In 2023, the team continued the seedling recruitment experiment begun in 2007. The original goal of the project was to determine seedling establishment and growth rates in remnant populations of Echinacea angustifolia. Seedling recruitment rates are rarely studied in the field, and this is one of the few studies tracking recruitment in the tallgrass prairie. From 2007 to 2013 in spring, Team Echinacea visited plants which had flowered in the preceding year, and they searched near these maternal plants to find any emerging seedlings. Each fall since then, the team has searched for the seedlings, then juveniles, and measured them.
This year, we visited 51 focal maternal plants at 10 prairie remnants and searched for 86 sling plants, a subset of the original 955 seedlings. We completed sling in two days: September 15th and September 18th. Like last year, team members used the demo form to collect data on the visors, and we also shot any seedlings we could find that didn’t already have a GPS point. In total, the team found 47 basal plants and 5 flowering plants!
Start year: 2007
Location: Remnants in Douglas County, MN
Sites with seedling searches in 2022: East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Riley, Steven’s Approach, South of Golf Course, Staffanson Prairie
The data were collected on a visor using the demo form. The team recorded plant status (can’t find, basal, dead this year’s leaves, dead last year’s leaves, flowering), number of rosettes, leaf count, nearest neighbors, and head count, if flowering.
Scanned datasheets are in Dropbox: ~Dropbox\remData\115_trackSeedlings\slingRefinds2023
Physical copies of datasheets and maps can be found in the “Search For Sling 2023” black binder located currently in Hjelm on the back desk.
Samples collected: NA
Team members who searched for slings in 2022: Abby Widell, Ellysa Johnson, Jan Anderson, Lindsey Paulson.
Products:
Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation.
In 2022, the team continued the seedling recruitment experiment begun in 2007. The original goal of the project was to determine seedling establishment and growth rates in remnant populations of Echinacea angustifolia. Seedling recruitment rates are rarely studied in the field, and this is one of the few studies tracking recruitment in the tallgrass prairie. From 2007 to 2013 in spring, Team Echinacea visited plants which had flowered in the preceding year, and they searched near these maternal plants to find any emerging seedlings. Each fall since then, the team has searched for the seedlings, then juveniles, and measured them.
This summer, my goal was to make the sling search as easy as possible. When assembling the list of plants to visit, I removed 19 sling plants that had not been found for 3 years. This meant that we did not visit any plants at East of Town Hall or Northwest Landfill. Last year, we used our high-precision GPS to record the coordinates of many sling plants, which made them much easier to find. I created a stakefile with a point for each maternal plant and as many slings as possible. We mapped an additional 5 sling plants in 2022, so they can be added to the stakefile for next year.
This year, we visited 56 focal maternal plants at 10 prairie remnants and searched for 102 sling plants, a subset of the original 955 seedlings. The whole team participated, and we completed almost all of the searches in one day, August 31st. I visited the remaining four sling plants at Staffanson on September 1st. Like last year, team members used the demo form to collect data on the visors, and sling records were assigned locs 311 to 412. In total, the team found 50 basal plants and 5 flowering plants!
The million-dollar question: Is there an Echinacea here?
Start year: 2007
Location: Remnants in Douglas County, MN
Sites with seedling searches in 2022: East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Riley, Steven’s Approach, South of Golf Course, Staffanson Prairie
The data were collected on a visor using the demo form. The team recorded plant status (can’t find, basal, dead this year’s leaves, dead last year’s leaves, flowering), number of rosettes, leaf count, nearest neighbors, and head count, if flowering.
Scanned datasheets are in Dropbox: ~Dropbox\remData\115_trackSeedlings\slingRefinds2022
The 2022 demography data are located here: ~Dropbox\remData\115_trackSeedlings\slingRefinds2022\slingRefindsData2022WithSlingCd.csv
The 2022 stakefile is here: ~Dropbox/geospatialDataBackup2022/stakeFiles2022/stakeSling2022.csv
Surv data for sling plants mapped in 2021 and 2022 have been added to demap, and demo data will be added shortly
Samples collected: NA
Team members who searched for slings in 2022: Alex Carroll, Geena Zebrasky, Johanna Steensma, Lindsey Paulson, Daytona Hoberg, Amy Waananen
Products:
Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation.
Lea Richardson and Amy Waananen are both working on papers related to the sling dataset. Stay tuned!
You can read more about the seedling establishment experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
This field season, the team continued the seedling recruitment experiment begun in 2007. The original goal of the project was to determine seedling establishment and growth rates in remnant populations of Echinacea angustifolia. Seedling recruitment rates are rarely studied in the field, and this is one of the few studies tracking recruitment in the tallgrass prairie. From 2007 to 2013 in spring, Team Echinacea visited plants which had flowered in the preceding year, and they searched near these maternal plants to find any emerging seedlings. Each fall since then, the team has searched for the seedlings, then juveniles, and measured them.
In 2021, Team Echinacea visited a subset of the sling plants at 12 prairie remnants from September 21st to September 29th. The team visited 62 focal maternal plants and searched for 117 sling plants of the original 955 seedlings. In total, the team found 49 basal plants, 2 dead this year’s leaves, 3 dead last year’s leaves, and 3 flowering plants! One of these heads, tag 18136 from East Elk Lake Road, was harvested and is currently being cleaned in the lab at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The team did not find the remaining 60 sling plants, and 17 of these plants have not been found for the past 3 years, so they will not be visited in 2022. No slings have been found at East of Town Hall and Northwest of Landfill for the past three years, so the team will not visit these sites in 2022. Unfortunately, after a long, dry summer, many of the plants were crispy and hard to see, especially at Riley and East Riley. Next year, the team should start hunting for slings earlier while they are still green.
This year, Team Echinacea used the visor demo form to collect data and assigned locs 301-474 to the sling plants to relate the demo form to the sling ids. To aid in finding plants next year, team members gave at tag to 53 sling plants and shot a GPS point for each tagged plant. These GPS points will then be added to the stakefile for 2022.
Over the course of 5 days, 6 people spent 1980 minutes (33 person-hours) collecting data for the sling project this summer.
Mia hikes out to visit the slings at Staffanson Prairie West
Start year: 2007
Location: Remnants in Douglas County, MN
Sites with seedling searches: East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, East of Town Hall, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Northwest of Landfill, Riley, Steven’s Approach, South of Golf Course, Staffanson Prairie
The data were collected on a visor using the demo form. The team recorded plant status (can’t find, basal, dead this year’s leaves, dead last year’s leaves, flowering), number of rosettes, leaf count, nearest neighbors, and head count, if flowering.
The 2021 sling materials such as maps and scanned datasheets are here: “Dropbox\burnRem\remData\115_trackSeedlings\slingRefinds2021”
The 2021 data from the demo form are here: “Dropbox\burnRem\remData\115_trackSeedlings\slingRefinds2021\slingRefindsData2021.csv”
The 2021 stakefile can be found here: “Dropbox\geospatialDataBackup2021\stakeFiles2021\sling2021stakeV.01.csv”
Samples or specimens collected: One head from East Elk Lake Road was harvested and is currently housed with the rest of the 2021 remnant harvest at the Chicago Botanic Garden
Team members who searched for slings in 2021: Amy Waananen, Ruth Shaw, Mia Stevens, Stuart Wagenius, Jared Beck, Alex Carroll
Products:
Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation.
Lea Richardson and Amy Waananen are both working on papers related to the sling dataset. Stay tuned!
You can read more about the seedling establishment experiment, as well as links to prior flog entries about this experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
This field season the team continued the seedling recruitment experiment begun in 2007. The original goal of the project was to determine rates of establishment and growth of seedlings in remnant populations of Echinacea angustifolia. From 2007 to 2013, plants which had flowered in the preceding year were visited in the spring to find any emerging seedlings. Each fall since then, the team has searched for the seedlings, then juveniles, and measured them.
It is awkward to refer to our group of plants former seedlings (all plants were seedling). It’s too long to say juveniles or seedlings. So, Team Echinacea uses ‘sling’ as shorthand for a plant that was initially found as a seedling (with cotyledons!) in one of our remnant populations. After finding the sling, we censused it annually up to the present, unless it died.
In 2020 Team Echinacea visited 66 focal maternal plants in 12 prairie remnants to determine the survival and growth of their offspring (slings). The team searched for 140 of the original 955 seedlings and found 70 of them and couldn’t find another 69. The searches spanned August 24th – September 18th and took place on seven days. The majority of the slings were searched for on the first day, August 24th, 77 slings to be exact. One of the slings flowered this year, however, no achenes were produced–the head was a dud.
In 2020 Emma Greenlee investigated if siling survival can be predicted by its surrounding microhabitat. It turns out that something else is most likely affecting seedling survival not microhabitat.
Mia and Amy D. search for that last seedling at East Elk Lake Road
Sites with seedling searches East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, East of Town Hall, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Northwest of Landfill, Riley, Steven’s Approach, South of Golf Course, Staffanson Prairie
Data/materials collected: The EchinaceaSeedlings repository holds the data for this experiment. Lea Richardson restructured the repo in December 2019 to facilitate collaboration on the new project.
The master datasheet and stakefile can be found here Dropbox/remData/115_trackSeedlings/slingRefinds2020. None of the 2020 data are online yet.
Team members who refound seedlings in 2020: Lea Richardson, Drake Mullett, Emma Greenlee, Mia Stevens, Anna Meehan, John Vankempen, Amy Dykstra, Stuart Wagenius.
Products: Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation. Scott Nordstrom has used some of the sling data in a manuscript that is now in review.
You can read more about this seedling establishment project, as well as links to prior flog entries mentioning the experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
This field season the team continued the seedling
recruitment experiment begun in 2007. The original goal of the project was to
determine the rates of establishment and growth of seedlings in remnant
populations of Echinacea angustifolia.
From 2007 to 2013, plants which had flowered in the preceding year were visited
in the spring to find any resulting seedlings. Each fall since then the team
visits the plants, re-finds the seedlings and measures the living offspring.
In 2019 Team Echinacea visited 69 focal maternal plants in
12 prairie remnants to determine the survival and growth of their offspring.
The team searched for 128 of the original 955 seedlings and found 87 of them
(10 fewer than were found in 2018.) However, the team also re-found 27 seedlings
which could not be located in 2018. None of the original seedlings flowered
this year.
In addition to the annual seedling search, in 2019 the team
began working on a project to relate the fitness and mating scene of maternal
plants to their offspring. In late October 2019, Erin and Riley staked to the
locations of 451 maternal plants included in the original experiment which now
have “inactive” circles with no living seedlings. They visited these maternal
plants because they were not included in demo in 2018 or 2019, and their goal
was to determine the status of every original maternal plant. Since then, a
group of Team Echinacea alums and current members has begun working to prepare
the data for analysis in 2020 with the goal of submitting a manuscript in the
spring.
The first day of searching occurred at East Elk Lake Road, where 13 of the original maternal plants still have living offspring.
Sites with seedling searches East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, East of Town Hall, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Northwest of Landfill, Riley, Steven’s Approach, South of Golf Course, Staffanson Prairie
Data/materials collected: The EchinaceaSeedlings repository holds the data for this experiment. Lea Richardson restructured the repo in December 2019 to facilitate collaboration on the new project.
Notes on the project and master datasheet scans are at ~Dropbox\remData\115_trackSeedlings\slingRefindsFall2019
Data specific to the new 2019 project, including maps and
datasheets used to refind the inactive circle maternal plants, is at ~Dropbox\slingProject2019
Team members involved
with the 2019 project: Lea Richardson, Erin Eichenberger, Riley Thoen,
Drake Mullett, Amy Waananen, Scott Nordstrom, Will Reed, Amy Dykstra, Gretel
Kiefer , Stuart Wagenius
Products: Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation.
You can read more about seedling establishment, as well as links to prior flog entries mentioning the experiment, on the background page for this experiment.
In 2018, we checked 80* focal plants at 12 remnants for nearby seedlings found in previous years. We found 97 out of the original 955 seedlings (26 fewer than the 123 found last summer). Although challenging to obtain, information about the early stages of E. angustifolia in remnants is critical to understanding the demography of these remnant populations. With still no flowering plants, it is plain to see how long it takes for Echinacea to begin flowering.
Between the summers of 2007 and 2013, team Echinacea observed the recruitment of Echinacea angustifolia seedlings around focal plants at 13 different prairie remnants. The locations of these seedlings were mapped relative to each focal plant and the seedlings (now former seedlings) are revisited each year. For each of these former seedlings, we make a record each year updating its status (e.g., basal, not found), rosette count, and leaf lengths. We also try to update the maps, which are kept on paper and passed down through the years, each person using a different color ink. As you can imagine, they are quite colorful & marked up by now.
It can be tough to find small plants like this one!
Year started: 2007
Location: East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, East of Town Hall, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Riley, Steven’s Approach, South of Golf Course remnants and Staffanson Prairie Preserve.
Electronic records of status, leaf measurements, rosette count, and 12-cm neighbors for each seedling. Currently in Pendragon database
Updated paper maps with status of searched-for plants and helpful landmarks
Products: Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation.
You can read more about the seedling establishment experiment and links to previous flog entries about the experiment on the background page for this experiment.
* This number originally read 119, which is incorrect according to the sling master datasheet from 2018. EE edited this on 8 Jan 2020 while writing the PSR for 2019. I encourage someone to correct this number if it is now incorrect but to the best of my knowledge 80 is the number of maternal plants/circles visited.
In 2017, we checked 119 focal plants at 12 remnants for nearby seedlings found in previous years. We found 123 out of the original 955 seedlings (25 fewer than the 148 found last fall). Although challenging to obtain, information about the early stages of E. angustifolia in remnants is valuable.
Generations of Echinacea: A fallen head dropped achenes that have germinated. How many seedlings do you see?
These data tell us how many years it takes plants to flower (a LONG time!) and the mortality rate for seedlings in remnants.
Between the summers of 2007 and 2013, team Echinacea observed the recruitment of Echinacea angustifolia seedlings around focal plants at 13 different prairie remnants. The locations of these seedlings were mapped relative to each focal plant and the seedlings (now former seedlings) are revisited each year. For each of these former seedlings, we make a record each year updating its status (e.g., basal, not found), rosette count, and leaf lengths. We also try to update the maps, which are kept on paper and passed down through the years.
Year started: 2007
Location: East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, East of Town Hall, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Riley, Steven’s Approach, South of Golf Course remnants and Staffanson Prairie Preserve.
Electronic records of status, leaf measurements, rosette count, and 12-cm neighbors for each seedling. Currently in Pendragon database
Updated paper maps with status of searched-for plants and helpful landmarks
Products: Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation.
You can read more about the seedling establishment experiment and links to previous flog entries about the experiment on the background page for this experiment.
Between the summers of 2007 and 2013, team Echinacea observed the recruitment of Echinacea angustifolia seedlings around focal plants at 13 different prairie remnants. The locations of these seedlings were mapped relative to each focal plant and the seedlings (now former seedlings) are revisited each year. For each of these former seedlings, we make a record each year updating its status (e.g., basal, not found), rosette count, and leaf lengths. We also try to update the maps, which are kept on paper and passed down through the years, and add toothpicks to note useful landmarks when searching. This summer, we checked 119 focal plants at 12 remnants for 239 former seedlings. We found 148 of these former seedlings (out of the original 955). Although challenging to obtain, this data on the early stages of E. angustifolia in remnants is valuable and rare for us, as nearly all of our data from the remnants comes from plants that have already flowered (several years after first establishing). This data can tell us, for example, how long it takes plants to flower, and the mortality rate among seedlings in remnants.
Year started: 2007
Location: East Elk Lake Road, East Riley, East of Town Hall, KJ’s, Loeffler’s Corner, Landfill, Nessman, Riley, Steven’s Aproach, South of Golf Course remnants and Staffanson Prairie Preserve.
Electronic records of status, leaf measurements, rosette count, and 12-cm neighbors for each seedling. Currently in Pendragon database
Updated paper maps with status of searched-for plants and helpful landmarks
Products: Amy Dykstra used seedling survival data from 2010 and 2011 to model population growth rates as a part of her dissertation.
You can read more about the seedling establishment experiment and links to previous flog entries about the experiment on the background page for this experiment.
In 2015, we continued to assess survival and growth of plants that were found as seedlings in the springs of 2007 to 2013. This year we went to 13 sites and 142 parental plants. We found a total of 162 former seedlings with 48 of those at the site East Elk Lake Road. At first, the task of reading the maps and triangulating plant positions was hard for the team. We were worried we weren’t going to finish by the end of the field season. But, once we got the hang of it, we sped through with ease.
The second week of the 2013 field season for Team Echinacea was excellent. We finished searching for seedlings and found a grand total of 102 seedlings in 13 remnant populations. We laid out the main common garden experiment with over a thousand orange, blue, and lime flags to guide our walking and to enable us to identify individual plants. We also began assessing survival in the recruitment experiment. On Wednesday Ilse presented results to the team on her aster analysis of 17-year fitness records for about 600 Echinacea plants in our main common garden experiment–details to follow. Pam took out her big new photosynthesis machine for its first trial run. Storms and wetness rained us out all day Thursday and we were without power for two hours on Thursday and about 18 hours on Friday. Team members are refining their ideas for independent projects and soon will be able to make their own posts. (IT folks at the UMN said they fixed the access problems-we’ll see.) Stay tuned to read about their awesome experimental plans!
Next week we aim to finish assessing survival, flag another experimental plot, measure more plants, work on independent projects, and purchase/make/organize equipment and supplies for our experiments. We are also looking forward to Amy Dykstra’s visit. She will talk about her dissertation research.
We are making updates via twitter and facebook. These media have proved to be more reliable than this flog, but we hope that changes soon. See links on the Echinacea Project’s main web page. We hope to set up a venue for sharing more of our photos–stay tuned for that, but here are a few photos from this past week…
Searching for seedlings at LF (the landfill site).
An orchid (Cypripedium calceolus) flowering at the KJ site.
The team on the porch of the Hjelm house.
First trial of the new phtosynthesis machine.
Sorting flags to reuse & recycle. We estimated 2600 flags here to reuse.
