11 Sep Phoebe’s field notes – The Time I went to Yosemite for Seed Collection
Sorry to interrupt my normally scheduled programming full of wildlife awesomeness but last week I had the opportunity to spend 5 days camping in Yosemite and conduct seed collection of 3 native grass species: timber oatgrass (Danthonia intermedia), western needlegrass (Eriocoma occidentalis), and tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa).
We spent our first day collecting tufted hairgrass seed. I’ve heard from the vegetation interns that grass ID is quite difficult so I was a bit nervous to learn all our plants would be grass. But Rangers Ash and Sarah were great teachers and these 3 species were all pretty distinct once I knew what to look for. The method for collecting seed is to find plants that are naturally about to drop its seeds, and then of those, collect 20% of the seeds. This 20% number is important because if too much seed is collected the meadow would be depleted and wouldn’t be able to maintain its own healthy population. Removing the seed is actually quite simple, you use your thumb and forefinger to brush the seed into a brown paper bag. This technique was consistent throughout the 3 species of grasses we collected from.
The 2nd day we were in a different meadow this time collecting timber oatgrass and western needlegrass. I learned a lot about meadows and the role they play in California’s hydrology. The ice melt from Yosemite gets filtered through these meadows and eventually the water is used by San Francisco. Up until now, I didn’t quite understand the importance of meadows from a hydraulic perspective.
With a group size of about 20, we were able to collect enough seed and still have time after work to explore Yosemite. On our first day, we did a group excursion to Tenaya lake. On Friday, some of us went to a river right outside our campsite. On our one day off, Jenn and I climbed Lambert dome!
Overall, this was an amazing experience and I’m so grateful that I was able to go. I love that I am able to gain experiences in a wide variety of natural resource fields and expand my experience and knowledge bank.
Don Ino
Posted at 10:42h, 21 SeptemberSeeds! What a wonderful metaphor for future promise and how inspirational that you and your colleagues are taking such active steps to advocate for and protect our biosphere!