4/13/2010 Susan emailed the link to yesterday’s article in the Coloradoan about CSU’s research on beetle-killed forest regeneration rates.
All posts by GVMEcology Admin
When a flower is not a flower
4/4/2010 Email from Jim E.: “I spotted the bright yellow fungus on False Arabis (Boechera fendleri), a mustard, as I returned from my meadow walk. As Weber and Wittmann describe, “In early spring, the new vegetative shoots are affected by a rust fungus, Puccinia monoica, which produces an aecial stage of yellow-orange pustules that cover the upper leaves. Every spring someone brings this in to ask what kind of wildflower it might be.” Here’s a photo from online….”
Spring Comes Late to GVM
4/4/2010 Email from Jim E: “Spring has still not sprung after two weeks …but Western Spring Beauty (Claytonia rosea) has on the slopes of my place (at 7,500′). And here it’s Easter, yet our early bloomer of Easter season, the Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla ludoviciana) has yet to appear!”
Gate 3 Slash Pile Burned Today
3/28/2010 As I drove by the Gate 3 slash pile this morning at 10am, it was really smoking with only a few flames visible. The Glacier View fire trucks were just leaving and I waved to Mary Hench who was driving one of them. Snow cover and calm wind were ideal conditions for burning last season’s forest “thinnings.”
First Spring Beauty seen March 22
Jim emailed on 3/22/2010: “A single blossom of Western Spring Beauty (Claytonia rosea) I spotted on an open, south-facing slope by my house this afternoon. Last week I saw just the leaves of this very early bloomer, yet it’s likely it may have burst into flower — yes, two days ago on the vernal equinox. Spring. The second herbaceous species that I’ve seen in flower.” Jim added this description from Weber and Wittman: “An extremely early bloomer in pine forests, outer foothills of the Front Range.”
Glacier View Meadows Ecology 