Prairie Ecology -- March 13, 2024

The Blackland Prairie Ecoregion: Read pp. 142-145 in textbook. 

Brandon Belcher, Preserve Manager for the Nature Conservancy

Read Brandon's BIO 

1. Reading:

Read pp. 20-42 from the intro section of Flora of North Central Texas  A hard copy of this is in your MIT Handbook, behind the divider. It has lots of good information that we'll be referring back to in future lessons, so highlight, make notes, etc. 

Take the open-book QUIZ over the reading material above. (Please do refer to the reading material as you take the quiz! We don't expect you to have memorized all that information.)

NOTE: Shinner's and Mahler's Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas is available for free as downloadable, searchable PDF

"Islands of Grass" TPWD magazine article

"A Prairie in Pieces" TPWD magazine article

2. Watch these three videos and complete the questions

"Last of the Blackland" featuring Brandon Belcher (5:18)

"The Blackland Prairie Ecoregion" by TPWD (5:34)

Identifying Species of Bluestem (1:00)

Little Bluestem (1:22)

Optional Activities

When you read all of Chapter 4 (this week or in a later week) take the optional quiz  on Texas Ecoregions.

Additional video:

Features for Identifying Grasses (11:08)

Logging Hours

*Make sure that you have recorded last week's attendance in VMS

(If you missed class, contact your pod guides to schedule a make-up.)   

Opportunity: Init Training-Class 05   

Date: March 6, 2024      

Hours: 3.0     

Description: Entomology with Bryant McDowell

Advanced Training (AT) Opportunities

• Tuesday, March 12th, 7:00 PM Monthly Chapter Meeting - 1 hour AT, Dave Powell will present on the Blackland Prairie and Prairie Restoration, see the chapter calendar for details

• LLELA's 2nd Saturday Bird Walk, March 9th, 7:30-11:30, see event details and registration info on chapter calendar

• Hagerman NWR's 2nd Saturday Bird Walk, March 9th, 8-10am, see details on chapter calendar

• The Heard's 2nd Saturday Bird Walk, March 9th, 8-9:30am, see details on chapter calendar

• Hagerman NWR - "Owls" with Dr. Wayne Meyer, March 9th, 10-11am, see details on chapter calendar

• Native Ecology and Urban Space Workshop Workshop at LLELA on April 20 and 21. Full day of AT on Saturday, plus a half day hands-on work on Sunday. Cost $25

Volunteer Service (VH) Opportunities

These weekly prairie restoration projects are listed on the chapter calendar. Check their listings for event details and information.

• Blackland Prairie Raptor Center - Prairie & Trail Maintenance, Monday-Friday, 9am-2pm

• Connemara Meadow Preserve Restoration, Sunday-Friday, 9am-12pm

• Erwin Park Prairie Restoration, Mondays, 9am-12pm

• Wylie Prairie Restoration, Thursdays, 9am-12pm

• Clymer Meadow - 3rd Wednesdays, 9am-1pm

LLELA's 2nd Saturday River Care Team workday, March 9th, 10am-12pm, see event details and registration info on chapter calendar

• Clymer Meadow featured on TPWD TV episode

• Selah, Bamburger Ranch - National Geographic short film

• New Landowners Course - Texas A&M AgriLife

• Developing a Land Stewardship Plan for Your Property

• Center for Environmental Studies (Austin College) - website

• Learn About Clymer Meadow Preserve (The Nature Conservancy)  - video

• Lone Star Land Stewards (TPWD) - short video series

• Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute - website

• Texan by Nature - website

• Bob Mione's video about Connemara Meadow Preserve

WEEK SIX CLASS UPDATE

Happy Thursday, Class of 2024!

Hope everyone is staying dry today! Pre-work is posted on the website, including VMS instructions. I’ve attached a couple of files:

• The Insect ID activity from last night, including some bonus material

• Bryant’s slides from his presentation. (In case you didn’t get to copy down something you wanted to.)

Also, here’s the link to the Bugs by the Yard podcast, if you want to check it out.

Chapter Meeting next Tuesday, with FOOD! Arrive at 6:30 for the Pot Luck, meeting will start at 7:00. We have a bonus speaker: Dr. David Baker from Austin College will be giving us a ten-minute primer on the upcoming total eclipse! Hope to see lots of you there in person! If you haven’t signed up for the Pot Luck, here’s the LINK.

Speaking of food, you guys have been outdoing yourselves with the class snacks. I’m hearing lots of rave reviews! If you haven’t signed up yet to bring snacks to a class, here’s the LINK for that.

We’ll be publishing a Sign-Up Genius for the class iNaturalist Bioblitzes soon. Don’t forget: one Pod is hosting each bioblitz, but everyone is invited to attend any or all of them. We will also be inviting chapter members to these, and you are welcome to bring guests as well. BTW, it has come to my attention that a couple of the Pods are blowing everyone else out of the water in our class project. By next week, we’re going to have stats on how each pod rates, so if your pod has been slacking, time to step it up!

Here’s the LINK to the AT event at LLELA that Mark talked about last night.

*Be sure to log your class attendance in VMS

(If you missed class, contact your pod guides to schedule a make-up.)   

Opportunity: Init Training-Class 05   

Date: March 6, 2024      

Hours: 3.0     

Description: Entomology with Bryant McDowell

**Don’t forget: class is via Zoom next week! Class information is on the Week 6 page of our class website.

Have a great week,

Lisa

Lisa Travis, Training Director

Texas Master Naturalist, Blackland Prairie Chapter
education@bptmn.org
(817)832-3912

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

  -- Margaret Mead