Tire Erosion Control

It’s not unusual for rural properties to contain an area or two that were used as dump sites for trash and other discarded items. Blue Jay Barrens has a few dumps, but of course there hasn’t been anything added to them since I bought the property. I believe that somewhere in their minds these people knew that dumping trash was not the right thing to do. To ease their guilt, they all subscribed to the popular rural myth that dumping junk onto an actively eroding area would stop the erosion and heal the earth. I’ve never had any of these people give me a good explanation of how a pile of trash can promote healing.

When I began managing Blue Jay Barrens, this was a site of active erosion. Water flowing from the hilltop to the right dropped over a low embankment and scoured away the soil as it fell. A double row of tires and other miscellaneous junk concentrated the water flow as it moved downhill and caused tiny gullies to form between the tires. Long deltas of mud formed where the water emerged from the junk. When I began clearing the surrounding prairies eleven years ago, I covered the whole junk pile with small cedars. I didn’t have time to remove all of the junk, so I thought I would just do what I could to stop the erosion and stabilize the area.

The erosion has been stopped and the cedars have decomposed to the point where the tires are once again visible. It’s obvious that the tires were placed in a particular arrangement and not just thrown from a wagon or truck. The tires were set in neat rows and in areas where the eroded area were deepest, the tires were stacked. I suppose the tires were originally placed up against the edge of the embankment, but then the embankment eroded further and left the tires behind.

I have to commend the creators of this tire wall for getting every mile they could out of these tires. Had they been more safety conscious, I would probably have twice as many discarded tires, all having a little bit of tread left.

I packed the gap between tires and embankment with small cedars and then piled cedars about four feet deep over the tires. As the cedar decomposed, leaves accumulated in the resulting void and provided a filter for the water. Now instead of cascading like a waterfall, the water slowly filters through the leaves.

Vegetation has claimed the area downstream of the pile. There is currently no active erosion on this site. If this was a tall grass site, you’d never see the trash. Now that the cedar pile has rotted down to almost nothing, even the short grass does a good job of hiding the dump. A healthy White Flowering Dogwood is helping to camouflage the site.

Some of the material they dumped here has actually provided good habitat for some of the prairie dwellers. I’ve seen skinks and fence lizards sunning on these discarded fence posts. Mice and voles and a variety of insects have found shelter in this pile of timbers.

Sitting at the base of one post was this pile of strange curls. They might be tiny parchments or curls of old tape or shavings from some type of craft project. Actually, they’re curled belly scales from a shed snake skin. I can imagine a Black Rat Snake living here. That probably makes this a less desirable place for the small rodents to hang out.

Rattlesnake Plantain Seed Heads

An abundance of Orchid flowers should translate into an abundance of Orchid seeds. Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens, is the earliest common orchid to bloom at Blue Jay Barrens, so it makes sense that it would be the first to develop seed pods. It looks as though seeds from this species are going to be quite abundant this year.

There are many ways of assessing the health of a plant population. Counting total plants or just counting blooming individuals are two common methods that I frequently use. Counts such as these are fairly easy to accomplish and allow you to track changes in population size over time. If I were to choose a single indicator that I felt most represented a thriving plant population, it would be the ability of the plants to produce an abundance of viable seed. For that reason, I’m always encouraged by the sight of plants developing masses of seeds.

Rattlesnake Plantain is one of those plants that produces a tiny seed that is distributed by the wind. The long flower stalk elevates the seed head so the seeds are more likely to be caught and carried by the wind. Wind action also causes the stalk to flip back and forth in a way that propels the seeds from their capsule, so there is more seed released during windy times. It would really be something if all those seeds could produce plants, but the likelihood is slim of any one seed landing in a suitable area for germination.

The height and thickness of the flower stalk seems out of balance with the leaf base. It may take the plant several years to store enough energy to send up that stalk and produce seeds.

I still think the leaves are the most attractive part of the Rattlesnake Plantain. The leaf cluster present the year before flowering is particularly impressive. The leaves often decline and the leaf cluster may die completely after flowering, but there are usually offshoot plants that develop to take its place. The leaves and flower stalk develop from a rhizome that often branches at the site of the leaf clusters, so even if one leaf cluster dies, the plant continues to live. What sometimes appears to be a group of many plants is often just a collection of leaf clusters arising from rhizomes that originally came from a single seed derived plant. The rhizome develops roots beneath the leaf clusters so that it can appear that the plants are independent of each other. This causes people to think that they are seeing a collection of individual plants instead of a clonal colony that developed from a single source.

Flannel Moth Caterpillar

This innocent looking bit of fluff fools a lot of people. Flannel Moth caterpillars can easily be mistaken for a wad of spider silk or an out of control fungus or a downy feather stuck to a tree branch. It’s hard to see that the body of a caterpillar is hidden within the wild mass of hairs.

Upon closer examination, you can detect the outline of a body and some vertical striping. A visual examination is as far as you want to go with this guy. Hidden within the hairs are stinging spines that can deliver a potent dose of an itching and burning toxin. The combination of disguise and pain provide the caterpillar will an effective defense.

It’s really hard to see the mouth, but if you watch for a while you’ll find the mouth at the point where the leaf is disappearing. The caterpillar begins feeding at the leaf tip and then eats back and forth across the leaf in a pattern similar to a person eating an ear of corn. This pattern maintains a distinct leaf shape to the uneaten portion. Many caterpillar predators detect their prey by investigating irregularities in the leaf being consumed. Keeping the leaf looking like a leaf helps to avoid notice by these predators. This caterpillar certainly employs a wide range of tactics in order to avoid predation.

At a distance, this certainly doesn’t seem to be a caterpillar. The shrub being consumed is a Dwarf Hawthorn, Crataegus uniflora. Dwarf Hawthorn is a rarity in Ohio. Flannel Moth caterpillars feed on a wide variety of trees and shrubs, but it’s on the Dwarf Hawthorn that they are regularly found.

Appearance of the caterpillars is always a late season event and doesn’t seem to cause any negative effects to the Hawthorn. The tiny shrubs have produced several fruits this year.

The Dwarf Hawthorn leaves look quite healthy. Quite a difference from last year when the leaves suffered from a bout of Hawthorn Cedar Rust. Fortunately, most native plants can handle quite a range of diseases and predators without being killed. Hopefully these rare plants will thrive and continue to produce my annual encounter with the Flannel Moth caterpillars.

Doe and Triplets

The Whitetail Deer triplets have been regular visitors to the yard. Yesterday, I saw their mother join them for a bit of cracked corn.

The doe has suffered an injury and is not using her left foreleg. I usually see one or two deer each year in this condition.

There seems to be quite a bit of swelling just above the hoof and there’s a jagged cut on the inside of her right hind leg. A lot of deer leg injuries are the result of an entanglement with a fence. Fences topped with a strand of barb wire are particularly hazardous. She seems a little thin, but that could just be from the stress of raising three fawns.

The doe took off as soon as she caught sight of me. The fawns are watching her head into the field. They’re lucky she wasn’t running from approaching danger because none of them are looking in the direction from which danger would approach.

The triplets are becoming more independent, but as mom fades from sight across the field, they begin to follow.

This one didn’t seem much concerned. It stayed behind and ate a little more corn before heading off to find the rest of the family.

Some Diggings

Here’s an interesting little clearing. It’s a dry knob covered with gravely soil, but instead of supporting the expected short grass community, the dominant grass is Big Bluestem. The Big Bluestem wasn’t here when I first cleared off the cedars. I was expecting the existing Little Bluestem and Sideoats Gramma to fill in the newly created opening. It just seems odd to have vigorous Big Bluestem plants that normally inhabit moist sites, coexisting with plants that are only found growing in the driest of soils.

I discovered this excavation in the middle of the area. Looks like some small animal has been searching for food. Skunk is usually the first animal that comes to mind when I see something like this.

Could this be the prize? A Yellow Jacket nest might have offered a good meal to a skunk. But, the cells are all filled with dirt. That means the skunk did quite a bit of digging after removing this nest. It could be that the skunk ate this section first and then dug out the rest of the nest, which it then carried off to eat elsewhere. Or the skunk might have been after something else and the nest was just pushed back with the loose soil.

It’s also possible that it was some other animal doing the digging. A Fox or Coyote could leave a hole like this after excavating a mouse or grub. The hole gives a good view of the extensive root system developed by the grasses. The soil is quite loose and easy for roots to penetrate. Moisture is the limiting factor here.

The scattered soil material partially buries several plants. The loose soil provides conditions favorable for the development of new plants from seed. Some managers encourage soil disturbance in hopes of stimulating the germination of seeds from a persistent seed bank. A seed bank refers to a store of viable seeds that lay dormant in the soil. Excavation such as this could expose those seeds and allow them to grow into new plants. I hold little hope that there is such a seed bank at Blue Jay Barrens.

There were also several smaller digs scattered about. About 20 years ago, I collected a large number of soil samples by pushing back the upper half inch of the soil layer and collecting the soil down to about six inches. I took each sample and spread it lightly over the surface of gridded plots in a large planting bed. The idea was to see if any plants would emerge that indicated the presence of a seed bank. The only plants that developed were a few that already existed at the collection sites plus several weedy species that grew near the planting bed. Nothing suggested that there were any dormant seeds residing in the soil.

A bit of thought made me realize that a seed bank was highly unlikely. Topsoil on this site would have taken many thousands of years to develop and it would have been within that topsoil layer that a seed bank could possibly have existed. Poor land use practices over the last 200 years have effectively allowed the topsoil to erode and be carried away in the runoff water. With the topsoil went the seed bank. I’m afraid that there’s nothing left to expose in the soil now left on site. Excavations may create opportunities for recently produced seeds to germinate, but I don’t think I’ll be seeing any resurrection of past prairie components.

Saddle Prairie

I’m still visiting areas of Blue Jay Barrens in an attempt to assess current conditions and identify future management needs. At this time of year I really enjoy visiting the areas of shallow soil that restrict the growth of tall, thick stands of prairie grasses. There has been plenty of moisture this year, so the Indiangrass has done well. Even when we have good growing conditions, this species remains short and scattered throughout the site.

This particular ridgetop prairie lies in a depressed saddle between two knobs. Rain water flows off the knobs and into the depression before draining away, giving the saddle a moisture boost not enjoyed by the rest of the ridge. Tall wildflowers don’t grow here, but conditions are perfect for the short statured Gray Goldenrod.

Some bare areas support very little vegetation. These make ideal sites for some of the rare winter annuals such as Leavenworthia and the Drabas. Western Sunflower maintains a strong population here, but the plants are dwarfs compared to others of their species growing in good soil.

The area is filled with tiny specimens of Wild Rose, Rosa carolina. Most are much less than a foot tall and are hardly noticeable when not in bloom.

The bright orange fruits make it a bit easier to find the rose plants. The Wild Rose is a plant of the dry prairie and seems well suited to life among the short plants. I’ve never found it in shaded areas or in stands of tall vegetation. I hope the creature that eats that fruit deposits the seed in a suitable growing site.

Spiranthes orchids are still abundant. Slender Ladies’ Tresses, Spiranthes lacera, is recognizable by the green patch in the throat of the flower.

Bluehearts are still blooming. Late bloomers are not uncommon, but they have been especially abundant this year.

Early blooming Bluehearts have already produced mature seed and are scattering it about the hillside. For an area that was once thick with small cedars, this site has produced an amazing diversity of plant and animal life. I don’t see any need for hands-on management activities here for at least two or three more years. By that time, there will be a new crop of small cedars needing removed. Until then, this will be a place to observe and enjoy.

Goldenrod Soldier Beetle

Towards the end of summer, it’s not unusual to find an abundance of insects visiting the blooms of the many late season prairie flowers. Sometimes a single insect species will become so numerous that you find one in every flower you examine. That’s the case this year with the Goldenrod Soldier Beetle, Chauliognathus pensylvanicus. Here’s one visiting a Western Sunflower.

You’ll certainly find this beetle on its namesake goldenrod, but it’s definitely not limited to that one genus. I’m seeing Goldenrod Soldier Beetles on about every flower across the prairie, but they seem to have a decided preference for those of the Aster family, what my generation always called the composites.

These beetles are quite animated and are certainly entertaining to watch. They tend to stay still only when they’re eating and even then it’s only a few seconds at a time. They always seem to be on watch, cocking their heads back and forth as though scanning the surrounding area for trouble. The fact that I got so many close-up shots of them suggests that they don’t perceive me as a great threat. This one has paused atop a White Snakeroot to take a quick look around.

They feed on pollen and nectar. Flowers of the Tall Boneset are a particular favorite.

Of course, anything that wades around in flowers can also serve as a pollinator. The beetle feeding on this Wingstem has collected pollen on about every part of its body. The legs appear to be carrying the greatest load. The black and yellow coloring of the Goldenrod Soldier Beetle, especially the striping on the abdomen, makes me think that that there’s a little wasp mimicry going on here.

There were also many couples working to ensure a large crop of beetles for next year. Eggs are laid on the ground and the larvae spend their time in the organic layer on the soil surface.

This pair doesn’t seem content to stay on the Blazing Star. They seem transfixed by the Ashy Sunflower just out of reach. Reminds me of so many young married couples dreaming of things they can’t yet have.