Do you ever get the feeling that you are being followed? That there’s something out there watching your every move? Well, on the last Crater Lake seed collection trip, the team discovered that was exactly the case. As they harvested seed from marumleaf buckwheat (Eriogonum marifolium), they discovered they were being shadowed by a tiny […]
Would you eat that? The Invasive Species Cook-off brings new foods to the community’s table
When you eat something, you want to know something about it. Many of us cook or order familiar foods and tend not to branch out often, especially with picky eaters in the family. The Institute for Applied Ecology’s Invasive Species Cook-off and annual fundraiser dinner works to raise awareness: when people try a new food, […]
Painting the Prairie – IAE Interns Monitor Golden Paintbrush in the Willamette Valley
by Christina Partipilo and Camille Eckel, IAE 2017 Interns The Willamette Valley is home to small pockets of native prairie habitats. Among these native prairie species is the threatened golden paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta), a species with glowing golden bracts. This once-abundant prairie wildflower was deemed “nearly impossible to cultivate,” and difficult to grow from seed. Since 2003, IAE has […]
Bringing Nature and Science Into Prisons
In June, a golden eagle named Jackhammer paid a visit to the Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) in Ontario, OR. Jackhammer and her handlers, Joe and Cordi Atkinson of Vale, were there to teach inmates about one of the top predators living in the sagebrush-steppe. The Atkinson’s presentation was one of several interactive lectures that […]
SPP Thanks the American Legion
The Institute for Applied Ecology and the Lovelock Correctional Center Sagebrush Crew would like to thank The American Legion Sean M. Ward Post 519 group for their help in restoring greater sage-grouse habitat for our Sagebrush in Prisons Project. They have volunteered many hours helping us thin out the sagebrush containers to our target goal […]
Farewell Field 2017
By Nadav Mouallem with contributions from fellow NPSO/CR interns Abbie Harold and Lucy Keehn When the entire season feels like a never-ending highlight reel, you know it has been a good one. Whether it be sighting owls at dusk atop of Table Rock, whales at sunrise overlooking Coos Bay, or a bobcat in the Tillamook […]
Forest Bound Launches!
Outdoor Education Program for High School Students Utilizes Native Plant Curriculum for New Mexico With the recent completion of the Native Plant Curriculum for New Mexico “From Ponderosa to Prickly Pear” in January 2017, IAE’s Southwest Program was in the perfect position to pilot a new summer educational program in the Santa Fe National Forest […]
The Land of Milkvetch and Honey bees
–By Nadav Mouallem For the ninth week of our Native Plant Society of Oregon internship (June 5-9), the Conservation Research field crew traveled to Vale, OR, to monitor Astragalus mulfordiae (we refer to it as ASMU), or Mulford’s milkvetch. Although we were already a seasoned field crew at this point, this trip was like no […]
Adventures of an IAE/NPSO Intern
— 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 […]