Tag Archives: nebraska

Photo of the Week – May 16, 2013

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

We spent two days in the southeast corner of Nebraska this week, pulling garlic mustard at our Rulo Bluffs Preserve.  It was the second trip in as many weeks, and there was still plenty to do the second time around.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Management, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography, Prairie Plants | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Photo of the Week – May 9, 2013

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

I ran across this beautiful garter snake in our Platte River Prairies yesterday.  Interestingly, it was almost exactly a year ago that I photographed a mating ball of red-sided garter snakes just a 1/2 mile from where I found this … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Animals, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

A Prickly Confrontation

Posted on May 7, 2013 by

While we were setting up timelapse cameras at the Niobrara Valley Preserve a couple weeks ago, I had an encounter with a creature I’d never seen up close before.  It was evening, and Jeff Dale was driving us down toward … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Animals, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

A Prairie Ecologist’s Perspective on Arbor Day

Posted on April 26, 2013 by

Today is National Arbor Day - a holiday initiated by J. Sterling Morton right here in my home state of Nebraska.  The idea of Arbor Day is to encourage the planting of trees. However, as a prairie ecologist, I spend considerable effort trying to … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Prairie Management, Prairie Natural History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

A Weekend Walk in the Woods

Posted on April 15, 2013 by

We visited family in eastern Nebraska this weekend.  My in-laws have an oak woodland that I’ve become familiar with over the years, and I was glad to have a little time to wander through it.  Because of the cool spring, I was curious … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Insects, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography, Prairie Plants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is Poison Hemlock Repelled By Plant Diversity? Early Results Say Yes

Posted on April 9, 2013 by

How important is plant diversity?  Most ecologists think it’s a critical component of resilient ecosystems.  Last week I collected some data that lends support to that view.  In some experimental prairie plantings we’ve established in our Platte River Prairies, plant diversity appears to be suppressing the invasion … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Natural History, Prairie Plants, Prairie Restoration/Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Photo of the Week (And Two Milestones) – March 29, 2013

Posted on March 29, 2013 by

Continuing with the theme of the week (at least for me) here’s yet another prescribed burn photo.  We ended up burning three days in a row this week, making the week both productive and exhausting!  However, just getting three consecutive days … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Busy Burning

Posted on March 27, 2013 by

I apologize for not having a pithy and thought-provoking post this week.  I’m actually working on a couple different ideas, but was interrupted by a couple days of good prescribed fire weather.  We had a long day yesterday and today looks like it’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Management, Prairie Photography, Prairie Restoration/Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Photo of the Week – March 21, 2013

Posted on March 21, 2013 by

Last week, I found ant species #23. If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know that we’re trying to inventory the ant and bee species (and others) in our Platte River Prairies.  Our main purpose is to see whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Prairie Insects, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Prairies Forever? Collaborative Conservation for Pheasants, Pollinators, and People.

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

Effective prairie conservation requires a collaborative effort among a wide variety of interests, including ecologists, naturalists, birdwatchers, ranchers, educators, hunters, and others.  Each of these might approach prairie conservation from a different perspective, but they have more in common than … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Prairie Management, Prairie Natural History, Prairie Restoration/Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments