Yellowstone Reflections

Now that our class is over, it's both sad and exciting to look back at all of the things we have accomplished. We hiked, we wolfed, we soil core'd, we root picked, and we learned to work together as one big group. No single group had been able to collect as much data as we have in the past, if not purely because of our numbers. We can only hope that all of our hard work will come to fruition in a solution to the invasive species problem that Yellowstone has been fighting for years. Until then, we have our memories and our pictures to remind us of all the hard work and good times we had in Yellowstone.

Michelle

Last Day!

The last day of spring term is upon us, and looking around the lab, it is incredible the amount of work we have accomplished in only a few short weeks! Not only have we collected nearly 300 samples, we have begun the process of determining the pH, basal respiration rate, root biomass, Nitrogen content, and ammonia content. Since we have finished the seed bank samples, looking at the amount of Alyssum seeds inside and outside of each exclosure, we have determined that the Cinnabar and Stephen's Creek exclosures have less seeds than that of the seed bank samples we collected outside of the exclosures, as well as Reese Creek. This is certainly promising, as these are the two exclosures that have experienced the longest time period of treatments, and our treatments seem to be on the right path! Reese Creek is the newest exclosure, so it only makes sense that we would find more Alyssum seeds in that area.

Also, we have all now written our reflection papers on the trip to the park, and I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say, wow! This trip not only helped us to realize the true importance of Dr. Hamilton's work, we also were exposed to some of the greatest and most majestic sights in the entire world! Now that we are working on our lab reports, many key concepts have come together, and the bigger picture of the project is beginning to take hold.

A big thank you to Dr. Hamilton and Mr. Huffnagle for making this truly amazing trip possible! It was a great year!

Claire

Starting in the Lexington Lab tomorrow

Now that we are all back in Lexington, unpacked, and settled, we are ready to formally begin working with our samples in the lab tomorrow morning. After sorting and weighing samples, we can now complete a full workup on each sample. It will be a little strange to work in a real lab again (as opposed to the lodge kitchen).

In the week since we've been back I've reflected on the trip and found there are some things I am missing, such as our fantastic meals and sitting a

round the table together (we al

most fit).

I miss being outside in the mountains. The picture below is from an impromtu pre-dinner walk near the lodge.

Finally, I absolutely miss the scenery. Waking up before dawn was absolutely bearable when we were greeted by this view of the Lamar valley:

Hiking Trips

This Yellowstone experience has not only allowed us to learn about plant ecology and the importance of restoration, but has also given us the opportunity to explore the unique landscape and wildlife this area offers.

Hiking through the woods of Montana we’ve encountered several feet of snow, animal remains, and even a black bear (unfortunately no photo evidence).

One of the many incredible views during a hike near our lodge

The picture shows the depth the snow would reach in some locations and Luke holding bear mace, a necessary deterrent when hiking

An example of the animal remains we discovered throughout the hikes (this is the skull of a pronghorn)

More About the Trip

Although I have enjoyed the beautiful scenery in Yellowstone National Park, I have also appreciated the interactions with various members of the National Park Service. John Klaptosky has been an instrumental part of the trip, assisting with much of the field work. He shares Dr. Hamilton’s concern with alyssum weed invasion of native vegetation and recently helped our group with the identification of alyssum boundaries using GPS markers. Mr. Klaptosky has some great stories from his time in Yellowstone, and it is worth meeting him to hear his encounter of six wolves in one afternoon!

Speaking of wolves, Rick McIntyre has met with our group during several early morning wolf excursions. As a volunteer for the Yellowstone wolf project, Ranger McIntyre has worked with the wolves for over 8 years. He taught our group about tracking wolves using howls and radio frequency collars. So far, we have met with Ranger McIntyre at about four of our wolf sightings!

Finally, Roy Renkin has been a major help during the permitting process for the project. He was recently appointed as the chief vegetation research scientist. I had the privilege of meeting him during Dr. Hamilton’s presentation to the Yellowstone Center for Resources, and he expressed a genuine interest in the progress inside and outside the treatment areas. Working with people like Mr. Renkin gives me a greater appreciation for the ecological research in Yellowstone.

-Luke Gergoudis

Friday, May 6, 2011

After a relaxing day enjoying the sights of Gardiner, MT and Mammoth Hot Springs, WY, we came back to the lodge to continue work on some more root biomass and ammonia analyses. The data is looking good so far; there are pretty distinct differences between some sites. Hopefully the nitrate tests and further analyses will continue to show useful information. We still have a lot of samples to work our way through, but we are definitely making progress. Outside of our science work, we had a delicious dinner of bison burgers, and are celebrating Luke's birthday with a game night, brownies, and ice cream. Tomorrow begins early with another grizzlin' trip, and hopefully an outing to Old Faithful. I hope we have good luck with animal sightings tomorrow morning! In any case, I'm always amazed at the beauty of this area, so I'll be sure to enjoy any trip we take into the park.

- Kerriann

Today we hiked part of the perimeter of the Gardner Basin to determine the extent to which alyssum has invaded the basin. Our basic conclusion was that alyssum is everywhere! We walked all the way to the mountains on the far side of the basin and we were still seeing patches of alyssum. I guess all the wind in the basin makes it easy for the seeds to spread. On our walk we also noted the extent of crested wheat grass, another invasive species, and poa, a native grass.

After our hike, we took soil cores through poa, alyssum, and sedge in Steven's Creek and the Remnant to analyze for biomass back in the lab.

Maggie