We are one month into our 2026 field season! We have done so much and have shared so much, but right now, we are here to recap.
Big Accomplishments
- Finished measuring Experimental Plots 2, 7, 8, 9.
- Finished extracting seed from last years harvested flowering head.
- Hosted visitors form St. Olaf, who helped us measure Experimental Plot 2.
To-Do List
- Finish measuring Experimental Plot 1.
- Finish surveying and doing demography our large remnant and restoration sites.
While these lists are short they pack some punch. We are over half way with both objectives in our To-Do List–but that still means we have to visit 1000+ potential plants in Experimental Plot 1. But that is enough about the future, lets talk about right now.
What is Demography and Survey, and why do we do it? We take surveys on each flowering plant, each year, at each of our remnant and restoration sites, to record the reproductive health of purple cone flower (Echinacea angustifolia) plants. Then, we use our fancy GPS units to take the coordinates of the purple cone flowers to help us understand population densities and the survival of the same plant year-over-year. Doing these in tandem helps us add to a data base that is over 30 years old, which in turn helps us understand how populations of fragmented prairie plants change over time.
We so excited to attend Horticulture Night at WCROC and to see our wonderful lead researcher, Stuart, talk about tallgrass prairie!
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