![\"Snow\"](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/snowpic21.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Pictures from my snowy hike up to Dripping Springs<\/p><\/div>\n We have also experienced several changes at the office.\u00a0 Seed collection season is essentially over, and in its stead, we have helped out with several monitoring projects, including one involving the sand pricklypear cactus (Opunita arenaria<\/em>). \u00a0Because it has a relatively narrow habitat range limited by sandy soils, and it is highly susceptible to changing environmental conditions (e.g. water availability, winter temperatures) and herbivory, the sand pricklypear is listed as a rare plant species in the state of New Mexico.\u00a0 Several years ago, local officials announced plans of constructing a dam and flood retention pond on a site occupied by a sand pricklypear population.\u00a0 BLM agreed to the proposal under the condition that the sand pricklypears within the construction site would be transplanted to a new location.\u00a0 Furthermore, all the transplanted individuals had to be caged in order to minimize herbivory during the plants\u2019 initial establishment.\u00a0 A couple weeks ago, Kate and I had the opportunity to monitor the success of the sand pricklypear transplant project, and, ultimately, we wrote a comprehensive report summarizes our findings.\u00a0 I absolutely loved working on this project. I have been quite nostalgic about my college days, and it felt great to write an analytical paper again (did I really just admit that I miss paper-writing?).<\/p>\n One of the caged, transplanted sand pricklypears (Opuntia arenaria) from our monitoring project<\/p><\/div>\n Last week, we also worked on an oil well pad restoration project outside Roswell, NM (fun fact: the site we worked at was where Felix Baumgartner landed after his famous space jump).\u00a0 The ultimate goal of this project has to re-vegetate the area using native plant materials in order to provide suitable habitat for the lesser prairie chicken.\u00a0 However, the deep sandy soils characteristic of the region are extremely difficult to re-vegetate, so our mentor, Mike Howard, used this project as an opportunity to experiment with restoration techniques.\u00a0 Sand bluestem (Andropogon hallii<\/em>) was planted throughout the 3 acre well pad at different pot depths.\u00a0 While deeper pots are known to facilitate plant establishment, they are also more expensive ( $15 per pot), and Mike wanted to determine if there was a cheaper solution that had a comparable success rate.<\/p>\n Sand bluestem restoration monitoring project outside Roswell, NM<\/p><\/div>\n – Elisabeth Ward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" November 25, 2013 Las Cruces, NM Greetings!\u00a0 So much has changed in the past month both in the office and out.\u00a0 For one thing, it snowed here this past weekend!\u00a0 As interns in Las Cruces, we have a housing agreement … Continue reading <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>