Over the past few weeks, we have been on track at Blue Heron Nature Preserve. So much has happened that I don’t know where to begin! Maybe it could be 3/25, a critical day for our work of regeneration. On that day, people from EcoLogic came to help take care of the meadow, and we were supposed to assist them with the regeneration process. I learned tons of new things that day. At first, I could hardly distinguish plant species in the field – “They’re all green!” But after that work day I am able to tell a lot of different species! The experts of EcoLogic taught me how to tell which invasive species they were looking for: honeysuckles with red stems, privets with clusters of tiny leaves, and blackberries with thorns. I feel a bit sorry for blackberries because their white flowers might be good for pollinators. But they say it’s easy for blackberries to overgrow and make thorns everywhere, including trails in the nature preserve. At the same time, overgrown blackberries can crowd out native plants, so we have to cut some of them off to keep them under control in our meadow. The photo below a species called English Ivy, which can embed itself under the bark and can become a threat to large trees when it grows up.

People at EcoLogic also taught me how to stand on an slope correctly. No matter where your body is facing, make sure your feet are in the same direction as the slope so they don’t slide off. They were also concerned about my safety and let me use tools with longer handles to avoid getting stung by thorns in close contact. Also, Your socks are best tucked into your pant legs to prevent your ankles from getting bitten by bugs or touching poisonous vines. I helped EcoLogic for a whole shift – It was tired but really meaningful! I learned a lot about botany and wilderness survival during this shift.

We also recently helped Blue Heron clear a lawn area to make room for pollinator-friendly plants later. But we gained something more than this: At that time, I suddenly realized I might be able to calculate the carbon fixation of this greenspace if I collected all grasses removed here, which meets the current need of carbon fixation measurements at Blue Heron. We found that the weight of these organic matters is 64lbs. We did an estimate for the dry weight to be about 45-50%, and after calculation, we got a carbon fixation rate of about 0.335 kg carbon / m^2. This is not a big number for the meadow’s capacity for carbon fixation, but it’s just a sparse lawn! As we plant denser grass and more flowering plants, the carbon fixation here will definitely grow greater. This photo is of Deja and me in front of the lawn we plowed.

We also participated in GSURC with the knowledge and data we now have! Although, I’d like to save that for another check-in blog, because we have a lot to say. Meanwhile, the next working day with EcoLogic is also approaching. We’ll see it then!