LEAP into Spring

Spring is bursting forth on Ohio's landscape. 

A vernal wetland provided ample sight and sound.

 Yesterday I enjoyed blue skies and the raucous amphibian calls at several locations, including the Bath Nature Preserve in Bath, Ohio.  This particular frog pond offered a deafening cacophony of croaks, clucks and peeps.

 I had traveled to Bath for a Lake Erie and Allegheny Partnership (LEAP) meeting.  LEAP is a consortium of land trusts, parks, and educational organizations dedicated to protecting and restoring biodiversity.  It is supported by the  Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where there is an active staff who provides leadership for LEAP.  (Thanks Renee!)

Akron U. has a field Study center at  Bath Nature Preserve.

We met at the University of Akron's Field Study and Environmental Education center.  These traveling meetings give LEAP members a excellent opportunity to see other organization's outpost. We have visited numerous park districts in Ohio and even a few in Pennsylvania.

Cornus mas, (Cornelian cherry) in full flower. 

The attractive yellow buds on a nearby tree beckoned to me from across the parking lot.  We now know them to be the four petaled flowers of a tree in the Dogwood family. This is the non-native Cornelian cherry or Cornus mas.

Cornelian cherry trees

 These small trees had me fooled!  I thought they were our native Spicebush, but they are Cornelian Cherry, or Cornus mas.  It would be fairly easy to successfully ID a Spicebuch vs this non-native dogwood, had the leaves been present.  But I am happy to have learned the difference between the two species, by the blossoms' petal count.  (Thanks to Sarah who wrote in to set me on the correct path!)

This brings me to the annual "Native Plants of the Year" cards LEAP produces.  They are an excellent mini-guide to three native Ohio plants you can incorporate into your landscape.  Look for the Flora-Quest display at up coming events, and I will be glad to share these free cards with you.

 The 2016 plants are Spicebush, Swamp Candles and Little Bluestem.  To learn more about our native plants and the pollinators attracted to them, or find local native plant nurseries, you need look no further than the LEAP website. 

Don't you think Ohio otter offer a license like this?

 Native plants also benefit native animals, just like this handsome River Otter pictured on a LEAP member's Pennsylvania license plate.  This special plate promotes the need to  "Conserve Wild Resources."

That is a message we can really get behind.  HONK, HONK!!

Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania

Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania is ensconced within the lovely Allegheny Plateau. It is a portion of the LEAP (Lake Erie and Allegheny Plateau) study area sponsored by The Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  This week, LEAP had a training workshop at the Jennings Environmental Center and our field trips filled our hearts and minds with fall beauty.

The Jennings Prairie features Shingle Oak, Quercus imbricaria.

 When I arrived, my first thought was, "A Prairie?  You've got to be kidding me?"  I felt fairly assured in my belief that prairies are not a natural part of the Pennsylvania landscape.  Well, I was mostly right.  A native prairie in Pennsylvania is a rarity. That is exactly what made this area worthy of protection as the Jennings State Park.

Blue Willow- an unusual prairie component.

Blue Willow, Salix myricoides ("myricoides" means: like bayberry) forms small stands in this wet prairie formed from clay soils. It seemed to be an unusual component for a prairie, and a plant I have only previously seen in Ohio fens. Its attractive blue leaves are wider than most plants in the willow family and do resemble the leaves of the bayberry.

A Memorial wall for Ohio born botanist, O.  E. Jennings

This unique botanical area was discovered by Otto E. Jennings, a Pennsylvania botanist who was born in Ohio and attended OSU.  He was legendary in these parts and the Jennings State Park was named in his honor.  Follow this link to learn more about him.

Blazing star- the "prairie"giveaway!

 Jennings discovered this prairie when he found a large community of Blazing Stars, Liatris sp.  This photo shows the seed head in fall, but the link above takes you to an excellent photo of the purple flower in full bloom.  It is a standard for Ohio and Indiana prairies, but the plant is considered a rarity in PA.

 Another interesting component of this wet prairie is the Massasauga rattlesnake.  One was seen just early last week, but it was likely headed toward hibernation.

Botanist and land managers working on a rapid forest assessment.

 The workshop held at Jennings dealt with assessment of natural areas.  Our group which comprised of land managers, botanists and ecologist from both Ohio and Pennsylvania headed out to the woods to put our knowledge to work.  We enjoyed assessing this high quality Allegheny forest at Wolf Creek Trail which is part of the Western Pennsylvania Land Conservancy's holdings.

Wolf Creek at Slippery Rock, PA.

I'll leave you with a photo of the the colors along Wolf Creek Trail.  Nothing I can say will enhance the beauty this natural area already provides of its own accord.  Get out soon and enjoy a natural area, even if you are only able to assess it by the beauty which you behold. 

Fall is here...

LEAPing into 2015

Some of the best meetings I attend are at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  The have a working group called: Lake Erie and Allegheny Partnership for Biodiversity.  We like to call ourselves LEAP.

 LEAP members are involved in identifying, protecting and restoring ecosystems and habitats.  They also actively try to help educate about native plants.  Each year they come up with these fabulous cards with a tree, shrub and forb you can use in your home landscape.  This project is sponsored by the Cleveland Metroparks.

Pawpaw is the tree of 2015. If you like to see butterflies in your yard, think Zebra Swallowtails! Pawpaw is a host plant for Zebra butterflies and is a deer-resistant plant for your yard and garden. This is one of my all-time favorite plants.

Buttonbush is a shrub that loves wet spaces and would be perfectly suited for you rain garden.  Bees and butterflies love to nectar on Buttonbush. You will be helping our pollinators by planting this shrub.

Stonecrop is an easy-to-care for flowering native that thrives on drier soils and neglect.  It makes a great ground cover. To see past year's selections go to the LEAP website.

Renee Boronka  of CMNH heads up the meetings.

These meetings gather a diverse group of land managers from Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and many Land Trusts and Conservancies. We struggle with the difficult problems of land management.


                   Like this one....

White-tailed  Deer

White-tail deer, a.k.a.  Bambi, Botany Browsers, and last but not least, Tick Transporters.  Nothing creates a bigger stir in land management.  They are sooo cute but they create so much damage to the land, ecosystems and the other inhabitants in the woods.  A few deer are a wonderful addition to the landscape.  A few too many? Deer are the enemy of biodiversity, and left unchecked, quickly become the scourge of all lower life forms, except ticks.  Ticks love 'em.

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 These gatherings are the Who's Who of Land Management and attended by some of the finest land managers in the state of Ohio and Pennsylvania.  We look closely at a potential problems and assess them from all angles.

 i.e.: Could birth control be used on deer?  Unfortunately, we know it would have a trickle-down effect on the reproduction of Bald Eagles and other scavengers as well. It is just not that simple.

To learn more about LEAP, the conservation problems we are currently tackling and helpful tips about native plants- http://leapbio.org/   is the link to click.