As we have mentioned previously on the flog in all of the experimental plots we measure every plant every year. We mainly need to know if the plants are alive each year. We also measure various other traits, for example leaf length and number.
As you might suspect we don’t find every plant every year we call these plants “can’t finds.” To ensure that these plants really not there and we didn’t just miss them we search these positions again.
I have been working on going through the recheck data, cleaning things up a bit and fixing any problems. I have also calculated the re-find rate for three of the plots that we have measured. For p8 the re-find rate was 2.0%, in p679 which has hybrids of E. angustifolia and E. pallida planted in it, the re-find rate was a whopping 14.0%. Lastly in p1 which is our largest experimental plot had a re-find rate of 10.1%.
I find the range in re-find rates among the plots interesting, the low re-find rate in p8 would correspond with the higher mortality rate in this plot. P679 had the highest re-find rate at 14.0%, this plot was the first plot that we measured. I would suspect that over time we have gotten better at measuring and finding plants. If we measured these plots later in the season some of the positions that we recorded as can’t finds we would have found with more experience. This would lower the re-find rate.
Overall, I think that the team did a really great job at measuring and rechecking, it was a lot of work, but I think we worked hard and got things done very efficiently. I know the re-find rates aren’t actually that high, but I was somewhat shocked how high the rates were.
In other news I finished harvesting all of the heads from the remnants, and finished Demo at all of the sites other than near town hall.
I am heading down to Illinois at the end of the week, Stuart and I will be wrapping up field work this week. I am excited about the move and to start work at the Garden, but I am also sad to leave Minnesota. I have enjoyed being in the wide opened skies and the fresh air.
Stuart and I took a wander out though the corn to do demo at Krusmarks. It was a very erry walk through the corn.
Later in the week Amy came up from the cities to work on her addition to p1. Amy is planning on planting the seeds created during her inter-remnant crosses this year. She is adding to p1 in the south east corner, now this portion of the plot is being encroached by sumac. Now little baby Echinacea and sumac do not mix therefore, we are trying to decrease the amount of sumac in the area. In order to do this first we cut all of the tall grass to expose the sumac. Then we applied herbicide to the sumac in order to apply the herbicide in a systematic way we set up “swimming lanes.” We will see how effective our efforts are in the spring, but I sure think that it worked well.
Amy and Stuart cutting the grass of the tallgrass prairie Anyone feel like going for a dip?
This week Stuart is back in IL, I have been continuing to work on harvest and wrapping up demo and p1 rechecks.
Last night I made apple pie from apples at the farm! I had never done a basket weave crust before, but it was fun to figure out as I go!
Team Echinacea continued the aphid addition and exclusion experiment started in 2011 by Katherine Muller. The original experiment included 100 plants selected from exPt01 which were each assigned to have aphids either added or excluded through multiple years. The intention is to assess the impact of the specialist herbivore Aphis echinaceae on Echinacea fitness.
The 2020 aphid team was Anna Allen and Allie Radin. They located 25 living exclusion plants and 16 living addition plants. The experiment was conducted from July 6th to August 19th, with the final visit consisting only of observation. Aphids were moved only during four visits from late July to mid-August due to late arrival and low numbers of aphids. Only one or two aphids were applied to each plant during each visit. They recorded the number of aphids present in classes of 0, 1, 2-10, 11-80, and >80. They also recorded the number of aphids added.
Aphids on an Echinacea leaf
Start year: 2011 Location: Experimental Plot 1 Overlaps with: Phenology and fitness in P1 Data collected: Scanned datasheets are located at ~Dropbox\teamEchinacea2020\allisonRadin\aphidAddEx2020.
Products:
Andy Hoyt’s poster presented at the Fall 2018 Research Symposium at Carleton College
2016 paper by Katherine Muller and Stuart on aphids and foliar herbivory damage on Echinacea
2015 paper by Ruth Shaw and Stuart on fitness and demographic consequences of aphid loads
You can read more about the aphid addition and exclusion experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries mentioning the experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
As you know the majority of the team has now gone back to school, so now it is just me and Drake. The last week has taken a turn towards fall, the average temperature has been around 55F. There has also been an ever so slight change in coloration vegetation, the soybean and corn plants have turned more yellow than green, the sumacs have gone from green to a nice dark red. The Indian grass in p1 has been turning yellow and has been falling over. Even some of the Echinacea are getting ready for Halloween!
Some colorful sumacsSilly Echinacea Halloween is next month!
This week I have been working on p1 harvest, harvest from the remnants, and some maintenance in p8. Part of the p8 maintenance is trimming out all of the big blue stem and Indian grass. As I worked on that task I couldn’t help thinking of the line from Alice in Wonderland, “painting the roses red”. I couldn’t help but see the irony in trimming grasses out of the prairie, however we do have a rational in trimming the grasses other than just to avoid trouble with the Red Queen. By removing the flowering stems of big blue stem and Indian grass before they set seed, we can decrease their spread through the plot.
This week I also spent some quality time with Darwin shooting all of the flowering E. pallida.
Darwin enjoying the view of the fall prairie clouds
In the upcoming week I will continue to work on the various harvests, and p1 rechecks.
Hey Flog, just one more person saying bye! What an awesome experience I had on Team Echinacea this summer. I appreciated the community and learned a lot from the age and experience range of the team. I learned a lot of new skills, from assessing flowering phenology to using a survey-grade GPS to conducting an independent project to becoming familiar with new plant species! The age stratification of the team also got me thinking about both learning from people and being someone others could learn from. With such a variety of work this summer I was never bored, often felt challenged by the responsibilities I was trusted with, and got to enjoy the company of an awesome group of people.
I enjoyed one last day of demo with Mia and Anna 🙂Living at Andes was great, especially because Lea and Mia were two awesome housemates. Hoping the ATH team compensates me for use of this publicity photo.I got shocked by electric fences twice this summer. Glad this goat (or a similar-looking friend) got to share one of those moments with meNot grass corner this week but the last species I made a visor record for on my project (Symphyotrichum laeve), plus a flying BombusAww! Sharing a special moment with my sister when she visited. It’s fun when you have people to share it with!
The next few weeks I’ll be thinking of Mia and Drake as they wrap up harvest and the field season! See you next time!
Yesterday was my last day with Team Echinacea. I’m sad to say goodbye so soon, but my Junior year of high school is calling me. I had an amazing summer with the team, and I learned so much about plants and the prairie in a unique experience I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.
It wasn’t just my last day yesterday, but also Lea, John, and Emma’s. We wrapped up our time together with one last goat-herding excursion, some packing, and a little bit of demo before our early lunch.
At lunch, we had some delicious vegan chocolate cake (Thank you Jean for all the cakes you’ve made us this summer!) and sat in our 2020 grass-circle for the last time. John and Lea’s puppy pals came to visit too! I’m going to miss our little spot under the oak trees, but I won’t miss the constant fear of acorn-pelting…
Who’s a good boy? Clyde’s a good boy!Huxley and Velmie came to visit too!
In the afternoon, Emma, Mia and I went out to Hegg Lake/P2 to shoot demo on some recruitment sites. I got some quality time with Darwin in the car while we drove, and Emma was able to shoot one final site with him. I think it was a pretty sentimental experience for the both of us.
MYSTERY DOGS!! These guys were hanging out on the side of the road as we drove by… we thought they were coyotes, but we were pleasantly surprised!“don’t speak to me or my son ever again” Just kidding! Darwin and I are very social
At the end of the day, we cleaned up Hjelm as much as we could, returned our equipment, and said the final good-byes for the summer. I’m going to miss Team Echinacea as Fall and Winter come, but I’m hoping to visit again next summer. Thank you to all the people who helped me grow as a scientist and student. I wouldn’t exchange this summer for anything, and I’m grateful we were given the chance to come together in 2020.
Today the loud lumbering noises came back, it has been a while since they last visited but the day lengths seem similar to last time. The noises got louder when they found me, I guess that means that they were excited to see me again. I wonder if they know that I look forward to their visit every year.
This has been a big year for me I worked really hard and I grew two whole leaves! The longest one is all of seven whole centimeters! My parent plant would be so proud of me! Speaking of the good old ‘rent, I haven’t heard from them in a while. I miss them but I am excited to strike out on my own, I hope that I can flower some day and make them proud.
Anyway, today was a good day since the loud lumbering noises came for their visit and I look forward for when they come and visit again. But for now, I have to go back to getting ready for the cold. I am keeping busy making sure all of my sugars are packed away and ready for midnight snacking.
Sincerely,
M
The Tart Plum Plum Tart is ready for Mary Berry’s approval
Today Emma and I did some sling in the morning when we visited this seeding M. Lea did her last field work of the year this morning! During lunch Drake brought his Tart Plum Plum Tart, to share! It was very good, and we all appreciated the time that picking all of the plums took. In the afternoon Emma and I set off to do some of the little demo left. I got some practice at operating Darwin. Operating Darwin is a bit trickery than I was expecting but with a good teacher like Emma I picked it up fairly quickly.
Me attempting to get the GPS in the exact right spot….
