Prairie Corridor Project

The final phase of a project intended to create an open corridor between two prairie areas has now been completed.  What was once a vicious tangle of invasive Autumn Olive and Multiflora Rose, now looks almost park-like.  A finish mower and a couple of picnic tables would make this a wonderful place to relax, but I have a different goal in mind.  My hopes are that this area will convert to prairie vegetation and act as a pathway to allow organisms to move freely between an existing prairie area to the upper right and a second to the upper left.  The only task left is to get rid of the few large trees.

I’ve chosen to kill the trees in place by girdling and applying herbicide.  Girdling is the act of removing a strip of living bark around the base of a tree.  This essentially stops the transfer of energy from the leaves to the roots.  Girdling alone will typically kill the top of the tree, but a forest of sprouts will emerge below the point of the cut and the tree will grow on.  To ensure the death of the entire tree, I have applied a 41% solution of glyphosate to the exposed inner bark at the lower part of the wound.  There should be no regrowth here.

The Allegheny Mound Ants that had been foraging up the tree were slightly befuddled by the loss of their path to the ground.  On some trees it took 15 minutes or more before they finally crossed the gap and went on their way.  These ants can be found on every tree in the more open areas of Blue Jay Barrens, but they do not go into the closed canopy woods.

Girdled trees included some growing in the Winged Sumac thicket.  Eventually, shade from the trees would have caused the death of the sumacs.

The dead trees should be a wonderful place for beetle larvae and woodpeckers.  Several of the trees are large enough to accommodate nesting woodpeckers.  Red-headed Woodpecker numbers have been increasing in the area over the past few years and I’m hoping that dead trees in a rather open setting might entice a pair to nest here.

Flowering Dogwood, Dwarf Sumac and a few oaks were left alive.  There are not enough of them to impede the growth of prairie vegetation.  Presence of these three species is consistent with the type of prairie typically found in this area and having them here is in keeping with the management goals of the adjoining fields.

The leafless dead trees will not block enough sunlight to slow expansion of prairie into the area.  In a few years, small limbs will begin to fall from the dead trees.  Larger limbs will follow and eventually, the trunks will come down.  Everything should be on the ground within ten years.  What happens to the fallen material will depend on how and where it falls.  Some will be left on the ground to decompose and some will be moved to facilitate future maintenance of the area.

This area to the west, just outside the trees, will be the primary source of seed for colonizing prairie plants.  Our prevailing wind is from the west and it’s that wind that carries seeds into new territories.  By the time the last tree falls, this area should be healthy prairie.

The Almost Final Last of the Season Cedar Maintenance

This aerial map shows the roughly three acre field in which I am currently completing cedar maintenance.  Red outlines indicate the areas of the field that have so far been completed.  A small area to the right is yet to be done.  The portions labeled B-2 and C were completed back in early February.  Work was then halted when a series of storms buried the field in snow.  Snow exited the field a couple of days ago, but it wasn’t until yesterday that the soil dried out enough for me to resume work.  Section D was completed yesterday afternoon and E is what I could get done this morning before heavy rain moved in.  I would not normally be doing this type of work in March, but I just couldn’t leave the field partially completed.  If the rain ends tomorrow as predicted, it will probably be the middle of next week before the soil will be dry enough for me to finish the last bit of this field.

The aerial view makes it appear that this field is heavily occupied by large Eastern Red Cedars.  The view from ground level shows that the cedars are spaced widely enough apart to allow plenty of sunlight to reach the ground.  Where soil conditions allow, a thick grass cover is present.

The slope steepens rapidly at the south end of the field.  The last 15 feet are an almost vertical plunge into the creek.  The last of the snow is still holding on along the top of the creek bank.

Field blends with woods at the steep north end of the field.  One October, about 20 years ago, I mowed a path through the tall grass.  The deer, which always seem to take the easiest option while walking, immediately began following the mowed path.  They still follow the same path and are responsible for it becoming a muddy trail.  As deer numbers increased through the years, they developed paths in other directions through the field and now this is just one in an expanding network of deer highways.

This is considered to be a south facing field.  Unlike the previous field I discussed, this one is dissected by a network of surface depressions that drain water in many different directions.  While the field is still generally south facing, there is a wide variation in slope steepness and direction.  This gives the field an interesting collection of microclimates within its boundary.

Saturated soil is still releasing water into the center of the drains.  The presence of water on the surface is short lived, but a gradual movement of subsurface water along this same route may persist for a couple more months.

Small cedars thrive in these areas of increased water availability.  This eroded area was practically bare when I bought this property.  Prairie grasses are slowly stabilizing the soil.

Between each drain is a ridge.  There is a drastic difference in the amount of water available to plants on the ridges as opposed to the drains.

This section of the field suffered soil slips that resulted in a stair step arrangement of bare patches on the slope.  The slipping stopped long ago, but the poor quality of soil exposed in each step is making it difficult for vegetation to become established.

Lichens are the pioneer species in these bare areas.  In time, grasses take root in the soil stabilized by the lichens.

Lichens become established on any stable surface.  Here they have encrusted an old cedar stump left from my initial clearing of the field.

The deep snow mashed down the fine grasses, making it more difficult to find the small cedars.  Even in the best of conditions I miss a few, but there were probably many more like this that escaped my search this time.

I found several patches of the uncommon Purple Triple-awned Grass, Aristida purpurascens, scattered about the field.  This grass was represented by only a few small clumps at the time this field was originally cleared.

The grass gets its name from the three long filaments, known as awns, projecting from the end of the seed.

I found collections of Blue Jay feathers beneath three different cedars, evidently the work of a Blue Jay predator.  I couldn’t tell if the feather piles represented three different birds, of if the predator moved the bird a couple of times while dining.  This batch included a section of leg bone.  I’m guessing this was the work of a Cooper’s Hawk.  The Cooper’s Hawks around here seem partial to Blue Jays and Mourning Doves.  It’s not unusual to find piles of feathers from these two species.  Even with the hawk whittling down their numbers, the Blue Jays seem just as abundant as ever.

Cedar Maintenance Delayed

Seven inches of snow has temporarily halted Cedar Maintenance activities at Blue Jay Barrens.  I, along with a large selection of birds, am busying myself with activities near the house.

Two days before the storm, I was confident of finishing my planned maintenance work right on schedule.  The weather forecast on this day was calling for scattered snow showers as the next storm passed well to our south, so I didn’t expect any snow delays.  By the next day, it was obvious that the storm was tracking farther north than anticipated and we were in its path.  If the snow cover persists into March, as it is expected to do, the rest of my cedar maintenance will most likely be postponed until next year.  Fortunately, I completed work on this two acre field before everything was buried. 

This field is primarily a steep, rocky, south facing slope that presents the most torturous growing conditions of any barren on the property.  Misshapen forms and odd growth habits characterize the trees trying to survive in this environment.  Many individuals could not survive and are now represented by nothing more than weathered skeletons.

I’ve done quite a bit of clearing in this field, but there are still a considerable number of cedars left standing. 

Despite some patches of thickly growing cedars, enough sunlight filters through the thin branches to maintain a grass cover beneath the trees. 

Even in areas of maximum sunlight and gentler slopes, the grass remains short and sparse.  There is maximum opportunity here for some of the more drought tolerant wildflowers to flourish.

Growing conditions change drastically as you ascend the hill.  At the lowest level, to the left in the photo, is a gently sloping area where the eroded soil from the hillside forms a moderately deep foundation for tree roots.  Tall, thick trunked cedars crowd that area and block all sunlight.  A rapid change ensues as the slope increases.

At mid-slope, the incidence of dead trees increases and growth rates decrease considerably.  These cedars began growing decades before the lower slopes were retired from growing crops such as corn and sorghum.  That makes these trees at least twice as old as the much larger trees growing in the deeper soil.

At the upper end of the field, the slope continues on into the woods.  The land here was so steep and rocky that it could not be used for crop production.

The upper slopes of the field have some of the harshest growing conditions.  The soil is a shallow layer over limestone bedrock.  Evidence of this bedrock is present in the form of sand, gravel and rock fragments scattered on the surface.  This is the domain of the Leavenworthias and Drabas, along with a few other hardy barrens species.

Very few cedars managed to survive long enough in these gravelly conditions to attain any great size.  Those that did, have created shade islands in which a scattering of trees and shrubs have managed to survive.  Many of those don’t survive long and leave the cedars with a collection of dead trunks beneath their branches.

If it weren’t for a few seasonal seeps that provide water to isolated spots on the slope, there would be no deciduous trees here.  In these damp spots, Sycamores and Tuliptrees take root and prosper for a few years.  Eventually, the tree’s root system is collecting every drop of available moisture.  At that point the tree is vulnerable to any decrease in the water supply and perishes during a year of drought.  Dead stumps are monuments to their endeavors.

This three foot high Flowering Dogwood has persisted for over 30 years.  The top branches continually die and the tree regrows from points lower on the trunk.

The base of the trunk has the appearance of a mature dogwood.  This natural bonsai must have found the perfect source of water to support a little tree.  I remember leaving this little tree when I did my initial clearing of this field about 20 years ago.  At the time, it didn’t seem like a threat and I’ve always been cautious about removing something until I’m sure that’s the best thing to do.  I’m glad this guy was spared.

Harsh conditions also make bonsais out of the small cedars.  The branches of these little trees are constantly dying and being replaced by younger shoots emerging near the base.  The result is an old tree that only reaches a few inches in height.

Small cedars were sparsely scattered across the field.  They were most concentrated in the area of the old slip on the lower slope adjacent to a small tributary to the main creek.

The line of wet weather seeps that encouraged the soil slip, keep this area wet longer into the summer and provide a better growing environment for the young cedars.  Each clump of grass harbors its own tiny forest of cedar seedlings.

Overall, the field yielded less than a full bushel of cedar cuttings.  It has been over ten years since maintenance was done on this field.  Apparently, cedar colonization here is a slow process, so a repeat of this maintenance procedure shouldn’t be necessary for at least another decade.  Fortunately, I have plenty of other work to keep me busy in the interim.

Middle Field Deciduous

A corner of the Middle Field has managed to accumulate a serious collection of large deciduous trees.  I must admit that, until recent years, I paid little attention to this small, quarter acre plot.  Japanese Honeysuckle, Autumn Olive and Multiflora Rose fought for dominance here.  Ground that wasn’t completely shaded, grew mostly Tall Fescue.  This was not an attractive spot and was not a priority for my early management efforts.  Now, a good stand of prairie vegetation borders this area to the west and I am doing what I can to encourage those plants to migrate in here.

To the south, another stand of prairie flourishes.  The key to getting the tall grasses to move into this corner is to increase the amount of sunlight reaching the ground.  The Autumn Olive and Multiflora Rose are gone.  The only major shade producers now are Tuliptree, Wild Black Cherry and Black Walnut. 

My plan is to cut the smaller trees off at ground level this spring and spray the stumps with glyphosate.  For now I’ve cut the trees about four feet above the ground so I could dismantle the tops and transport them to the brush pile without disturbing any growing vegetation.  I’m also doing that now, because I probably won’t have time for that work once spring arrives.

The brush pile has already reached considerable size and I would like to minimize the amount of material added to it.  For this reason, larger trees will be girdled at the base and the wound treated with glyphosate.  I’ve tried girdling as a means of killing trees and have been dissatisfied with the results because the affected trees either take forever to die, sprout furiously from the stump or heal the girdling wound, even when it seems I’ve cut the tree almost half way through.  Herbicide should eliminate any chance of the tree surviving my attack.  The dead trees will be a boon to the local woodpecker population.  As the brush pile rots down, it should be able to accommodate any annual fall of large chunks of dead wood shed by the trees.

I’ll be eliminating the last aerial tangle of Japanese Honeysuckle later this winter.  Inside that twisted mess are a couple of shrubs worth saving, so removing the honeysuckle vines is not a simple matter of running through with my mower.  That’s also part of the old fence line, so there’s the chance of encountering old fence wire, broken off steel posts and odd pieces of discarded metal.  The area is still covered with Japanese Honeysuckle sprawling at ground level.  At least after this is bunch is gone, it will all be down where I can more easily work on its elimination.

A couple of Tuliptrees have shot up inside the Sumac thicket.  Killing the trees will allow more beneficial sunlight into the sumacs.

The sumac is still holding on to its fruit.  Birds generally seek out this food source during times of deep snow cover.  Even though we’ve had an unusually large number of storms this year, less than seven inches of snow has fallen this winter.  Only two storms have produced more than an inch of snow and that melted within a few days of falling.

Winged Sumac generates new top growth from spreading rhizomes, so a single plant can have many upward growing trunks.  These seem to be short lived and there is always some dead growth that remains upright for a few years before falling over.  Woodpeckers find a wealth of insects living in the dead wood.

This is part of what they are looking for.  Bee larvae tucked away until warm weather triggers them to continue their transformation and emerge as adults.

I’m not sure what species these might be.  I think I’m safe in saying that they are either Leafcutter or Mason bees, since these are the two primary groups that utilize hollow stems and narrow cavities in which to place their nest cells.  The partitions seem to be composed of plant material and pith crumbs from inside the sumac stem.

The partitions of this older nest were constructed of mud.  Each partition has a hole used as an exit by the newly hatched adults.  It’s finding stuff like this that really distracts me from my work.  Of course, if I wasn’t fascinated by this sort of thing, I probably wouldn’t be doing the work at all.