Morning Sky at Site Alpha

Joys of Returning to Sites

Tuesday brought the opportunity to travel back to our study sites to obtain GPS points and collect a few grass specimens for further identification.  After breakfast, Jess and I departed for Kalkaska County.  Along we drove and talked about our initial findings bounced ideas back and forth about what we can and cannot say about these results.

Smooth Brome 

What a gift to look out over a field and know the species present just by the color of the waves of grass and other herbaceous plants.  Here is a taste of what was going through my mind as we looked over out sites:  "red - Sheep sorrel, light tan - Poverty grass, yellow - Saint John Wort, purple - spotted knapweed, red stemmed grass - Smooth brome grass...." and so forth.  Just one month before, many of these plants were brand new.

Poverty Grass 

Enjoying the wild snack - Blueberries 

Jess and I determined several benefits of being an ecologist our top two are: 1) field work 2) knowing where to find wild berries for consumption.  We stopped back at campus for lunch and headed back out to our Antrim County sites.  Fred decided to come along with us to check on the sites and re-learn how to use the Au Sable GPS unit.  We were glad for his company - especially when we found that Shell Oil Road had several really large puddles all along the road.  He calmly guided me in "best" practice for making it through and to our sites. For sure, my dirt road driving skills are much improved after this summer - I have been stretched to drive through areas I would usually have said " nope, we are walking", but that would not have worked all that well with the distance between our sites.  He also provided a historical lesson about how during the Civil War the Generals had a hard time keeping their soldiers in rank when the blueberries and raspberries were ready for picking.  The hungry solders would fall out of rank and eat whatever they could find - personally I can totally understand this, given that we as people blessed with plenty of food are tempted to stop and enjoy the fruit of the land.

Site Hotel - Notice the colors of the field 

Panicgrass 

While on the sites, we gathered five different grass samples and were blessed to identify them with Dave Warners - in the late afternoon.   We learned from him that two of the species we brought back are native to Michigan - Little Blue Stem and a species of Panicgrass.  This species was exceptionally cool in that it makes two different sets of seeds at two different times of the season.  When we were out the first time we saw the seeds and then a second set that form down near the base of the plant.  This characteristic was what actually helped us identify this plant.

It is hard to describe the connection one feels with study sites,  however after analyzing the data each site becomes a unique location. Many of our sites are covered with more non-native species than native ones. For this project, each site is in need of restoration - if one listens carefully you can hear the groaning creation - waiting in eager expectation for restoration. In a few years, maybe this research work will be used by the Lord to help bring restoration to these sites all over Michigan!