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Borrego Springs, CA

Monday, December 12, 2011

A seedy assignment

At our volunteer meeting last week, I hopped up and volunteered to do an assignment for the biologist that involved a trip to Louisiana.  OMG, I didn’t realize what I was getting into.  Stephanie suggested that perhaps I’d like to take someone with me, even though the biologist said it would only take one person to do this. (little did he know)  Barbara and James said they’d go with me.  So, this morning we left the rigs at 8:00 to head for St. Charles, LA, about two hours away.

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Our destination was the Louisiana Environmental Research Center.  They do all sorts of research into prairie plants and restoration work of native prairies.  It was a surprise to me to learn that plants of prairies in the United States are the same no matter where they are located.  So the plants found in a Louisiana prairie are the same as the plants that are found in Minnesota or South Dakota prairies.  You can’t transplant plants from the north to the south, or vice versa, but the species are the same.  Prairies have suffered throughout the country from development and agriculture.

64 Anahuac NWR 201118Inside the building are bags and bags of prairie plant seeds.  We had brought four bags of our own that had been gathered for the prairie restoration project just before the hurricane Ike devastation.  Our assignment was to determine the identities of the seeds and their percentages from four different plots.

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This was not an easy task.  I won’t go into all the details of how we decided on taking all these counts, but we did take samples from each bag to categorize.  Had we used all the contents of the bags, we would have been there several days!

You all probably have figured out how enthusiastic I am about birds, but seeds not so much.  Well, let me tell you that CC was the person at the center that helped us with the investigation, and she is just wild about seeds!  By the end of the day, I can’t believe how excited I was about finding a different kind of seed.

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The tools of the trade today were tweezers and forceps to separate different seeds.  CC was especially excited to find the Indian bush seeds.

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We also had access to this kind of wind machine that separated seeds by their weight, with the lightest seeds flying to the top of the tubes.  The bottom retained the largest heaviest seeds.  We soon gave up on this machine as it took too long and the trash stems and such just kept jamming up.

By the time we got home, close to 10 hours had elapsed.  I wouldn’t want to do this assignment every day, but I sure learned a lot.  I’ll be a lot more enthusiastic about prairie seeds in the future, and I’ll sure look at them in a different light.  I so enjoyed CC’s excitement.  There are so many things in this natural world to get excited about, but who would have thought of seeds?

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

28 comments:

  1. I wouldn't have thought plants were the same no matter which part of the country they are from. How many different varieties are there?

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  2. Interesting that they are the same species, but I guess they adapt to the climate they grow in.

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  3. Interesting the things you learn by volunteering;)

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  4. Sounds like it might have been a bit boring!! Oh well, back to your regular volunteering. Can't wait to hear what you get to do tomorrow.

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  5. looks like you had some mighty seedy company

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  6. Things are looking seedolicious for you...We just got to Canyon Lake, and it's cool here, but looking like a warmer week ...Woopie!

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  7. I'm sure I'd be cross-eyed by the end of the day but I would be very interested in something like this!!

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  8. Everything begins with seeds, in one way or another. Fascinating post, and it's so nice to read about these dedicated scientists (and volunteers!)

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  9. sounds like it would have been an interesting day and it sure was a good thing that there was someone there that was very enthusiastic!!

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  10. Very interesting. So glad you did it so I could learn about it. I think Prairies are wonderful and like wetlands their worth has been so terribly underappreciated.

    There is NO substitute for an enthusiastic teacher or worker to get others excited. Sorry about the machine. It sounded like a good idea.


    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  11. You end up doing the most interesting things!!!

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  12. The things I learn from you. I'm feeling guilty so the check is in the mail. :c)

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  13. I think you have planted some seeds of interest...

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  14. Was the seed sorting better than the rice sorting?

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  15. Our daughter did some prairie restoration work in Illinois. She would agree with you that how much fun it is depends in part on who is working with you. :)

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  16. You do find the most interesting assignments to volunteer for.

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  17. That is very interesting. I love learning new things.

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  18. What an interesting day. Who would have thought seeds would generate that much excitement. You are really learning a lot during your volunteer assignment.

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  19. Who knew...thanks for telling us about your interesting day.

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  20. Well it definately looked like it kept you all busy ~ who'd a thunk!!! Bet you were glad when it was over even though you learned something!
    Have fun & Travel safe
    Donna

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  21. Learning things about new things! Keeps us young!

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  22. I always learn a lot from you! Prairies are one of my favorite things. Many in Iowa have been trying to restore some of the native prairie. I am surprised that the plant types are the same in the south as the north. Cool

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  23. Judy, this is interesting that the species are the same. I'm curious if they said that the genome is (nearly) identical, or if certain genes are activated or inactivated based on environment. Inquiring nerds want to know.

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  24. How interesting (and tedious;) )

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  25. Fascinating! How nice that you are still a teacher and your virtual classroom is always attentive. I'm sure I am not the only one who appreciates all your very informative posts.

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  26. Always nice to get away from the routine and do something different. It's what keeps us young.

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