Michigan Botanical Society 2024 Spring Foray
2024 Spring Foray
Friday, 31 May to Monday, 3 June, 2024
The Huron Valley Chapter is coordinating the 2024 Spring Foray at Adrian College.
Registration: Like previous forays, registration will be done online through CheddarUp. More information about the foray agenda and
field trips can be found below and in the recent issue of Arisaema. To register, follow this link:
https://mbs-2024-spring-foray-adrian-college-may31-june-2.cheddarup.com/
Field Trips
Saturday, June 1, Field Trips
Kitty Todd Nature Preserve/Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve – full day Sat.
Trip Leader: Todd Crail
Morning: Join Todd Crail from the University of Toledo for a guided walk through Kitty Todd from the Barrens to the Wet-Mesic Prairies, focused on seeing as much botanical variety as possible. Key species will be wild blue lupine, hoary puccoon, goats-rue, prickly-pear cactus and many other barrens goodies, through mesic forest and tallgrass prairie, down to displays of Atlantic blue-eyed grass, lance-leaved violet, and twisted yellow-eyed grass. Bonus birds, box turtles and hognose snakes are likely.
Difficulty: The hiking will be of moderate difficulty. We will cover ~2.5 miles, some on less-developed trails. Hiking shoes/boots recommended as well as tick protection. Parts of the trail may be wet.
Afternoon: Todd Crail will continue as leader for an off-trail guided walk through the Lakeplain Wet Prairie environs of Ohio’s premier sedge meadow. The walk will feature successful management of glossy buckthorn and red maple overgrowth, and will see many sedge species in full flower or seed set. The blue flag iris bobbing above the sea of green graminoid is one of Todd’s favorite views in Lucas County. Other goodies along the way are likely to include wild columbine, limber honeysuckle, pale spiked lobelia, and multiple orchid species. Bonus birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
Difficulty: The afternoon hike will be more difficult as we will walk through a variety of graminoid meadows that will be potentially flooded. Wellington boots and tick protection recommended.
Bio: Todd Crail is an ecologist and naturalist covering broad topics from non-game fish and mussels to landscape management. His focus is fostering undergraduate student engagement through field experiences — on campus and in the local community — to solve local environmental issues.
MacCready Nature Reserve/Iron Creek – full day Sat.
Trip Leaders: Lars Brudvig and Tyler Bassett
Morning: Michigan State University’s 408-acre MacCready Reserve is located in south central Jackson County. Within MacCready we will tour an oak barrens restoration experiment and high quality prairie fen. The restoration trials were initiated in 2010 to compare the efficacy of two restoration approaches for restoring the barrens’ understory plant community from fire-suppressed conditions - prescribed fire with and without mechanical tree thinning, as compared to unrestored controls. The difference between restoration approaches is clear to see, and this field trip will highlight those differences, along with characteristic oak barrens ground layer plant species present in the plots.
Address: 42.1280941, -84.401004
9243 Skiff Lake Rd, Clarklake, MI 49234 (just north of intersection with Jefferson Rd.) About 40 minutes from Adrian College.
Afternoon: The Iron Creek Land Conservancy is a collection of private properties organized under a conservation land ethic in southwestern Washtenaw County. These properties include a mixture of remnant and post-agricultural oak ecosystems in various stages of restoration, and various wetland natural communities along Iron Creek including prairie fen. The Community initiated an oak barrens restoration in 1997 with a CRP planting and began implementing invasive species control in 2006 and manages all natural areas regularly with prescribed fire.
Difficulty: Expect an approximately two-mile hike at each site on good trails, but at times over steep terrain. Boots or study shoes will be fine.
Bios: Lars Brudvig is a plant and restoration ecologist with the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. Tyler Bassett is a botanist and ecologist with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory.
Ives Road Fen Preserve/Black and Bear Creeks – full day Sat.
Trip Leader: Bob Smith
Ives Road Fen: This Nature Conservancy preserve is along the Raisin River south of Tecumseh. Its 700 acres include fens, floodplains, and upland prairies and forest. Two plant species, Scutellaria ovata and Lobelia x speciosa, are not known elsewhere in Michigan. Ives includes a variety of habitats that support over 800 species of plants. Ives is also a good example of successful invasive removal and restoration, and prairie planting in former farm areas, including an area that was formerly part of a Henry Ford tithing project.
Black and Bear Creeks: These creeks are tributaries of the Raisin River and flow into it southwest of Blissfield. The creek floodplains provide a path for southern species to edge their way into Michigan. There are at least 11 listed species, including the endangered Ruellia strepens and Carex crus-corvi. Threatened species include Trillium sessile, Camassia, Lactuca floridana, Mimulus alatus, Vitis vulpina, and Carex conjuncta. There are also five formerly listed species, and others with distributions limited to southeastern Michigan.
Difficulty: The morning hike will be moderately difficult because of deadfalls and descending banks to get to floodplains. Expect the hiking in the fens and forests at Ives Road to be moderately difficult and a little muddy.
Black and Bear Creeks: Bob will lead the group to these areas.
Bio: Bob Smith is a botanical enthusiast who has spent many years photographing and collecting plants in Lenawee County and elsewhere. Very few people have procured more botanical specimens for the University of Michigan Herbarium, or submitted more superb photos for use in michiganflora.net.
Walsh Lake Forest and Nan Weston Preserve - full day Sat.
Trip Leader: Scott Warner
Description: In this full-day field trip we will visit two sites to explore relatively-mature “southern” forests with rich understory components.
Morning: We will visit Walsh Lake Forest within the Waterloo State Recreation Area. This is a 75-acre dry-mesic southern forest adjacent to a series of small bogs. This second-growth forest has a canopy of approximately 130-year-old trees, dominated by Quercus velutina, with Q. alba and Carya glabra also important. Interesting plants include Aureolaria flava, Ceanothus americanus, Celtis tenuifolia, Chimaphila maculata, Comandra umbellata, Dendrolycopodium hickeyi, Goodyera pubescens, Heuchera americana, Lathyrus venosus, Lithospermum canescens, Lysimachia quadriflora, Nyssa sylvatica, Pedicularis canadensis, Quercus prinoides, Streptopus amplexifolius, Taenidia integerrima, and Vicia caroliniana.
Afternoon: We will visit The Nature Conservancy’s Nan Weston Preserve at Sharon Hollow. This site is a complex consisting of southern hardwood swamp and mesic southern forest. Additional habitat heterogeneity is provided by powerline-associated openings and artesian-spring-associated peat domes. This fantastically rich site supports species such as Aplectrum hyemale, Arnoglossum atriplicifolium, Calla palustris, Carex sprengelii, Deparia acrostichoides, Dirca palustris, Dryopteris goldiana, Fraxinus quadrangulata, Homalosorus pycnocarpos, Hybanthus concolor, Juglans cinerea, Micranthes pensylvanica, Panax trifolius, Polymnia canadensis, Triosteum aurantiacum, and Ulmus thomasii. Because of the lack of disturbance in the forest, invasive species are largely absent.
Difficulty: The morning portion of the day will be somewhat challenging due to some hilly terrain and anticipated off-trail excursions. The afternoon hike will make for easy hiking along mostly flat trails and boardwalks.
Bio: Scott Warner is a botanist with a focus on the vascular plants of Michigan. He received his PhD in Plant Biology from Michigan State University. Since 2021, he has been a conservation associate at MNFI and since 2023 instructor of Plant Systematics at MSU.
Riverside Nature Preserve – half day AM Sat.
Trip leader: Bev Walters
Description: Riverside Nature Park, just N of Morenci, has a rich floodplain forest along the banks of Bean Creek. There are a number of woody species here that are rare in Michigan but more common to the south, such as Asimina triloba (pawpaw), Euonymus atropurpurea (wahoo) and Aesculus glabra (Ohio buckeye). In addition, the herbaceous flora has some interesting elements, including Trillium flexipes (drooping trillium) and Viola striata (cream violet), and a few of the less-common grasses and sedges.
Special note: From this site, attendees can choose to continue onto Goll Woods in Ohio for the afternoon, or return to Adrian College.
Difficulty: Easy to moderate. The half-mile hike will mostly be along level unpaved trails.
Directions: 41.728109, -84.218245. From Adrian College, west on M34, turn S on Morey Hwy (M 156); entrance to the park is just S of Oak Grove Cemetery on the right side of the road.
Bio: Bev Walters has experience both as a field botanist and a Museum Collection Manager at the University of Michigan Herbarium. Now retired, she helps maintain and improve the Herbarium’s Michigan Flora Online website (https://michiganflora.net), a popular resource for plant identification. Bev pursued her botanical studies at Michigan State University.
Birding at Oak Openings Preserve Metropark - half day early AM Sat.
Note: 8:00 am departure time
Trip Leader: Don Henise
Description: Oak Openings Preserve Metropark is the premier birding destination within the Toledo metropark system as well as a major birding attraction for all of northwest Ohio. Oak Openings is renowned – probably more so than any other spot in Ohio – for its enticing mix of northern, southern, western and the more expected eastern species. Birding possibilities in June include Lark sparrow, Blue grosbeak, Summer tanager, Alder flycatcher, and many expected eastern species.
Difficulty: The walking will be easy to moderate, 1 to 2 miles, on relatively flat trails, although some trails may be sandy with poor traction in spots.
Directions: Group will carpool from Adrian College - 8:00 departure time.
Bio: Don Henise and his wife Robyn have led or co-led various birding field trips for Jackson Audubon Society as well as giving presentations at society meetings. In addition to birds, they are also greatly interested in dragonfly and butterfly identification, and are fascinated by all of creation.
Bicentennial Park – Half Day AM Sat..
Trip Leader: Paul Schilke
Description: A small remnant of the once vast expanse of mesic forest covering Southern Michigan, Bicentennial Park contains one of the last remaining stands of “old-growth” beech forest in Lenawee County. In addition to the impressive old beech trees we will observe a diversity of other trees and woodland wildflowers typical of southern mesic-forest.
Difficulty: This is an easy hike (less than 1 mile) on mostly level terrain on an unpaved trail.
Biography: Paul Schilke is a botanist with Michigan Natural Features Inventory. He has a PhD in forestry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and works to document and protect rare plants and natural communities in Michigan.
Goll Woods State Nature Preserve – half day PM Sat.
Trip Leader: Mauren Bogdanski
Special Note: This is a fabulous destination but almost an hour distant from Adrian College. If you want to attend this field trip, it is recommended that you sign up for the morning visit to Riverside Nature Preserve, which is 30 minutes from Goll Woods.
Description: Goll Woods is the least disturbed woodland known to remain in extreme northwestern Ohio. This preserve features some of the largest trees remaining in the state. Goll Woods exemplifies the “Black Swamp” forest which once covered a vast area of the flat post-glacial lake plains southwest of Lake Erie. An outstanding feature of this woods is the abundance of giant bur oaks and exceptionally large white oaks, chinquapin oaks and cottonwoods. Many of these magnificent trees are 200-400 years old and measure 4 feet in diameter. Woodlands in early June may not have abundant blooms of flowering plants; however it is a good time to identify woodland sedges/grasses as their seed heads begin to mature. Some particular species to look for include: Brachyelytrum erectum, Bromus pubescens, Carex albursina, C. crus-corvi, C. gracilima, C. intumescens, C. lupulina, C. normalis, C. sparganiodes, C. tuckermanii, C. woodii, and Festuca subverticillata.
Difficulty: This is an easy hike along a designated trail of 1.0-1.5 miles
Bio: Born and raised in Toledo, Maureen Bogdanski is a preserve manager with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. She has many years of experience in managing natural areas in both Ohio and Wisconsin.
Hidden Lakes Gardens: Forest Trek Tour – half day PM Sat.
Trip leaders: Jon Genereaux and Paul Pfeifer
Description: Hidden Lake Gardens is A 755-acre botanical garden and arboretum owned and managed by Michigan State University. This three-hour Forest Trek will commence with discussions about glacial land development, following which we will proceed onto the recently-inaugurated suspended SkyWalk over a large kettle hole and through the tree canopy. We will then begin an off-the-trail tour through the east forest of HLG. Along the way we will observe and discuss forest succession within the site. Lastly we will visit a former homestead on the property to look at how past landscape decisions have impacted today’s forest “landscape.” Throughout the walk we will remark on the collection of deciduous and coniferous trees as well as glacial landforms. As time allows attendees can explore the garden’s collection of woody plants of horticultural merit, as well as its renowned conifer collection.
Difficulty: 2-2.5 miles including some hilly terrain with moderate difficulty during off-the-trail sections.
Bios: Jon Genereaux began working at Hidden Lake Gardens/MSU as part-time groundskeeper in 2006. He took on the additional role of plant propagator in 2008. Since 2022, Jon has served as the full-time manager of Grounds and Plant Collections.
Paul Pfeifer started at Hidden Lake Gardens/MSU in 2014 as managing director. Prior to HLG, his horticulture work included stints at Kent State University, Cleveland Botanical Garden, and Chicago Botanic Garden.
Sunday, June 2, Field Trips
Draper-Houston Meadows Preserve – full day Sun.
Trip Leader: Tony Reznicek
Description: The Draper-Houston preserve is a lovely Washtenaw County Parks System Nature Preserve. It protects floodplain forests along the Saline River with many southern species including four-angled ash, Kentucky coffee trees, a large stand of Pawpaw, and many redbuds. Besides the floodplain, there is a tract of wet-mesic to mesic oak hickory forest with a number of interesting species, including Trillium flexipes, and sizable trees of the very rare native red mulberry. We will also explore a hidden ravine full of wildflowers and sedges, with a temporary stream leading down to the floodplain. We’ll eat lunch at the Milan Nature Park, off Platt Road, and then we’ll have a chance to explore the portion of the preserve on other side of the Saline River, which includes some disturbed uplands, but also sections of river floodplain and levee, with open sedge glades with uncommon species like Carex davisii, C. emoryi, and C. trichocarpa.
Difficulty: Hiking is mostly easy, with generally fairly level trails; but there could be wet spots, so comfortable but water-resistant boots will be ideal. Depending on the season, mosquitos could be out.
Bio: Tony Reznicek is a retired curator of vascular plants at the University of Michigan Herbarium where he maintains, along with Bev Walters, the Michigan Flora website (https://michiganflora.net/). He has researched extensively and published numerous papers on plant systematics (especially the sedges) and natural history of the Great Lakes region. He has a strong interest in rare and disjunct species.
Minong-Petersburg Prairie / Draper-Houston Meadows Preserve – full day Sun.
Trip Leader: Brad Slaughter
Morning: Minong-Petersburg State Game Area supports one of the few somewhat intact areas of typical Oak Openings vegetation north of the Michigan/Ohio border. Here, we will explore remnant and secondary sand prairies, pin oak depressions, and upland oak woodlands. Some of the specialties in this area include Aletris farinosa (colicroot), Angelica venenosa (hairy angelica), Asclepias hirtella (tall green milkweed), Baptisia tinctoria (yellow wild indigo), Strophostyles helvula (wild bean), and Symphyotrichum praealtum (willow aster).
Afternoon: The Draper-Houston preserve is a lovely Washtenaw County Parks System Nature Preserve. It protects floodplain forests along the Saline River with many southern species including four-angled ash, Kentucky coffee trees, a large stand of Pawpaw, and many redbuds. Besides the floodplain, there is a tract of wet-mesic to mesic oak hickory forest with a number of interesting species, including Trillium flexipes, and sizable trees of the very rare native red mulberry.
Difficulty: Hiking is mostly easy, with generally fairly level trails; but there could be wet spots at Draper-Houston. Comfortable but water-resistant boots will be ideal. Mosquitoes are a possibility.
Bio: Brad Slaughter is a Botanist with Orbis Environmental Consulting.
Difficulty: On-trail and off-trail walking through saturated areas, maybe pooling depending on the weather. Terrain can be uneven and there is poison ivy, poison sumac, ground bees, and eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. Bring water, waterproof knee boots, hand lens, bug spray, sunscreen.
Directions: 41.949378, -83.946575 About 20 minutes from Adrian College.
Bio: Dr. Rachel Hackett is a botanist with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory and a Wilderness First Responder. Her specialties include prairie fen plant diversity, wetland plants, biodiversity data management, and aquatic invasive species.
Nan Weston Nature Preserve / Arnold Prairie Fen – full day Sun.
Trip Leaders: Bill Brodovich/Robert Ayotte
Nan Weston Nature Preserve, managed by The Nature Conservancy, is a 248-acre parcel that lies along the River Raisin near Manchester, Michigan. The major forest communities, on heavy textured ground moraine, include mesic southern forest, southern deciduous swamp, and floodplain forest. The preserve, virtually devoid of alien plants, is noted for over 260 species of wildflowers including pale Indian-plantain (Arnoglossum atriplicifolium), false melic grass (Schizachne purpurascens), green violet (Hybanthus concolor), Goldie’s fern (Dryopteris goldiana), blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata), leatherwood (Dirca palustris), puttyroot orchid (Aplectrum hyemale), ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). The preserve offers important stopover cover for migrating birds.
The 89-acre Arnold Prairie Fen is owned by Michael and Diana Arnold who agreed to a conservation easement with Legacy Land Conservancy in 2022. The landforms include ice-marginal/ice-contact terrain. Cold alkaline groundwater springs to the surface, creating raised marl beds and various limey potholes. We’ll look for white lady-slipper (Cypripedium candidum), showy lady-slipper (C. reginae), wild rice (Zizania aquatica), and various graminoid calciphiles. The fen supports populations of massasauga rattlesnake and Blanding’s turtle, and its pristine stream is a noted refugium for many species of mussel, including the state-threatened slippershell.
Difficulty: Easy walking on rolling terrain and some boardwalks.
Bios: Bill Brodovich is a botanist and long-time member of the Michigan Botanical Society. He works in the environmental field, mapping wetlands, performing tree surveys, monitoring mitigation wetlands, writing reports, and occasionally doing botanical surveys.
Robert Ayotte is the Vice President of the Michigan Botanical Society, the Vice President of the Huron Valley Chapter of the MBS, and a seasonal botanist/field technician with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory.
Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve/Kitty Todd Nature Preserve Trip – full day Sun.
Leaders: Maureen Bogdanski/Ben Bomlitz
Description: In this full-day field trip we will visit two prime reserves in northern Ohio and hear about management practices utilized to protect biodiversity. We’ll also get a chance to see great plants.
Morning: Join Preserve Manager Maureen Bogdanski from Ohio Department of Natural Areas and Preserves and Ben Bomlitz for a guided Boardwalk trip across the Lakeplain Wet Prairie environs of Ohio’s premier sedge meadow. The walk will feature successful management of glossy buckthorn and red maple overgrowth, and will see many sedge species in full flower or seed set. The blue flag iris bobbing above the sea of green graminoids is a favorite view in Lucas County. Many goodies along the way should include excellent views of wild columbine, limber honeysuckle, pale spiked lobelia, and multiple orchid species.
Afternoon: Kitty Todd is in the heart of the Oak Openings region and features rare habitats such as sand dune/barrens, tallgrass prairie, oak savannah, and wet prairie. This will be a guided walk on the Oak Savannah Trail to showcase the effects of varying restoration practices on native biodiversity. Participants will learn about different invasive plant management techniques while strolling through some of the most biodiverse habitats in Northwest Ohio.
Kitty Todd hosts many sensitive, threatened, and endangered species - many of which can be found on the trail. Species to watch for include prickly pear cactus, dotted horsemint, sweetfern, racemed milkwort, orange-fringed orchid, tall green milkweed, frosted elfin (butterfly) blazingstar borer moth, and red-headed woodpecker.
Difficulty: Mostly easy hiking. On a boardwalk for graminoid meadows in the morning. Sandy terrain and a few dunes in the afternoon. Hiking shoes/boots recommended.
Bios: Born and raised in Toledo, Maureen Bogdanski is a preserve manager with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. She has many years of experience in managing natural areas in both Ohio and Wisconsin.
Ben Bomlitz is The Nature Conservancy’s Northwest Ohio Restoration and Preserve Coordinator. Ben graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in Environmental Science. He has been with TNC his entire career. He considers himself a generalist in flora/fauna knowledge, but his primary affinity is towards botany.
River Raisin Fen/Sharon Mills County Park Historical Tour – half day AM Sun.
Trip Leaders: Allison Krueger, Cary Church
Description: Join Allison Krueger and Cary Church for a visit to the riverine fen and historic mill at Sharon Mills County Park. The fen lies along the Raisin River in a location dotted with calcium rich groundwater seeps. Over 175 species have been identified in this fen with rare wildflowers and sedges documented. After the fen we will be given a tour of the historic Sharon Mills. The Mill was constructed in the 1850s and has a unique history of use by Henry Ford as a Cottage Industry site. A well-manicured garden with a donated collection of cultivated irises surrounds the mill.
Difficulty: The fen is off trail. Sturdy boots and long pants strongly suggested.
Bios: Allison Krueger is the Stewardship Planner for Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission. Her work in the field of ecological restoration spans more than 15 years.
Cary Church has been a historian in the Chelsea area for the past 18 years specializing in historic houses. He has worked seasonally as a historic interpreter with Washtenaw Parks and Recreation for the past 6 years. He resides in the Chelsea area.
Goose Creek Grasslands Nature Sanctuary – half day AM Sun.
Trip Leader: Chuck Pearson
Description: Goose Creek Grasslands Nature Sanctuary extends three-quarters of a mile from southeast to northwest along Goose Creek and comprises many diverse habitats including wet prairie, marsh, fen and grassland. Among the more than two hundred plant species identified here are six listed plant species, including impressive displays of the state-threatened small white lady’s slipper orchid. Rare grassland birds such as Henslow’s sparrow and marsh wren are also present. In addition spotted turtles have been documented along with numerous listed mussel species in Goose Creek. On our walk we will see the results of the April prescribed burn and talk about restoration, how fire fits into it, and see both plants and birds.
Difficulty: Easy-to-moderate. Approximately two mile hike on flat floodplain terrain with sedge hummocks and cut stumps.
Bio: Since retiring from Ford in 2003, Chuck Pearson has spent many hours removing invasives from natural areas in Lenawee County. His current focus is on Goose Creek Grasslands. He reports he learned his flowers from Michigan Botanical Society outings, Newcomb’s, and Bob Smith.
Arnold Fen – half day PM Sun.
Trip Leader: Bob Smith
Description: The 89-acre Arnold Prairie Fen (G3/S3) is owned by Michael and Diana Arnold who agreed to a conservation easement with Legacy Land Conservancy in 2022. The landforms include ice-marginal/ice-contact terrain. Cold alkaline groundwater springs to the surface, creating raised marl beds and various limey potholes. We’ll look for white lady-slipper (Cypripedium candidum), showy lady-slipper (C. reginae), wild rice (Zizania aquatica), and various graminoid calciphiles. The fen supports populations of massasauga rattlesnake and Blanding’s turtle, and its pristine stream is a noted refugium for many species of mussel, including the state-threatened slippershell.
Difficulty: Moderate. Fens are wet and have hummocks.
Biography: Bob Smith is a botanical enthusiast who has spent many years photographing and collecting plants in Lenawee County and elsewhere. Very few people have procured more botanical specimens for the University of Michigan Herbarium, or submitted more superb photos for use in michiganflora.net.
Ives Road Fen Preserve – half day PM Sat.
Trip Leader: Rachel Hackett
Description: Journey to The Nature Conservancy’s Ives Road Fen Preserve in Tecumseh, Michigan. The preserve was first created in 1987 and is an example of wetland restoration since the heavy invasive removal, burning, restoration of surrounding landscape and other management efforts by the TNC and a dedicated group of volunteer stewards. The preserve is home to several natural communities including a prairie fen with hundreds of plant species. Prairie fens are highly diverse natural communities with wetland and prairie influences and up to four different kinds of vegetative zones. Documented rare plant species include Arnoglossum plantagineum (prairie Indian-plantain), Carex trichocarpa (hairy fruited sedge), and Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed). Ives Road Fen Preserve is also home to eastern massasauga rattlesnakes including the rare black color morph. Plant species list for prairie fen portion in 2012: https://midwestherbaria.org/portal/checklists/checklist.php?clid=4385&pid=113.
Evening Speakers
Friday:
Plants, People, and Perseverance: Incorporating Native Plantings in Urban Environments - Greening Toledo Through Service – Todd Crail
Greening Toledo Through Service (GUTS) is a student-led project that works to increase native plantings on the Main Campus of the University of Toledo. Student employees convert turf to prairie, implement formal garden projects, and support these efforts through greenhouse cultivation of plant material. Much of the work is facilitated through service-learning opportunities where students experience real-life applications of what they have covered in class. In 2022-2023, GUTS facilitated 1000 student volunteer hours (600 for credit, 400 completely voluntary) to grow and plant ~12,000 native plant plugs. We will discuss what we’ve learned along the way about plants, people, and perseverance.
Todd Crail, PhD, is a University Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Toledo. He is an ecologist and naturalist covering broad topics from non-game fish and mussels to landscape management. His focus is fostering undergraduate student engagement through field experiences both on campus and in the local community to solve local environmental issues. He works to employ inquiry and project-based learning through informal classroom environments to maximize the student’s experience.
Saturday:
The Challenges and Rewards of Tracking the Status of Michigan’s Rarest Species – Tyler Bassett
Rare species are a bellwether of ecosystem decline. The status of rare species populations is one indicator of overall ecosystem health – they fare better in functioning ecosystems. In turn, up-to-date high-quality data is the foundation for understanding the conservation status of rare species. Michigan Natural Features Inventory manages the Michigan Natural Heritage Database that currently tracks the status of more than 341 rare animal species, 448 rare plant species, and high-quality examples of 77 unique Michigan ecosystem types, AKA “the list”. This data is used by a wide range of stakeholders, from state and federal agencies to utilities to private land trusts, to assist in conservation planning. Focusing on vascular plants, I will track the evolution of “the list” from its initial development in the late 1970s to the most recent revision in 2023. I will weave in a series of case studies that illustrate how rare species data is gathered and managed, how accuracy and quality is ensured, and how impactful high-quality data is for guiding conservation of rare species and the ecosystems that support them.
Tyler is a botanist and plant ecologist with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State University Extension. He studies the ecology, classification, and management of ecosystems, with a focus on the rare plant species they support. In particular, he has a passion for understanding and restoring the fragmented and fire-suppressed prairie-savanna landscapes of the upper Midwest. He has worked in private, public, non-profit and academic spheres for over 20 years to bring the science and practice of conservation and restoration together to improve outcomes for biodiversity. He earned a B.S. in Biology from Western Michigan University in 2000 and PhD from Michigan State University in 2017.
Sunday:
Oak Regeneration Assessment and Planning – Mike Kost
Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum is in the process of assessing oak and hickory regeneration in several oak-hickory forests in southeast Michigan. Preliminary data indicate that in some locations, large understory oaks and hickories are common, but all forests assessed generally lack smaller understory and sapling oaks and hickories. In August of 2023, the forests at one of our study sites, Nichols Arboretum, experienced intense straight-line winds that created a series of canopy gaps of varying size. These newly created gaps provide an opportunity to actively engage in gap management and planting to direct gap colonization towards oaks and hickories. Oaks are considered a keystone species throughout their ranges, supporting a large diversity of phytophagous insects, and in turn, a broad diversity of wildlife who feed on these insects, as well as many animals that rely on the oak mast.
Mike Kost serves as Associate Curator at University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum and as a Lecturer in the School for Environment and Sustainability, where he teaches a course on ecology and botany. As a curator he focuses on natural areas stewardship planning, rare plant conservation, and making data on living collections accessible for teaching, learning, and research. Before joining U-M, he served as the Lead Ecologist and a Senior Conservation Scientist with Michigan Natural Features Inventory at Michigan State University, where he focused on documenting and describing natural communities and rare species and identifying key sites for biodiversity conservation and management. In this role, he co-authored over 80 publications, including three books on the natural communities of Michigan.