Summer Wrap-Up

Currently, I’m writing this from my new apartment in Chicago! Classes start next week for me, and I’m moving on to the data management portion of my summer project. This summer, I looked at pollen and nectar quantity in Coreopsis palmata (prairie coreopsis) in burned vs. unburned sites. But why does this matter? Pollinators depend on pollen and nectar from flowers to supply the nutrients they need to survive. However, there has yet to be a strong comparison between common Asteraceae plants identifying the quantity and quality of plants that can be shared with land managers to help create more viable resources for pollinators in their prairie restoration efforts. Therefore, I wanted to conduct a study looking at pollen and nectar quantity in common non-Echinacea prairie plants to examine how prescribed fire affects plant resources for pollinators.

The sites I collected data from included Torgeson North and South, Tower and Nice Island, and Yellow Orchid Hill West. Pollen data was collected by selecting three immature florets from three flower heads in a “patch,” defined as five or more stems in one central location. These immature florets will then go through a lab process where they are sliced open and placed into an agar solution, allowing the pollen to float to the top, where it can be counted. Nectar collection was done using microcapillary tubes, where we measured the amount of nectar in each tube in millimeters. The volume of nectar can then be calculated based on the size of the microcapillary tube in relation to the measurement in millimeters obtained from the tube. In total, I had around 75 pollen and nectar measurements. I also collected transect density data for each “patch” that we sampled and mapped them in Avenza for future reference. This allows me to identify and see how dense the populations are within a certain site, and to determine if there is a difference between burned vs. unburned areas.

I was not able to study more than one species this summer, but we shall see what the next summer holds!

NOTE: Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).