We established an experiment in 2021 to investigate the effects of fire on Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii). reproduction. For the third year, we visited 378 randomly placed plots across 27 remnant patches and counted the number of flowering Andropogon culms rooted within 1 m of the random point. We also harvested seed heads to directly examine reproductive outcomes. In 2023, we counted a total of 1814 culms. The highest density we observed was 165 culms in one plot at KJs, but it wasn’t enough to beat the standing records from 2022 of 197 culms…
With the help of Elif and Carleton externs, we are making progress on a protocol that will enable us to efficiently quantify seed production. Stay tuned!
Should we tell Lindsey that isn’t an Andropogon plot? Nah, what’s the worst that can happen…
Start year: 2021
Location: 27 patches of talgrass prairie near Solem Township, MN
Data collected: All reproductive effort data have been curated and are housed in remag repo.
Samples or specimens collected: Seed heads collected during summer 2023 are in Jared’s office. These samples will be cleaned, processed, and x-rayed to quantify seed set. All 2021 samples have been cleaned and weighed. Most 2022 samples have been cleaned and weighed. All samples will be x-rayed this winter.
Products: Stay tuned!
You can read more about the Andropogon fire and flowering in remnants experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
In summer 2020, Team Echinacea established two plots south of experimental plot 8 for a pilot experiment examining fire effects on Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) reproduction. Neither plot was burned during 2020. During spring 2021, we randomly selected the western plot to be burned. In spring 2022, we burned the western plot. Team Echinacea did not collect any new data from the Andropogon pilot experiment during summer 2023. In the lab, Elif and Stuart made progress on developing a protocol for x-raying Andropogon seed heads and processing the X-ray images. During December 2023, Carleton externs Vo and Rebecca are developing a protocol for quantifying seed set. Exciting times ahead!
Data collected: All reproductive effort data are housed within the remag repo. We are currently generating data on reproductive outcomes in the lab.
Samples or specimens collected: All harvested seed heads have been cleaned and x-rayed.
Products: Stay tuned for an updated in the next couple weeks!
You can read more about the Andropogon fire and flowering in exPt08 experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
You guessed it! Jared AGAIN mapped a bunch of lilies in summer 2023… What a goof. We mapped 277 flowering plants within seven 60 x 40 m plots. Pods were harvested from ~20 plants.
Wait, what were you saying about Echinacea? I got distracted…
Start year: 2021
Location: Remnant patches of prairie in and around Solem Township, MN
Overlaps with: The setting sun and a full night of sleep
Data collected: Spatial and demographic data are housed in the remlp repo.
Samples or specimens collected: Harvested pods are in Jared’s office. They have been cleaned. All unprocessed seeds from prior years were returned to western Minnesota.
Products: Stay tuned!
You can read more about the Lilium fire and flowering experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
We did not collect any additional data on Echinacea angustifolia flowering phenology in remnants during summer 2023. During spring 2022, we curated remnant phenology data.
Rays up, rays spreading, first day flowering, and second day flowering all in one plant. If only there was someone studying how this variation influenced reproduct… oh wait, nevermind.
Start year: 1996
Location: Roadsides, railroad rights of way, and nature preserves in and around Solem Township, MN
Data collected: All data have been curated and added to the Echinacea Project’s ‘remPhenology’ data set. Jared also curated all remnant style persistence data.
Products: Check out our recent PNAS paper investigating fire effects on plant reproductive which utilizes our extensive phenology data set!
You can read more about the Flowering phenology in remnants project, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
In spring 2023 we planted about 100 Asclepias viridiflora seedlings in plugs to transects at site eth. The planting data sheets with all details are in Jared’s office. We did not monitor these seedlings after planting.
During summer 2023, we collected demographic data on 172 individual Asclepias viridiflora plants across 17 sites. We also collected 52 seed pods from 26 maternal plants.
A very charismatic cryptid
Dathon Maton and Mary Ashley at the University of Illinois at Chicago have made great progress genotyping tissue collected from seedlings and potential parents in remnant populations. These genetic data coupled with our spatial and demographic data will help us understand the genetic structure of milkweed populations and patterns of gene flow within and among remnants.
Start year: 2021
Location: 17 patches of remnant tallgrass prairie near Solem Township, MN
Data collected: Spatial and demographic data have been curated and are housed within the remav repo. Harvested pods have been cleaned, counted, and x-rayed but need to be classified.
Samples or specimens collected: 2023 harvested seeds are in Jared’s office. Previous year’s seeds were returned to remnant populations.
Products: Stay tuned!
You can read more about the Asclepias viridiflora demography experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
In summer 2021 and summer 2022, we investigated fire effects on Liatris aspera across 30 patches of remnant prairie in Solem Township, MN. We did not collect any new Liatris data in 2023. All harvested samples were processed in the lab during spring 2023. All data has been curated and are analysis-ready.
Had to go back to 2021 to get a Liatris photo, good riddance!
Start year: 2021-2022
Location: 30 patches of remnant prairie in and around Solem Township, MN
Data collected: Spatial location, reproductive effort, and reproductive outcomes data have been curated in the remLa repo. All data are analysis ready.
Samples or specimens collected: All harvested reproductive material have been processed in the lab. Half of the collected seed was sowed in the recently burned southeast hill at the farm. The other half have been reserved for sowing in P2 (provided it burns in spring 2024).
Products: Jared has conducted preliminary analyses. Stay tuned in 2024 for more info!
You can read more about the Liatris fire and flowering experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
In summer 2020, Team Echinacea established two plots south of experimental plot 8 for a pilot experiment examining fire effects on Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) reproduction. Neither plot was burned during 2020. During spring 2021, we randomly selected the western plot to be burned. In spring 2022, we burned the eastern plot. Spoiler: there was a very distinct rectangular patch of flowering Andropogon where we burned this year. We are very curious whether pollination also improved in this dense patch!
In summer 2022, we revisited the 23 random points in both the eastern and western plots. We counted the number of flowering Andropogon culms within a circular 1m2 subplot centered on each random point (within 56.4 cm) and harvested all seed heads within the subplot. Circle 18 in the eastern plot had the highest count: 96 culms.
Elif x-rays Andropogon in the lab
In the lab, Elif has been developing a protocol for cleaning and x-raying Andropogon. She x-rayed the Andropogon that we harvested in 2020 and 2021, and she found quite a bit of variation in seed set. Stay tuned for more details!
Samples or specimens collected: Seed heads collected from 2020, 2021, and 2022 are currently stored in Jared’s office. The 2022 heads have been dried and will be cleaned/x-rayed to quantify seed set.
Products: Stay tuned!
You can read more about the Andropogon fire and flowering in exPt08 experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
As part of the Echinacea Project’s long-term efforts to monitor reproductive fitness in the remnant populations, we harvested 330 Echinacea seed heads from 23 remnants during summer 2022. We randomly selected 15 heads from each population where we conducted phenology. If a population had fewer than 15 flowering plants, we harvested a randomly selected head from all flowering plants. In the fragmented populations we study, flowering plants often fail to produce viable seed due to limited mating opportunities. By harvesting seed heads and quantifying seed set, we can better understand how the spatial location and flowering phenology of Echinacea contribute to reproductive fitness.
We are keenly interested in understanding how fire influences reproductive outcomes in fragmented prairies. To this end, we harvested seed heads from 7 populations experimentally burned during spring 2022. We will examine how fire influences mating opportunities and seed set across different populations ranging in size. The heads harvested in 2022 are currently in the CBG lab. Volunteers and students have cleaned, rechecked, and scanned all 330 heads, and they have randomized and x-rayed 249 of the heads so far. We are making great progress!
Priti randomizes a head from 2022Allen counts Echinacea fruits (achenes)
Start year: 1996
Location: Roadsides, railroad rights of way, and nature preserves in and around Solem Township, MN
Data collected: The master data sheet of harvested heads is located here: ~Dropbox\remData\150_clean\clean2022\rem2022MasterDatasheetWithLetNos.csv
Samples collected: 330 seed heads were collected and are currently at the Chicago Botanic Garden lab.
Products:
We will compile seed set data from 2022 into a dataset with seed set data from previous years.
Padmini, a student from Carleton College, used some of the remnant data for her externship project this winter.
You can read more about reproductive fitness in remnants, as well as links to previous flog entries mentioning the experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
In late summer 2021, we began collecting data in remnant patches of prairie to quantify fire effects on the reproduction of Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii). In summer 2022, we revisited the same 378 random points across 27 remnant patches and counted the number of flowering Andropogon culms rooted within 1 m of the random point. Across the 378 plots, we counted 2442 culms. The highest density we observed was 197 culms in one plot at Loeffler Corner West, which beats our record from last year, 163 culms at KJs.
We also collected seed heads from all culms within 1 m of the random points to x-ray and quantify seed set. We initially visited random points on September 8, but some of the Andropogon was not ready to harvest, so we returned a few days later. We finished harvesting on September 19. In the lab, Elif has been developing a cleaning and x-ray protocol for Andropogon. Stay tuned for more details!
Manogya harvests Andropogon at Loeffler Corner West
Start year: 2021
Location: Patches of remnant prairie in and around Solem Township, MN
Data collected: Field datasheets are located in Dropbox: ~burnRems\remAndro\fieldData2022\remAndro2022DataSheet.scanned.pdf. We still need to do data entry.
Samples or specimens collected: Seed heads collected during summer 2022 are currently in the seed dryer but will reside in Jared’s office. These samples will be cleaned, processed, and x-rayed to quantify seed set.
Products: Stay tuned!
You can read more about the Andropogon fire and flowering in remnants experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
In summer 2021, Team Echinacea collected data on 70 Green Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora) plants across 8 patches of remnant prairie in our study area in western MN. During summer 2022, we revisited these same individuals and found 58 additional plants. We collected demographic data on all 128 plants and harvested 52 seed pods. We will score ovules to quantify what proportion contain embryos, grow seedlings, and sow seed in western MN to propagate this species.
In addition to our reproductive and demographic work, we began collaborating with Mary Ashley and her group at the University of Illinois at Chicago to learn more about the genetic structure and mating patterns of green milkweed in fragmented prairie remnants. We collected tissue samples from 100 plants in the field. Mary’s research group is now extracting DNA and genotyping plants.
Start year: 2021
Location: Remnant patches of prairie in and around Solem Township, MN
Overlaps with:
Data collected: Spatial, demographic, and seed data are housed in the remav Bitbucket repository
Samples or specimens collected:
Seeds: 2022 harvest has been cleaned, counted, randomized, and X-rayed but still needs to be classified.
Tissue samples: tissue samples are at UIC
Products: Stay tuned!
You can read more about the Asclepias viridiflora demography, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
