking new trails, each step reinforcing my connection to the environment.
Week Two
Week two was full of adventure and connection. The work days were primarily spent in the field, scouting and practicing keying plants (mostly sedges). The evenings were spent connecting with new friends and bonding with my co-intern. We learned about all the exciting gadgets and tools we will use for collection, such as a seed sorting machine, which will help us efficiently clean the seeds we collect, and a funky seed collection tool, essentially a modified weed whacker designed to collect seeds rapidly. I can not wait to dive deeper and play with those later in the season!
So far, my favorite day of the season occurred that Tuesday and was full of spontaneous experiences. We were invited along on a Dall Sheep survey that morning, and again, I experienced nostalgia as we ventured out by boat on Kenai Lake- one of my favorite water systems to go out in. We were greeted by beautiful weather and several sheep on the cliffside. We witnessed the incredible blue glacial waters of Kenai Lake shine in the sunlight from shore while practicing plant ID and looking for Rams along the mountainside. We were out in the field for the second half of the workday, where we successfully keyed out a tricky sedge!! What a gratifying experience that was! That evening, after clocking out, we were invited to kayak and cold plunge on the other end of Kenai Lake with some new friends, and yet again, I felt at home on the water. These spontaneous experiences, from the unexpected sheep survey to the impromptu kayaking trip, not only added excitement to my days but also deepened my connection to the environment and the people around me.
Spotting dall sheep.Kayaking on Kenai Lake.Finding one of my old friends, cotton grass, out in the field.
Each day has been a new experience filled with new knowledge, a deeper connection to my home state, and new connections with people who make me feel more at home than I ever have in Alaska. The imposter syndrome I felt at the beginning of this journey has been soothed by a profound sense of belonging and a yearning to learn and experience more. I can’t wait to see what else is in store this season, and I’m excited to share this journey with you.
