The seeds were pulled out of their pre-treatment and were moved into the growth chamber for germination to take place. After 5 days, a handful of E.canadensis were germinating, along with B. kalmii at a close behind rate. P. virgatum has yet to germinate, though at this time it’s still early. After filling three 20×10 flats with soilless soil, prior to removing the seeds from cold stratification, the cells (tiny plots on flat) where numbered in preparation of seed transport. By choosing soilless soil I can ensure a uniform system of adequate water retention and proper drainage. As a method for watering, my mentor Stuart has suggested to bottom-water the plants to avoid dampening one area of soil more than another area, which can occur when watering from above. By using sterilized tweezers, I carefully selected a germinating seed from a randomly ordered petri dish. Once the radical was successfully extracted from the agar, the seed was planted into its designated cell. Before transportation took place, I created a few randomizing sheets on an application called R. The sheets randomized the petri dish order, as well as the treatment (species vs. species) placement. The reason we want the order of everything to be randomized is to avoid any biased decisions. This also helps to yield accurate results. I was able to plant over 100 treatments this past week for E. canadensis and B. kalmii. I’m hoping this week P. virgatum will begin germinating.

With that said, the next phase has begun- measurements of growth. To reiterate the purpose of this experiment, I will observe the growth of each species in relation to the species it’s competing with for resources such as water, root space, and light. I will do this by measuring their height on a weekly basis. I want to determine which species will be the most dominant in this early stage of development. On Friday, I started measuring my little sprouts. The tallest I have observed so far has grown to 70 mm. 🙂

This process is very exciting, as I’ve mentioned before. To be able to plan something out so specifically detailed and to watch the process actually happen is nothing short of magical 🙂 It’s really fascinating to watch these little seeds germinate into such beautiful green sprouts!

Elymus canadensis germinating

Bromus kalmii germinating

Carefully transporting germinated seeds into their randomly assigned cell

sprouting and reaching for light 🙂

Here are the books I recommended in today’s professional development seminar on Science Communication for the PBC graduate program. Best wishes in your endeavors to communicate more effectively! Everyone benefits when you communicate better, especially you.

Carol S. Dweck. 2006. Mindset : the new psychology of success. Random House.

Daniel Kahneman. 2011. Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Stephen B. Heard. 2016. The Scientist’s Guide to Writing. Princeton U Press.

Heath & Heath. 2007. Made to Stick. Random House.

Randy Olson. 2015. Houston, we have a narrative: why science needs a story. University of Chicago Press.

Anders Ericsson &‎ Robert Pool. 2016. Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. Houghton Mifflin.

I also mentioned SMART goals. Wikipedia reveals all you need to know.

In a previous flog post, I recommended several books about managing your time.

On to another job of the Echinacea project!

In recent weeks, I was trained in the process of randomizing the achenes collected from each Echinacea angustifolia head. After a thorough count is taken of all achenes per head, the measurement of seed count is also preferred. For clarification, the achenes are the fruit and if they have been fertilized then they will contain a seed. We measure seed count by taking a sample size of randomized achenes from each head to eventually be X-rayed. To begin the randomization process, I was given a chart that was divided into several sections. I took one of the labeled achene envelopes and scattered the achenes evenly over each section. I then used a computer randomizing application to generate two sections from the chart containing achenes. Once I moved the randomly selected achenes onto a separate sheet, I then examined each one and decided if they were informative or uninformative. An uninformative achene would either be shredded, contain a hole – which we believe is do to some sort of critter who may enjoy the achene or seed as a snack, or a ray-floret achene. The ray-floret achenes are three sided and infertile. These achenes surround the outer circle of the E. angustifolia head and hold the ray leaves, also known as the petals. The informative achenes are four sided and may possibly contain a seed. Once I  determined informative versus uninformative, I re-enveloped the achenes and labeled them accordingly. The randomized achene samples will then be re-checked for conformation of informative versus uninformative achenes and later x-rayed. 

The process continues with informative lessons on accuracy and precision of an unbiased experimental design. As I continue my exposure of important aspects on the Echinacea project sequence, I eagerly look forward to lessons awaiting my discovery. 🙂

Until next time floggers,

Danielle

From left to right: dried floret, uninformative ray-floret achene (3 sided), informative achene (4 sided), uninformative achene with a whole, siding of a shredded achene, and a seed!

Randomizing setup. -Notice the the two empty sections which were randomly selected. Those achenes are found on the right-hand sheet. The informative achenes are counted at the top and will be placed in the clear bag for X-ray. The uninformative achenes are counted at the bottom and will be placed in the white envelope.

Last week I spent more time familiarizing myself with the process of collecting achenes from Echinacea heads. Its become a therapeutic practice once you know what your looking for and find the best method to get each unique achene to wedge out from its previously fixed place. Some achenes are large and chunky, which makes them much easier to extract. Whereas, other achenes can range down to an extremely small size, they can almost be mistaken for a floret if not for the color change. The achenes that surround the outer base of the head like a ring are know as ray floret achenes. They often share a darker color than the others. The ray floret achenes are also classified as having three sides, while the rest have four sides. Interestingly enough, this happens to be a very small description for identifying achenes, as they can range in color, shape, and size. I’ve even come across a few with a tiny hole through the center. We puzzle over the cause of these holes and think, perhaps certain critters enjoy some part of the achene, or possible seed that may have been inside, as a snack. One of the aspects I’m really enjoying as a result of working on the Echinacea project is the limitless array of questions we can pose. Creativity is encouraged. 🙂

After taking the time to observe the varying appearances of achenes my mentor Tracie felt it was time for my training on a different task. I next learned the process of counting the achenes per Echinacea head. As I mentioned the week before, we want to examine the amount of fertilized achenes, but we also want to count the achenes on each head for all the Echinacea collected for the year as well. The counting software was surprisingly simple and efficient. Each set of achenes, collected from a head, was scanned onto the computer after several rounds of cleaning. Once on the software, the image loads and can be zoomed in or out to several degrees. By using the mouse, I simply click on every achene I see and it leaves a blue dot-like image. Likewise, each blue dot is counted by the software. The same achene set is counted at random by three different people. The median of 3 counts is what we end up using for our final data. Now it ties together. The experience of cleaning the heads lead me to gain observations of all the physically-varying achenes, and all of this has led me to identify the achenes for counting. To no surprise, there are more tasks to come, each intriguing and methodical as I progress. 🙂 Until next time floggers, enjoy the scenery, wherever you find yourselves.

Sincerely,

Danielle

If you are an avid reader of the flog, you may remember hearing about a drone joining Team Echinacea in the summer of 2017. Here’s some information about what happened with the drone, and where we stand now.

Prior to the summer of 2017, I applied for and received a Research Grant from Northwestern University to fund a study of floral resources along the roadsides in Douglas County, MN. As part of my research proposal, I planned to use the drone to take photos along roadsides to quantify the floral resources available for pollinators. The first few days I was working with the drone I was hopeful it would provide useful for answering that research question. I was able to get an overhead view encompassing all of p1, and to see some beautiful views of Douglas County.

This is what p1 looks like from above today!

Douglas County, views above p1

But, as time went on, and my trials for surveying roadsides began, I realized the images produced by the drone were not going to be high enough resolution to identify different species and get accurate estimates of flower cover for the different species. This proved to be a frustrating realization, but didn’t prevent me from obtaining measures (by hand) of roadside flowering communities each week for the rest of the summer. In summation, I do not recommend the use of the drone for images where high resolution is critical. Although experts in the world of drones had thought my research questions would be adequately answerable with the resolution offered in the drone I purchased, my experience has taught me that for fine scale work- such as identifying plants and their cover- drones must have higher quality resolution capabilities to provide useful metrics. If, however, the goal is to quantify plant cover generally, estimate the percent bare ground, or look at the overall amount of green in the landscape, drone images at this quality would provide useful.