Update on Musk Thistle

Above- "a thistle free no-till wheat field" in Major County, Oklahoma.

A recent article in a local newspaper explained that it is illegal for landowners to permit Musk Thistle, Carduus nutans from growing on their properties. According to the article, fines can be up to $1,000 day. The article also claims that the various forms of control generally produce the same effects of eradication.

Musk Thistle: Natural History and Management

Musk Thistle or Nodding Thistle (Carduus nutans) belongs to the sunflower family (Asteraceae). This species is a biennial generally requiring two years to complete its life cycle. These flowers are native to Europe and Asia, but are now a common agricultural pest throughout the United States and much of southern Canada. Musk Thistle was introduced to North America in 1853. Throughout most of its range C. nutans is considered a noxious weed, but is sometimes cultivated in gardens for its showy flowers.


Musk thistle management consists of mechanical, chemical, and biological control methods. Mowing and hoeing tend to be expensive. Herbicide control has been effective and is probably the most common. Several biological control methods have been successfully implemented using insects including: the Thistle Head Weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus), Musk Thistle Rosette Weevil (Trichosirocalus horridus), Musk Thistle Flower Fly (Cheilosia corydon), and the Musk Thistle Leaf Beetle (Phylliodes chalcomera).


References:

Boldt, P. E., and J. A. Jackman. 1993. Establishment of Rhinocyllus conicus Froelich on Carduus macrocephalus in Texas. Southwestern Entomologist 18(3): 173-181.

Cory, V. L. 1940. Six thistles recently introduced into Texas. Madrono 5: 200-201.

Department of Entomology. 2003. Biological control of weeds in Texas. http://bc4weeds.tamu.edu/weeds/rangeland/muskthistle.html.

Jackman, J. A., P. Boldt, J. W. Stewart and T. W. Fuchs. 1992. Biological Control of Musk Thistle in Texas. L-5067. Biological Pest Control. Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Texas A&M University System, College Station, TX.

2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) and Agent Orange

2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) is a broad leaf plant defoliant developed in the 1940s and widely used in agriculture through the early 1980s when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ended its use on food crops in the United States. Agent Orange is a defoliant that is a mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D that was used during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange has subsequently been suspected of causing serious illness including cancer in Vietnam veterans that were exposed to the herbicide during the war.
Both 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-T are synthetic auxins. Auxins occur naturally as plant growth substances (growth hormones) that regulate plant growth behavior. Both of these chemicals are members of the phenoxy family of herbicides. The half-life of 2,4-D is estimated to be 7-10 days and soil microbes are primarily responsible for its degradation. Although microbes also break down these chemicals in aquatic systems tests have shown trace amounts in surface and groundwater across the United States and Canada.

For more details about the manufacture, chemistry, and toxicity of the phenoxy family of herbicides, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-D

Field Trip Week has Finally Arrived- Friday, April 30th

The day is almost here and recent spring rains have coaxed out all manner of life; animals, plants, and fungi to boot.  There are a few items that we still need for our trip: pillow cases without holes for snakes and lizards, small tupperware containers for insects and spiders, and some old aquaria to contain specimens in the lab for observation.


This week student participants will study field collection techniques, safety, field etiquette map reading, and grassland ecology.  Wednesday science students will learn how to collect, identify, and pin insects.


Following our field day Wynona science students will begin their independent research.  Students will write up the results of their studies in a final report due at the end of the 4th quarter.  More instructions to follow.

Tallgrass Prairie Field Day Fast Approaching

Our tallgrass prairie field day Friday, April 30th will be here before we know it. I will publish an agenda on ZooBlog soon. We will host five visiting scientists from several colleges and universities from around the state.


Richard Butler, BS, Herpetology, McLoud High School Science Teacher, St. Gregory's University alumnus
Kyle Winters, BS, Terrestrial Entomology, Norman, Oklahoma, St Gregory's University alumnus.
Dr. John McWilliams, Ph.D., Aquatic Invertebrates, Professor, Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, OK
Mrs. Adrienne Dastgir, BS, MS, Botany, St. Gregory's alumnus.
Mrs. Angela Reeder, BS, Ichthyology, Shawnee, OK, St. Gregory's University alumnus.
Mr. Doyle Crosswhite, BS, MS, Field Director/Ecologist, Wynona High School Science Teacher


Our main rendezvous point on the preserve will be the picnic area/nature trail area on Sand Creek. The arial photo above shows the wooded area adjacent to Sand Creek where most of our activities will take place. Students will be divided up into five or six groups of 12-18 students per group.  Students will spend about 45 minutes in each group.  Among other activities participants will collect and identify fish, terrestrial arthropods, aquatic macroinvertebrates, land plants, reptiles and amphibians.  Specimens will be taken back to the Wynona Science lab for further study and preservation.  Aquatic macroinvertebrates  species diversity data will be collected and analyzed to determine the water quality at the Sand Creek site.  These data will be compared to last year's collections.

The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is the largest protected remnant of tallgrass prairie left on earth. Originally spanning portions of 14 states from Texas to Minnesota, urban sprawl and conversion to cropland have left less than 10% of this magnificent American landscape. Since 1989, the Conservancy has proven successful at restoring this fully-functioning portion of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem with the use of about 2500 free-roaming bison and a "patch-burn" model approach to prescribed burning.

Biodiversity Threats in the area include habitat fragmentation and loss, current grazing and fire practices, invasive plant species such as sericea lespedeza and eastern red cedar, and stream degradation due to land management practices and soil erosion.

What the Conservancy is doing now will offer conservation-minded ranchers an alternative to traditional grazing practices. Conservancy staff have already conducted several "patch-burn" workshops with area cattle ranchers to illustrate the potential rewards of embracing this wildlife-friendly method of land management, while continuing to meet the bottom line for their cattle production operations. In addition to alternative grazing practices, The Nature Conservancy is offering to hold conservation easements for land owners who would like to ensure the preservation of their property.

Our "Patch Burn" approach utilizes prescribed burning on roughly 1/3rd of productive rangeland each year, leaving the remaining portions undisturbed by fire. Early research by Oklahoma State University indicates that the complex and mosaic plant communities produced by this "patchy" approach offers huge rewards for biodiversity. Approximately three dozen prescribed burns are conducted each year totaling 15,000 - 20,000 acres. Since 1991, over 350 prescribed burns have been conducted totaling 210,000 acres. In addition we have assisted neighboring ranches burn 170,000 acres and helped them suppress 50 wildfires.

The  Tallgrass Prairie Ecological Research Station was completed in 2004. This state-of-the-art facility will offer field researchers the opportunity to conduct extended studies and initiate laboratory analysis for rangeland research. The research station will also be utilized as a workshop destination for university students, researchers and conservation professionals from across the United States.

More than three dozen research projects are active on the preserve, and 78 publications in scientific journals have been produced. An exciting "patch-burn" was initiated with Oklahoma State University in 2001 on 7,300 acres. This study is testing the wildlife, plant community and cattle gains in patch-burn versus completely burned cattle pastures. The objective is to achieve similar conservation benefits as those documented in the fire-bison unit while retaining profit margin for cattle ranchers.  Learn more about The Nature Conservancy at:

The Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Website

Contact Doyle Crosswhite, Field Day Director at dcrosswhite@wynona.k12.ok.us with questions and/or suggestions. Parents are encouraged to attend this event.  Please RSVP with Crosswhite by Monday, April 26th.

Sack lunches and drinks will be provided for students and staff.  Transportation will be by bus/van caravan.  Among other things, participants should bring the following items:

sunscreen

hat

sturdy walking shoes (no open toed shoes)

insect spray

field notebooks and pencil

camera

small pack or book bag

change of clothes and dry towel (students will get wet and muddy)


More information to follow soon.

Richard Butler shows off a Timber Rattlesnake to Wynona students at the 2009 Tallgrass Field Day.

Wynona School Field Day at The Nature Conservancy's Tall Grass Prairie Preserve Friday, April 30th

This experience will provide our students with an appreciation of grassland and stream ecosystems and the importance of their conservation. Students will gain an appreciation for how grasslands function by studying their unique fauna and flora in the field. Our students along with faculty and parent sponsors will visit The Nature Conservancy’s Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma. Students will learn how to collect data using the scientific method and establishing sample plots. Students will compare species diversity among disturbed and relatively pristine sites. We will sample both terrestrial plant and aquatic (stream) invertebrate/fish communities.

The project is designed to educate and motivate students and to instill in them an intrinsic appreciation for grassland ecosystems. We hope this field experience will help shape our future leaders to be citizens of the global environment.

We will apply conservation issues to personal experiences in order to build positive student attitudes toward the natural environment. We aim to guide the development of student’s problem solving and critical thinking skills while exploring relationships among: biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and societal issues.

We will utilize field exercises to improve students’ understanding of scientific method and experimental design while creating a synthesis of Conservation Biology and fundamental statistics.

How will this grant affect student learning? Our participants will experience field studies involving an investigative approach to help students to appreciate the spirit and nature of natural science and develop problem solving, analytical, critical thinking, and synthesis skills. This project will help students become accustomed to playing an active role in science by collecting and working with data rather than simply memorizing facts. Students will study inquiry-based activities in botany and aquatic ecology. Students will conduct field experiments to analyze biodiversity of plants and stream animals (macroinvertebrates, amphibians, and fish).

In 2009 we received this grant that allowed our school to the same field experience to forty five 6-12th grade students. This year we will collect data for comparison to our 1st sampling at our established sites. Last season this field trip was the highlight of our science lessons allowing students to apply what they had learned in classroom exercises. Our field trip also facilitated parents and community leaders to get involved. As a direct result of last year’s funding we now offer Zoology as a junior/senior level class at our school. The organisms we collected in the field were preserved for long-term use in our teaching collection. We intend to further expand the collection this year in addition to data that will compare to last season. This year we want to expand the field curriculum to include 4th and 5th grade students as well.

Students will be directed in the use of standardized methods for sampling plants and aquatic animals and basic experimental design. The number of species and their relative abundance will be compared among sites using elementary statistics and basic graphing techniques. We will apply appropriate experimental design and statistical analyses to data collected in the field. Basic statistical procedures will include measures of central tendency, dispersion, and variability. Additionally, tables and graphs will be used to analyze trends in the data we collect.

Several studies over the past two decades have shown that aquatic animals, especially invertebrates, are excellent indicators of water quality. These procedures are commonly used by municipalities and state and federal agencies to assess the biological integrity of streams. The basic underlying assumption is that aquatic organisms and their presence/absence are useful indicators of environmental health. For this reason, students can easily relate these field and laboratory activities to real-world applications such as water quality assessment, drinking water standards, and environmental protection policies.

More information will be forthcoming as we develop the agenda.

Wynona High School Science Dept. Wins 2nd Year's Funding From Oklahoma Dept. of Environmental Quality

This project will provide our students with an appreciation of grassland ecosystems and the importance of their conservation. Students will visit The Nature Conservancy’s Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma. Students will learn how to collect data using the scientific method and establishing sample plots and will compare species diversity among disturbed and relatively pristine sites.

This project is designed to educate and motivate students and to instill in them an intrinsic appreciation for grassland ecosystems. We hope this field experience will help shape our future leaders to be citizens of the global environment.

We will apply conservation issues to personal experiences in order to build positive student attitudes toward the natural environment. We aim to guide the development of student’s problem solving and critical thinking skills while exploring relationships among: biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and societal issues.

In 2009 we received this grant that allowed our school to the same field experience to forty five 6-12th grade students. This year we will collect data for comparison to our 1st sampling at our established sites. Last season this field trip was the highlight of our science lessons allowing students to apply what they had learned in classroom exercises. Our field trip also facilitated parents and community leaders to get involved. As a direct result of last year’s funding we now offer Zoology as a junior/senior level class at our school. The organisms we collected in the field were preserved for long-term use in our teaching collection. We intend to further expand the collection this year in addition to data that will compare to last season. This year we want to expand the field curriculum to include 4th and 5th grade students as well.

Students will be directed in the use of standardized methods for sampling plants and aquatic animals and basic experimental design. The number of species and their relative abundance will be compared among sites using elementary statistics and basic graphing techniques. We will apply appropriate experimental design and statistical analyses to data collected in the field. Basic statistical procedures will include measures of central tendency, dispersion, and variability. Additionally, tables and graphs will be used to analyze trends in the data we collect.


Several studies over the past two decades have shown that aquatic animals, especially invertebrates, are excellent indicators of water quality. These procedures are commonly used by municipalities and state and federal agencies to assess the biological integrity of streams. The basic underlying assumption is that aquatic organisms and their presence/absence are useful indicators of environmental health. For this reason, students can easily relate these field and laboratory activities to real-world applications such as water quality assessment, drinking water standards, and environmental protection policies.  To learn more abouty the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and it's education programs visit their web site at: http://www.deq.state.ok.us/mainlinks/eepage.htm

European Starlings

European Starlings were introduced into New York city's Central Park in 1890 by Eugene Schieffelin, a pharmacist who wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. Now starlings are a pest from coast to coast. More than 4,500 exotic species now occur in North America; doing perhaps billions of dollars of damage to native wildlife, timber, crops, and property. This is not to mention the ecological damage that science cannot undo. An excellent book that chronicles the natural history of exotic species in America is:

Todd, Kim. 2001. Tinkering with Eden: a natural history of exotics in America. WW Norton. 302 p.