By Samantha Hooper and Mary McKean May 1, 2018 The first two weeks of Conservation Research field work were an immersion in the spectacularly interconnected landscape of Oregon’s native and exotic plant life. We joined Andrew from IAE’s Habitat Restoration team at the West Eugene Wetlands for our first field day, where we mulched a […]
Volunteers help restore endangered Willamette daisy (Erigeron decumbens) at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge
By Ashley Ottombrino-Haworth, April 2018 This spring, staff and volunteers from the Institute for Applied Ecology and US Fish and Wildlife Service teamed up to plant over 4100 Willamette daisy starts at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, 10 miles west of Salem, Oregon. Twenty-three total volunteers helped plant for this two-day field trip. The reason: […]
Calling all streaked horned larks!
By Monika Lapinski & Michel Wiman, March 2018 The streaked horned lark is native to Pacific Northwest grasslands, prairies and dunes. While the birds eat a wide variety of seeds and insects, it is a ground-nesting bird, requiring very sparse vegetation free of trees and shrubs. Its historic range from British Columbia through southern Oregon […]
Invasive animal poses global threat
Researchers today in Canberra, Australia reported the ominous threat of what appears to be an invasive animal with a unique biology. Platypus-like hares have now been observed on several continents and even remote locations like Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean, and are poised to reproduce in extremely large numbers, especially in North America. Dr. […]
Children learn culture through growing plants
Peter Moore, March 2018 Young children got their hands dirty and planted some bulbs and seeds of culturally important species recently at the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde (CTGR) Youth Education Building.
Students Love to Dig Holes for the Rare Thin-Leaved Peavine!
When middle school students from Eugene, Oregon were asked what they liked most about helping plant new populations of a rare plant, many enthusiastically replied, “digging holes is the best thing ever!” IAE’s Habitat Restoration and Ecological Education Programs teamed up on a project to not only teach students about a rare plant that occurs […]
A Bad Haircut is Good for Restoration of a Rare Wetland
by Michel Wiman February 2018 Just off interstate 25 near Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Lenora Curtin Wetland Preserve is an unexpected and calm respite from the heat and dryness of the Santa Fe desert. I am here with IAE Southwest Program Director Melanie Gisler and IAE ecologist Yvonne Hickerson, who have been working with […]
The Cavalry from Coffee Creek Help with Habitat
IAE has been helping restore the Cannery Hill Unit of Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge since 2011, converting non-native grasses of this former dairy pasture into a healthy coastal meadow to support reintroduction of the federally threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene ippolyta). The species favors salt-spray meadows, but has declined to the point that […]
A Rare Hands-On Lesson for Linn Benton Juveniles in Custody
Handling a fluffy barn owl brought a huge smile on Isaac’s face as he examined the owl’s beak and talons during an IAE-led lesson at Linn County Juvenile Detention Center in Albany, Oregon. The lesson gave 14 middle-school aged students housed at the detention center a hands-on way to investigate bird biology and ecology. IAE’s […]
From Preserve to Preservation: Rocky Mountain Bee Plant in November
Mary Ann Maestas, IAE Southwest Botany Field Technician For one of the last seed collections of the season, I joined two Bureau of Land Management interns for some collections and scouting in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. Our first stop was to the Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve, adjacent to La Cienega. At this point in […]
Guest Blog from Sagebrush in Prisons Graduate
As we work to save the Sagebrush in Prisons project, we’ve collected testimonials from graduates of the project. This excerpt is from an inmate who presented at our Stories from the Field Annual Meeting and Social Hour in November. The event raised one-fifth of the amount needed to support the program for one year. Thank […]
Helping Rare Species from Start to Finish
The Conservation Research Program at IAE conducts research on propagation methods and how to best ensure survival upon outplanting for a variety of rare species. Often for these projects, we focus on one question or the other separately, but occasionally we have the opportunity to work with a single species throughout the process. Since 2014, […]
Tribal Nursery Raises Plants and Awareness
Pre-schoolers and children from the Elementary Chinuk Language Program had a great day digging up bulbs at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde nursery in early November. The Natural Resources Department tribal nursery is part of the “Plants for People” project, funded by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, which is improving access to culturally important […]
A new vision of West Coast estuaries — and their losses
By Laura Brophy, Estuary Technical Group Director March 2018 In October 2017, ETG Director Laura Brophy and collaborators at the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP) finished new maps of current and historical tidal wetlands for the entire U.S. West Coast. The mapping methods — originally developed by ETG in collaboration with Oregon’s […]
Clearing Meadows for Nelson’s Checkermallow
The range of Nelson’s checkermallow consists of highly fragmented, mostly small, populations within the Willamette Valley and flanks of the Coast Range, Oregon. One problem the species faces in the Coast Range is that meadows are being over-run with shrubs and Douglas-fir. In the past these meadows would have been kept open by more frequent […]