Category: Research

15 Jul 2019
Research Jennifer Mansfield 0 comment

One little seedling, two little seedlings….

One little seedling, two little seedlings….

The native warm season grasses were finally planted in July! Two weeks post planting, we were in the field counting the native warm season grasses.  At this point they were about 1-3 inches tall and could be distinguished from weeds by their long thin blades. We also counted the cover crops and weeds growing in the plots. The cover crops were brown top millet and a mix (Ray’s crazy) of plants including sorghum sudangrass, sunflowers, legumes, and radishes.  These crops provide cover for the grasses and grazing material for the cattle, but only made it more challenging to find the native grasses growing underneath.

Our second count occurred three weeks after the germination count.  The weather was hot and humid. Luckily the native grasses had doubled in size and had more features to aid with identification. The big bluestem started to become fuzzy, the little bluestem was beginning to fan out, and the Indian grass had a round stem with a reddish – purple color (see photos below). The cover crops however, were much taller so we still had to sift through the cover to find our grasses.

–Chad G.

08 Jul 2019
Research Jennifer Mansfield 0 comment

Moving through an Invasive Jungle

Moving through an Invasive Jungle

Honeysuckle removal (see The “honeysuckle woods” ) is slated to begin this summer.  In order to prepare, Chad G. and I marked perimeters of the 3 treatment areas where removal will occur.  This involved traipsing through honeysuckle, brambles and grapevines and using loppers to cut our way through.  The end result are clearly defined areas for the workers to see.

–Jennifer

01 Jun 2019
Research Jennifer Mansfield 0 comment

“Just look at the bark!”

“Just look at the bark!”

One of my first jobs has been to identify trees on transects that have yet to be completed and confirm the trees on old transects. During this time I have also been teaching Megan and Jennifer some of the stand out features and my tricks to help me identify what tree is in front of us.  They grew weary of me always saying, “just look at the bark”.

When working in the Oak Hickory forest, I was blown away by the lack of honeysuckle. Unfortunately, the forest floor was still covered with dying lesser celandine, and the new carpet of Japanese stiltgrass was starting to grow. Both of these species are invasive in our area. As we identified our trees on the new transects, we found that majority of the trees are sugar maples. A few trees on the older transects were identified down to the correct genus, but we took it further and found the species as well.

We then started working in the Beech Maple forest, and again there was very little honeysuckle in this forest. As you looked around you could see the large beech trees scattered throughout the forest. Their trunks resemble large elephant legs due to their smooth grey appearance. We also found a very large sassafras tree near the edge of the forest by a trail used by team nature. The vast majority of the trees in Beech Maple were sugar maples just like the Oak Hickory forest. One can tell sugar maples from red maples based on the leaves. Sugar maple leaves are not serrated in the sinuses or on the lobes like red maple leaves. They also tend to have two lobes at the base of the leaf near the petiole that are larger and broader than a red maple leaf.

One trick I taught Megan and Jennifer was that if you fold over the top lobe of a sugar maple, it makes a square like a sugar cube. This is not possible with the red maple due to the serrations, or teeth, in the sinuses of the leaf. This forest could be potentially tapped for maple syrup production and education purposes in the future.

–Chad G.

Folding down the top lobe of a sugar maple leaf creates a "sugar cube".
The sugar maple leaf is on the left and the red maple leaf is on the right.
28 May 2019
Research Jennifer Mansfield 0 comment

What is Bulk Density?

What is Bulk Density?

Ask people what a plant needs to grow and you will probably get answers such as, “sun, water and soil”.  The soil provides important nutrients (and fungal associations) to the plant, but also needs to have right physical properties to allow a root to grow and penetrate. The physical growth of the root is quite dependent of the soil in which it is trying to grow.

One important measurement in determining the ability for a root to penetrate the soil is bulk density.  Bulk density is the weight of dry soil per volume (grams/cm3).  This value reflects soil texture and compaction.  In addition to affecting the ability of a root to grow, bulk density will affect infiltration, water capacity, porosity, nutrient availability and soil microorganism activity.

Bulk density can be measured by collecting a known volume of soil and then measuring the dry weight of the soil.  At Greenacres, we use one of two methods, depending on our location.  In the pastures, easily accessible by the soil probe, we can collect a sample in a plastic sleeve.  The tube is then cut into known lengths to determine volume and the soil sample dried.  In the woods, we collect the sample by hand by driving a cylinder (known volume) into the ground and collecting the sample.

Table 1 compares some bulk densities across Greenacres properties. In general, bulk densities below 1.6 grams/cm3 are good for root growth.  The soil in Lewis Township is more compact and has a higher bulk density compared to the pastures at Indian Hill.  The management of these soils contributed to this difference.

Table 1.  Bulk densities were measured across 3 Greenacres sites: Beech Maple Woods, Front Nippert Pasture and Lewis Township field.

Location Bulk Density (grams/cm3)
Beech Maple Woods (transect 1) (0-10 cm) 1.05
Front Nippert (pasture) (0-10 cm) 1.1
Lewis Township (historically soybean field) (0-10 cm) 1.61

 

–Jennifer

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