— By Abbie Harold As a Native Plant Society of Oregon Intern with the Conservation Research Program at the Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) we travel to remote corners of Oregon that are home to rare and endangered plants, some of which are endemic to Oregon. Many of the locations we visit are areas of […]
What do our native pollinators need? Native forbs, and the feeling is mutual
It’s finally summer and butterflies are in flight. Butterflies are probably the most loved of all insects, but as native plant habitats decline due to invasive weed spread, agricultural and urban encroachment, some have become threatened. Their needs are simple: 1) Nectar for food, and 2) refuges for egg laying/nesting. In turn, they provide us […]
Sagebrush in Prisons Project: Restoring habitat and hope
Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE)’s Sagebrush in Prisons project has inmates caring for seedlings and discovering ecology at 11 prisons in 6 western states, including the Warner Creek Correctional Facility in Lakeview, Oregon with support from the Bureau of Land Management’s Plant Conservation Program. This spring at Warner Creek, inmates are busily caring for 30,000 […]
Better Late than Never: Patience with a Delayed Butterfly Season
This year, Willamette Valley biologists waited, waited and still waited longer for our favorite prairie pollinators, Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly and Fender’s blue butterfly, to emerge. Not one, not two, but almost three weeks late! Cold and rainy conditions delayed both plants and butterflies this year. These two endangered butterflies are the driver for much of […]
Natural history of checker-mallows of western Oregon
If you rode your horse or walked through western Oregon grasslands on a late May day 200 years ago, chances are you would have seen checker-mallows aplenty among the many wildflowers. Today these grasslands are few and far between, but in some habitat remnants checker-mallows still make a showy spring bloom. There are over 20 […]
High School leads recovery of Rare Plant Species
May 25, 2017 Twenty-eight juniors and seniors from College Hill High School conducted ecological surveys at Bald Hill Farm. Students assessed the health of a restoration site where they will plant the rare thin-leaved peavine (Lathyrus holochlorus) in 2018. During today’s field trip, students learned and applied plant conservation and land stewardship principles while working to prevent […]
Earth Day 2017 Accomplishments: OSU Volunteers vs. Scotch Broom
It can be difficult to wake up early on a Saturday morning, especially if it is cool and rainy, but on Earth Day, April 22nd, thirty-five volunteers from Oregon State University got up bright and early to pull Scotch broom at Beazell Memorial Forest. The volunteer event was coordinated with the help of the Diverse […]
Welcome 2017 Conservation Research Interns!
On April 9, Conservation Research welcomed our new crew of interns: Lucy Keehn, Abbie Harold, and Nadav Mouallem! We have already put them to work, and they have gained valuable experience planting Kincaid’s lupine in Douglas county and monitoring Bradshaw’s lomatium in the West Eugene Wetlands. Lucy graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in […]
Wolf Reintroduction Opposed By Pigs, Hoods
AVALON, CA. April 1, 2017. Bringing back predators can revive age old conflicts. Efforts to reintroduce wolves in Oregon, California, and Idaho have resulted in an injunction filed in federal court in Avalon, CA. Three porcine plaintiffs have brought suit against the US Fish and Wildlife Service to halt all reintroduction efforts. “This ‘huff, puff and […]
Mulford’s milkvetch research update
It takes a full day of driving from western Oregon to reach the closest populations of Mulford’s milkvetch (Astragalus mulfordiae) in the Owyhee Uplands of Malheur County. This rare species occurs in scattered populations in rangelands of Oregon and southwestern Idaho, mostly on sandy soils on rolling hills, flats and near the Owyhee and Snake […]
National Native Seed Conference 2017
Native plants drive habitat restoration and seed industries nationally and globally. Designed to bring together restoration practitioners, seed producers, academics, and agencies, the National Native Seed conference is a bi-annual chance to network across disciplines and areas of interest. The 2017 National Native Seed Conference was the largest and most successful yet. Over 330 people […]
Living the Dream: Collecting Seed at Crater Lake
In 2016, IAE was thrilled to begin working on a new seed collection project at one of the most beautiful places in the Pacific Northwest: Crater Lake National Park in southeastern The pretty, pink flowers of Shasta buckwheat, one of many small forbs adapted to survive in the sterile pumice desert and one of our […]