For our first day we did direct observations with the goal of practicing your observational skills along with plant ID for our four plant groups of focus: C3 grasses, C4 grasses, legumes, and forbs. The group I was placed in looked at sites ALF East and ALF West.
ALF West was our first stop. This site featured a fence line and natural hills that has been cut through by a gravel road. The site consisted mainly of C3 grasses. In the ditch and closer to the road we were able to see a handful of different legume and forb species, but the site lacked diversity in general. Due to this lack of diversity and over taking of C3 grasses the site appears to have not had a prescribed fire for a few years. Fortunately, we were able to see some emerging coneflower which is always exciting!
ALF East was very different in diversity in comparison to ALF West. Based on visual observations diversity was a lot higher and most of the plant species found belonged in the legume and forb plant groups. With diversity being so much higher, and the plot featuring several plants that have appeared to have been scorched by fire it was our assumption that ALF West had experienced prescribed fire in recent years. The landscape of ALF West not too visually different other than it featuring a corn field behind the prairie area unlike on ALF East.
I graduated from Smith College this spring with a B.A. in Biology and concentration in Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation.
Pronouns: any pronouns
Research Interests
I am interested in botany and entomology, particularly plant-insect interactions such as pollination and herbivory. I am also interested in taxonomy and biodiversity and enjoy learning about organisms that fill unique biological niches.
Statement
I am from Boone, North Carolina and grew up exploring the biology of the southern Appalachian mountains. I love hiking, hammocking, and spending time in the woods. I also enjoy playing music and painting.
My name is Liam Poitra and I am excited to be joing team echinacea for a second consecutive year. This summer I am hoping to deepen my knowledge further about the plant and animal interactions that make our prairies such dynamic ecosystems. For the first day with the whole team back, we spent the morning touring sites with Stuart and learning about common plants on the prairie. In the afternoon we worked as small groups setting out to remnants to familiarize ourselves the outcomes of burning on the prairie. Brittany, Ning, and I set out to observe 2 prairies 1 burned (yohw) and 1 unburned (loefflers corner). Yohw burned this spring was very short still all the plants were ankle height or lower and the soil was completely exposed without a thatch layer to cover it. However several plants showed great growth such as the heart shaped Alexander which seems to have already put out many leaves and was by far the plant to return the most vigorously at the site. Loefflers corner on the other hand showed plenty of brome and a thick thatch between plants. Both places seemed to have similar species however the forbs were easier to pick out at yohw
Today we explored two prairie sites, one which had been burned recently and one which had not. It was startling to see the dramatic difference in the plants inhabiting each site, and the mosaicism that shows in the landscape of the burned site.
ALF West, the site that hadn’t been burned, was overwhelmingly dominated by non-native brome grass, while at the site that had burned, ALF East, we observed more diversity in grass species, as well as a very noticeable absence of the brome grass where it looked like the site had burned. We also noticed the impact of the fire on shrubs and trees in ALF East, and compared that to the new saplings coming up in ALF West. There were two Echinacea angustifolia plants that we observed in ALF West, growing in the gravel on the side of the road.
The shiny heads of the brome grass in the ditch bordering the road, with the burned area behind it
After reviewing the LCW site, I noticed lots of brome near the road, but not necessarily in the site. There were clustered lead plants and low grasses in the middle of the site. There were a few trees scattered throughout the site. I spotted 2 echinacea plants. The LCW site is on lower ground near a ditch and on the left side, there was a large hill. I could also see dry plants covering the soil. My group came to a conclusion that this site was not burned in the spring.
At the YOHW site, I noticed there was less plant diversity than at the LCW site. At this site, there were no tall grasses at all. The grasses and plants were very short. I saw one echinacea tag. There were medium sized shrubs that looked burnt or dried out. There was also no dry plants on the soil, which leads me to believe that this was burnt in the spring. On one bush, I could see the part near the stem was burnt or dried out, but the part near the leaves had growth. Also, at the YOHW site, I could see the soil more clearly becuase the grasses were more spread apart.
The YOHW site has much shorter grasses and plants than the LCW site. At the YOHW site, I could see the soil much clearer than at the LCW site. I suspect this difference is due to the fact that the YOHW site was burned this spring.
I graduated from Alaska Pacific University in 2022 with a B.S in Marine and Environmental Science with a concentration in Ecology and minored in Mathematics for Environmental Science. Currently I am an incoming graduate student at Northwestern University / Chicago Botanic Garden, pursuing a M.S. in Plant Biology and Conservation starting this fall.
Pronouns: She/They
Research Interests
I am very much interested in restoration ecology and land management. Prairies have always had a special place in my heart as my mom worked to restore the 20 acres of prairie surrounding my childhood home. My biggest interest is looking into plant-pollinator resources post fire.
Statement
I grew up in southeast Iowa, but have been living in Illinois for the past year and half. While there I worked for a land management company specializing in prairie restoration, invasive species removal, commercial herbicide application, and prescribe fires with many of the projects being contracted by Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
When I’m not working I love to be paddle boarding, hammocking, cooking a large meal, reading with my toes in the grass, or snuggling my 5-year-old tuxedo cat named Mo.
The Alf west site had multiple echinacea angustifolia plants and a lot of tall cool season grasses. There was a natural hill, fencing, power lines, and a road by the area.
ALF East
The Alf east site had no echinacea angustifolia plants that I could see, but I saw a lot of diffrent forbs and legumes. There were also many cool season grasses which where more tall and dense near the road. There was a natural hill and trees in the area. I also saw signs of burning, for exsample there were left over burnt shrub branches and the plant life was more diverse.
Conclusions
The two sites differed. The west site which had echinacea angustifolia was less diverse compared to the amount of diffrent plants seen in the East site. The ALF East site was clearly the site that was burned. The leftover burnt branches and the great amount of plant diversity compared to the West site shows this.
I did my undergrad in journalism and environmental science at Northwestern University, graduating in 2023. I also did my master’s at Northwestern, and defended last Tuesday (June 4, 2024)! This summer I’ll be finishing up my revisions to get my degree at the end of August
Pronouns: She/her
Research Interests
My thesis focused on the heritability of fire-stimulated flowering in Echinacea, which I think is pretty neat. I enjoyed using our awesome experimental plots to look into how parent and offspring plants might be behaving similarly (or not!). And of course, fire is super neat. As time allows, I’d love to expand upon my thesis work to make it more robust, including looking into selection of phenotypes, phenotype expression of plants in remnants, comparing remnants, and more.
Statement
I’m from Chanhassen, MN, but have spent the last 5 school years in and around Chicago. I feel lucky to continue to spend my summers up in Minnesota, as I love the prairie and the lakes and the people. My favorite activity once I get home from work is cooking with friends, and I hope to do lots of that this summer. I’m also looking forward to fishing with folks on the crew, and hopefully taking home the catch and making a meal of it. Yum!
Me pondering an Echinacea (purpurea, shhh) after graduation at the Chicago Botanic Garden
I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I majored in Biology and minored in Environmental Science.
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Interests
I am interested in learning more about the effect of prescribed burns on pollinator species.
Statement
I am originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, and I currently reside in Dallas, Texas.
In my spare time I play a mean game of Wordle (I usually get it in 3 or less attempts). I enjoy jigsaw puzzles, reading, talking to my houseplants, and watching reruns of Star Trek. Live long and prosper.
