"We've just walked into a little bit of paradise..."

So last week, I met with Karl Anderson, a semi-retired botanist, and various volunteers in order to take up a daunting task: identify as many plants as possible in a 15-acre area in a day. I was absolutely stunned at Mr. Anderson's ability to pretty name every plant we came across except about a dozen, most of which were grasses. Of course, I tagged along and tried to keep up as much as I could. We started by the new Visitors' Center and walked across an open field onto a future trail in a wooded area. I left for about half an hour, and we continued to walk through the woods and back into the field on the northeastern side. After lunch, we went into an adjacent field and zigzagged across, stopping to notice anything particularly outstanding.

During one of the transects, we had stopped to examine some Mountain Mint and were surveying the rest of the field when Karl exclaimed "It looks like we've just walked into a little bit of paradise!" It sounds cheesy, especially when talking about a field, but I, too, was excited about what we had stumbled upon. This field was full of so many classic native wildflowers: three milkweeds (common, swamp, and purple), Blue Eyed Grasses, Swamp Loosestrife, and even Blue Vervain (the first I had seen this summer), as well as a plethora of native grasses and similar plants.

I can't begin to tell you how much this relatively short experience will affect the rest of my time here and the rest of my career studying plants (professional or amateur). I have to admit that before this experience, and especially before I started working at the swamp last summer, I would look at an open field and see a bunch of monotonous green stuff. Now, I look at a field and see sedges, rushes, and grasses; native bunchgrasses and invasive roses; and a complex ecosystem reflected in the plants, the base of the biosphere. I could babble on and on about this, but I'd rather not bore you. Instead, I invite you to ask me any more question you have and will entertain you with various pictures:

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

GEESE!!! This was taken at a goose roundup run by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, with the help of Middlesex County Parks, University of Georgia veterinarians, and of course, the swamp crew.

Halfway through the summer

So this time, I have an excuse for not posting for a while. I was on vacation for the past five days or so and didn't check email or update my blog during that time because I was giving myself a break from the computer.

Last week, the refuge was buzzing with activity as I helped with data collection in a study to see the effects of deer browse (eating) on plant populations. Basically, I spent two days bushwhacking through dense woods and observing whether or not deer ate seedlings that had been planted in December. Also, we measured canopy density (using a densiometer) and shrub coverage (using a big grid that was placed 10 meters away).

Today marked the first day of the last half of my summer here. I'm getting ready to pick up the pace on a project of my own. I've become very interested in how management techniques affect plant diversity on the refuge. Specifically, some brushlands are cut by a giant machine called a Hydro-Ax (think a lawn mower for trees). I will be comparing the plant diversity in different age classes of fields to get a good idea of what species are coming to which fields.

That's all for now. Here's a picture of Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).