Invasive Aliens and Alien UFO

A splendid late summer view of my preserve's meadows

A former member of my land stewardship staff, Mike, moved on five years ago to become the land manager at a preserve owned by another land conservancy in our area.  I consider Mike a colleague, and I contacted him when Temple University (where I am an adjunct faculty member) needed an individual to teach a class on invasive organisms.  It was a match made in heaven (both for Mike and Temple), and Mike is now teaching the class for a second year.

Mike (second from right) holding forth on restoration strategies

On Thursday, September 17, Mike brought his students to my preserve to examine invasive plants (no shortage of them here, unfortunately) and our organization's restoration projects.  I spent the morning outside (a rarity for me) accompanying the class as we walked about three miles through the preserve.

Handling (carefully!) an American chestnut burr

One of our stops was a reforestation area planted in 1994.  We incorporated pure American chestnut trees into the reforestation project, and now the trees are 30 feet tall and producing fruits (more appropriately called burrs).  The trees are all infected with the non-native chestnut blight fungus, but they are pumping out burrs like crazy nonetheless.  The burrs are really prickly and painful to hold; I don't know how squirrels manage to get them open.

Preparing for liftoff

After the walk, Mike brought out his drone to show the students how these devices can be useful for examining the landscape from the air.  He flew the drone about one mile away and returned it to the launch site, a tour that took 9 minutes.  The drone has the capacity to fly for about 18 minutes on one battery charge.

UFO spotted over the preserve

Mike remotely piloted the drone to fly over the meadows and woodlands of the preserve, and then to circle the tower on the right (one mile distant) in the image above.  All the while, the drone was sending back remarkably clear video that Mike recorded on his iPad.  He promised to share the video with me; if he does so, I will post it later.

Day of Service to the Forest

 

For the second year in a row, my organization sponsored a Day of Service on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.  Like they did last year, the 15 volunteers who came out to work readied an area for reforestation in the spring by gathering large woody debris into a central location.

Woody debris is important in the forest ecosystem, but our degraded woodlands are under siege by invasive plants, and the branches, limbs and logs on the forest floor prevent the land stewardship staff from gaining access to new planting sites.  New plantings need to be kept clear of non-native plants - especially vines.

The former owner of this land planted non-native pachysandra; it's visible in the background as a green "blanket"

So, we've weighed our management options and have made the decision to remove the maintenance obstacles.

Besides, there's always more wood falling from the canopy as the mature trees shed limbs and topple over during storms.  The forest floor won't remain "clear" for long.