https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog daily 0.75 2024-06-19 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/achievement-unlocked-the-latin-square-plus-some-cool-competition-results monthly 0.5 2024-06-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/460ba9e6-52fe-4795-9e13-0d275eb0e995/Screenshot+2024-06-19+at+6.33.40%E2%80%AFPM.png Wiregrass Blog - Achievement Unlocked - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/a48002ac-a42f-4565-acd8-e6bc947785da/Picture1.jpg Wiregrass Blog - Achievement Unlocked The photo to the left shows 16 plots in one Latin square in the field: four plots down and four across. The orange flags marked the midpoints of the long sides of each plot to help us keep track. Each row and column had one of the four treatments, Sudoku-style! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/4b0c020c-a627-4741-bd43-1e71d8e2f924/Picture1.png Wiregrass Blog - Achievement Unlocked The bottom line? Competition does affect growth and flowering, but not necessarily in a “bad” way. In the photo to the right, we show a weeded plot in the foreground with an unweeded plot in the background. Plants grew larger and more plants flowered in the weeded plots, but plants still established, grew, and flowered in the unweeded plots. And this was only after one year. The flowering was interesting because the field wasn’t burned until July of 2023, and wiregrass typically flowers only after fire. https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/wiregrass-makes-pickles monthly 0.5 2024-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/f47faa91-08f6-4d58-8372-26fa97fead3f/Sorus.NC+Sandhills+Game+Lands+%282%29.jpg Wiregrass Blog - Wiregrass makes pickles?!? - If you look closely at wiregrass spikelets, you may sometimes see green or black things that look like pickles or grossly misshapen seeds. What are they? Pickles? Dead seeds? These are sori (pronounced sore-eye) of the smut fungus Langdonia walkerae. Sori are the reproductive structures that hold the spores before they are dispersed. Dr. Abeer Alqurashi and colleagues identified this smut fungus (Alqurashi et al. 2021) as a new species and discovered that it infects wiregrass flowers during the flowering period. Then, instead of seeds, you get sori, or, as we call them, “wiregrass pickles.” https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/webinar-on-wiregrass-restoration-and-management monthly 0.5 2024-02-15 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/harvest-time-in-the-wiregrass-fields monthly 0.5 2023-12-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/0f87fc24-cfe6-486c-a3eb-a60233028ea0/Screenshot+2023-12-07+at+3.36.31%E2%80%AFPM.png Wiregrass Blog - Harvest time in the wiregrass fields - But before we talk about how these collectors tell when wiregrass seeds are “ready,” I think it’s important to clarify the goal of collecting seeds at the proper time. People want high-quality seeds. Wiregrass seed quality can be described by two separate concepts: the amount of filled seed and the viability of the filled seed. Dr. Hector Perez (University of Florida) points out that seed viability depends first on seeds being filled because if the seeds are empty, there is nothing to germinate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/fb93470d-77dd-4ebb-b04d-7f46c7c3747f/Screenshot+2023-12-07+at+3.48.02%E2%80%AFPM.png Wiregrass Blog - Harvest time in the wiregrass fields Before seed harvest, managing wiregrass populations to maximize seed fill is a tricky issue. In her thesis research, Sarah Tevlin (2023) found differences in seed fill between wiregrass populations growing in wetter areas versus those growing in drier areas, and seed fill also varied between populations, even when they were growing in similar soils and had been burned at the same time. The take home? Estimating the amount of filled seeds you’re likely to get is tricky and depends on things like the timing of fire, the soils on which the wiregrass is growing, and precipitation during seed development. The timing of seed collection likely only affects seed fill in terms of whether the seeds have fully formed and matured. You don’t want to collect the seeds too early before they have finished forming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/cb0dab60-ff61-40ca-be55-98a13924a421/Screenshot+2023-12-07+at+3.59.24%E2%80%AFPM.png Wiregrass Blog - Harvest time in the wiregrass fields - “If a spikelet is filled with a whole wiregrass seed, it can be tested by breaking it in half, and if it snaps, it contains a whole wiregrass seed that is ready for harvest. You can do this in the field on the palm of your hand or carry the spikelets back to the lab, spread them out on a hard surface, and press down halfway up the spikelet with your fingernail. If it breaks with a snap, it contains a whole seed. Look at the seed under a dissecting microscope to get a better feel for the condition of the spikelets. If it contains liquid or is not quite firmly solid, the seed is not yet ready.” Another common method of determining whether seeds are ready to harvest is to visit the field in the afternoon when temperatures are highest and relative humidity is lowest. Pinch the flowering head (inflorescence) between your fingertips and run your fingers up the inflorescence. If most seeds come off easily, they should be ready for collection (see video below). Visibly, such inflorescences will have spikelets with bent, rather than straight and vertical, awns (see photos to right). It's important to go out several days in a row because rain or moisture can cause the awns to stay straight even if the seed is ready. You want to check on as many dry days as possible. Additionally, not all plants reach seed maturation at the same time, so it’s important to test more than one plant at a site. In fact, wetter and drier areas within the same area may vary slightly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/87bf4d7b-0db8-4336-a4c1-de3b7af042cb/IMG_4807+%282%29.gif Wiregrass Blog - Harvest time in the wiregrass fields - Make it stand out To determine if wiregrass seeds are ready to be harvested, run hand up culm. If most seeds come off in your hand, they are ready to harvest. https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/press-test-for-determining-wiregrass-seed-quality monthly 0.5 2023-03-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/728dbc94-cba2-4c56-95c0-3e68f620573f/Blog+9.jpg Wiregrass Blog - Press test for determining wiregrass seed quality Let us explain! A wiregrass plant produces seeds that are either filled with the undeveloped plant embryo which – if the embryo is healthy and is exposed to the correct conditions-- can germinate into a little seedling, or they are empty. Those that are empty are like the wolf pretending to be a sheep. Empty seeds look very similar to the filled seeds but will definitely not germinate. See photo at left for an example of filled and empty seeds that appear very similar. It is important to consider the proportion of filled seeds you have because this will help determine your seeding rate. You might find that you have very few filled seeds, which we have discovered in an annually burned site (not that all annually burned sites would produce lots of empty seeds). Or you might find that you have few seeds overall, but many of them are filled, as we have observed in very young plants. https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/restoring-pine-savannas-using-transplanted-wiregrass monthly 0.5 2022-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/c845f64b-4234-4782-bfa2-5c5d70fdcb3a/Screen+Shot+2022-06-09+at+6.56.27+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Restoring pine savannas using wiregrass transplants - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/01ca4898-7499-4241-99f8-9e513950616a/Screen+Shot+2022-06-09+at+6.43.58+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Restoring pine savannas using wiregrass transplants - The density of plants started to level off over time. As wiregrass reproduces and grows, it reaches about 30 plants per 10 ft2 area. That is, if there is a greater density of small plants, they seem to self-thin as they grow, and if there are a smaller number of plants, then more plants fill in the area over time. In nature, we observe that wiregrass does not usually exceed this density. This is good news for restoration because you do not need to worry about planting at a natural density or using specific spacing between plants. Wiregrass will regulate itself to a natural density. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/14d72c9d-9f7a-411e-ac6a-e9eb63d78496/Screen+Shot+2022-06-09+at+6.42.44+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Restoring pine savannas using wiregrass transplants - I would like to know whether you can transplant part of a wiregrass plant. For instance, maybe it is unnecessary to excavate an entire wiregrass tussock, but rather a portion of the tussock would work. In that sense, it would be relatively simple (but likely still hard work) to move individuals from an area of high to low (or no) density wiregrass. As someone who has tried to excavate an entire wiregrass plant, I can tell you they have extensive root systems! https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/inventing-a-new-way-to-remove-wiregrass-seeds-from-culms monthly 0.5 2022-02-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/784195f9-b0bb-40ac-af13-3f9c75cf9dd7/Screen+Shot+2022-02-06+at+7.33.35+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - A new, slightly dangerous method of removing wiregrass seeds from culms - Imagine yourself in a room full of wiregrass seeding culms (see photo to left). You have maybe a month to get all those valuable, pesky little seeds off of a billion culms that have been chopped off at the base. Really what you are looking at is a room full of wiregrass (times 4). The only immediate way you can think of is to pull the seeds off each culm… 1 billion times. We don’t know about you, but that prospect sent us into a state of desperation. There had to be a better way! We love wiregrass, but we also love our sanity. Looking about, we spied our noisy old box fan in a corner of the lab. Its use solely as a cooling mechanism was about to change… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/b890498c-c261-4148-aaf2-0493fca3a953/Screen+Shot+2022-02-06+at+7.31.20+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - A new, slightly dangerous method of removing wiregrass seeds from culms - Step 1: Remove the fan covers from either side of a box fan. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/2aa3a8c8-9dde-43ea-856c-626310b31a1a/Screen+Shot+2022-02-06+at+7.05.32+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - A new, slightly dangerous method of removing wiregrass seeds from culms - Step 2: Select a small handful of wiregrass culms, about the equivalent of 1 inch in total diameter. They should all be facing the same direction (as much as possible), tips with tips and cut ends with cut ends. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/4ce24ece-65dd-43e6-877a-882d30eb1de0/Screen+Shot+2022-02-06+at+7.39.00+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - A new, slightly dangerous method of removing wiregrass seeds from culms - Step 3: Shake off any loose seeds into your seed collection container. We used large yard waste bags made of double ply brown paper. See photo to left. These bags are ideal because they do not hold moisture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/d06b417f-8c5f-419f-9219-fb234788add4/Screen+Shot+2022-02-06+at+8.32.28+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - A new, slightly dangerous method of removing wiregrass seeds from culms - Step 6: Turn off fan and sweep the wiregrass seeds and culm pieces into your seed collection container. Alternatively, we first dumped this material onto a counter and picked out larger culm pieces and inflorescences, but generally speaking, the fan removed most of the seeds and chaff (i.e., lemmas and other plant material). When you’re finished, you will have a great excuse to deep clean the work room, new music, clothes and shoes that poke you, but most importantly- beautiful, undamaged wiregrass seeds!! https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/is-one-wiregrass-seeding-rate-better-than-another monthly 0.5 2022-01-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/8d947360-eb5b-4839-997c-7da368a5f377/Screen+Shot+2022-01-23+at+11.45.24+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is one wiregrass seeding rate better than another? - Well first, we had to GET seeds! This step turned out to be surprisingly difficult. The weather conditions (and probably COVID) at the very least, had interrupted fire operations such that our options for local seed sources were very limited. We also needed seed from sites that were hydrologically different. We don’t know what we would have done without the incredibly helpful suggestions and assistance of folks dedicated to supporting restoration projects (it really all came together at the eleventh hour after emails and calls to many people!). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/71288ebf-d7f9-43b6-9061-6940a82b5cb8/Screen+Shot+2022-01-23+at+11.43.38+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is one wiregrass seeding rate better than another? - Logistics resulted in different collection methods for the seeds from each site. The flail vac (see photos below) moves over the top of all plants in an area, sweeping seeds into its hopper using brushes and a vacuum. There are a couple of advantages to using a flail vac. First, you’re probably collecting seeds of many other species along with the wiregrass seeds (diversity!), and second, it’s far less labor intensive. With hand collection, the culms with seeds are cut at the base of the plant- by hand- and then the seeds are stripped off the culms- by hand- which means… a lot of work!! It also means that much of the chaff (glumes, lemmas, and small pieces of stem) are collected too. We have found a slightly faster (…and slightly dangerous) way to strip seeds from hand-collected culms, which we might share in a future post. For our project, seeds at the dry site were collected with a flail vac and those at the wet site were hand-collected. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/f9b5eff6-2a22-41e8-88d8-12d7e1c991a2/Screen+Shot+2022-01-23+at+12.10.40+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is one wiregrass seeding rate better than another? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/8e2cb490-1a44-4c59-a045-ed4015b9c1c1/Screen+Shot+2022-01-23+at+12.14.32+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is one wiregrass seeding rate better than another? - How much of what you collect is actually wiregrass seeds? In a study reported by Vaughan (2001), in which seeds were collected by flail vac, between “10 and 21 percent of the weight of a full bag contained wiregrass seed”. Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve has found that the quality of seeds varies by year; anywhere from 6-44% of seeds are viable (could germinate under optimal conditions) in a given year. Keep in mind that the germination rate depends on a lot of things beyond the quality of wiregrass seeds, including weather and soil conditions at your site, so it is unlikely that field germination would ever match what is attained in the lab or predicted in tests. Our dry seed is 50.73% wiregrass and 33% of the seeds are filled according to x-ray analysis. It is fairly common to x-ray seeds and use that as an estimation for seed viability. The seed hand-collected from the wet site is 44.5% wiregrass and 54% of the seeds are filled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/36762ce8-d11c-471a-8eff-c4b8912041e6/Screen+Shot+2022-01-23+at+12.17.17+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is one wiregrass seeding rate better than another? - What seeding rate is recommended? If we go to the literature and experiences of others, the answer varies. Walker and Silletti (2006) reported that “56 kg/ha of material that is 10–11% wiregrass seed by weight” was recommended if the goal was three wiregrass plants or more per meter squared. That means planting 50 pounds of “material” per acre. In a good year, I cannot imagine having that much to plant! Others have suggested 2-2.5 pounds per acre (Walker 1999 and references therein) or 5-10 lbs/acre (C. Kinslow, personal communication; Cox et al. 2004; Trusty & Ober 2009). What seeding rate should you use? The answer depends on what you have and your goal. Sometimes money or logistics limit the available options, and the answer is: whatever you can! The amount and viability of wiregrass in your collected material is certainly going to affect the outcome and will vary each year. If it’s possible to have your seed mix tested, it would be extremely informative for both planning and sharing your results with others! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/28067d58-6849-49d7-a38b-f50fbf5c6eaa/Screen+Shot+2022-01-23+at+11.44.31+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is one wiregrass seeding rate better than another? - What seedling rates did we choose (or more accurately, what seeding rate chose us)? We were definitely faced with a struggle of logistics! So, we decided to plant the seeds from our wet and dry sites at 6.5 and 6.6 lbs/acre, respectively, because that is how much seed we were able to get, while reserving some for other treatment plots at 10 and 12 lbs/acre. Our dry seeds had slightly lower filled seeds per pound, so we are slightly compensating for that. Despite the uncertainty, the seeding rate that “chose us,” is still within the range that has been recommended, and our research will still meet its goal of showing whether higher planting densities improve wiregrass establishment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/be8e03e5-2d5b-4344-a2fb-6ad971931d6f/Screen+Shot+2022-01-23+at+12.25.57+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is one wiregrass seeding rate better than another? - This week our seeds will be planted, so the next blog will highlight that process. In the meantime, we will be carrying around some little reminders of hand stripping wiregrass seeds for a very long time! References Cox, A.C., D.R. Gordon, J.L. Slapcinsky, and G.S. Seamon. 2004. Understory restoration in longleaf pine sandhills. Natural Areas Journal, 24, 4-14. Trusty, J.L., and H.K. Ober. 2009. Groundcover restoration in forests of the Southeastern United States. CFEOR Research Report 2009-01. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 115 pp. Vaughan, E. 2001. The Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve in Northern Florida: a longleaf pine and wiregrass restoration project. Restoration and Reclamation Review 7, 1-10. Walker, J.L., and A.M. Silletti. 2006. Restoring the ground layer of longleaf pine ecosystems. P. 297–325 in The Longleaf Pine Ecosystem: Ecology, Silviculture, and Restoration, Jose, S., E.J. Jokela and D.L. Miller (eds.). Springer, New York. https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/now-presenting-what-we-know-about-wiregrass-ecology monthly 0.5 2021-12-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/7a722107-b5f7-4d3b-b1ed-76fcfa6c1be5/Screen+Shot+2021-12-21+at+7.07.21+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Presenting pieces of a larger puzzle - My colleague and fellow postdoc Dr. Carolina Baruzzi and I recently presented a very brief overview of wiregrass’s niche in pine savannas. Or I should say- what we currently know about it! To view our recent presentation for the Florida Native Plant Society Lunch & Learn, visit their YouTube channel. Last week, Dr. Baruzzi also discussed our work with Dr. Marcus Lashley for the Fire University Podcast on an episode titled, “Planting the Idea for More Fire.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/52d5cbb9-a299-44c3-a658-2e552f639ff9/Screen+Shot+2021-12-21+at+7.06.44+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Presenting pieces of a larger puzzle - While preparing the Florida Native Plant Society talk, I reflected on how much our lab has learned about wiregrass ecology over the last few years, and how much “wiregrass watchers” (to use Andy Clewell’s phrase from his 1989 natural history paper) have learned about how wiregrass functions in these ecosystems over the last several decades. For example, I myself first met wiregrass in late summer 2009. On one of my introductory visits to pine savannas, I remember walking around in a sunny, pine flatwoods stand that had not burned in several years. I wobbled over the thick bunchgrass bases covered by a bumpy mat of stems. What a strange plant! Just lying there until fire would move through, consume the litter, and clean house for the flower display that would appear six months afterwards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/693691a4-051e-4e32-9f6d-0bb7f72df5c5/Screen+Shot+2021-12-21+at+7.07.01+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Presenting pieces of a larger puzzle - In November, I saw some of the most beautiful stands of flowering wiregrass. I heard for the first time that decades ago, people thought it never produced any seed. Although once thought to be a sterile grass, wiregrass is now appreciated for its post-fire flowering, and researchers and practitioners have made great strides towards understanding its seed ecology, including how fire regimes influence the amount and quality of the seed and best practices for using seeds in restoration. Although it is often slow-going to find the pieces for these puzzles, bit by bit we’re excited to be adding chapters to the story! https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/reflections-on-preparing-for-wiregrass-restoration monthly 0.5 2021-12-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/279b53b9-2763-4faf-a7a3-f51a0b5123df/Blog4+photo1.png Wiregrass Blog - Preparing for wiregrass restoration: A reflection - Start early. We began getting quotes from contractors to root rake (pull trees up from the roots), herbicide, and plow in July. By October, we still had not found someone who could complete the work within our modest budget. I think if we had started even 2-3 months earlier, we would have had a higher probability of success. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/35c57645-f4c6-4f79-947d-0bb1bc93e89e/Blog4+photo2.png Wiregrass Blog - Preparing for wiregrass restoration: A reflection - Ask for help and advice. Our friends and partners in restoration are knowledgeable, understanding, helpful, kind, and giving. A few bailed us out when the going got tough (see #1) for which we could never say thank you enough. Others always answered our calls and numerous questions. To all of you: We will repay or pay forward your generosity and kinship at every opportunity. I am getting choked up, so time to move to #3. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/3a40aa04-504d-4f43-b946-adc50521c6e3/Blog4+photo3.png Wiregrass Blog - Preparing for wiregrass restoration: A reflection - Remain hopeful. When you restore land, you are building something miraculous. Don’t forget that! Our newly plowed field represents hope for the future as it reminds me of spending summers as a child on my grandparent’s South Dakota farm. Planting fields and watching crops grow is so rewarding. Likewise, the thought of our research field coming alive with wiregrass elicits feelings of happiness, hope, and excitement. As the wiregrass grows, what will arrive next? What other plants and animals will call this patch of land home? https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/canopy-openness-affects-wiregrass-reproduction monthly 0.5 2021-12-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/22601c88-22e3-41d0-93d8-04d23d18d917/Screen+Shot+2021-11-29+at+7.35.09+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Canopy openness affects wiregrass reproduction - Crouched on hands and knees in the dry sandy soil, we inspected wiregrass plants along transects under pines and in the open. We checked each wiregrass plant to see if it was flowering and if so, how many flowering stems it had. There we are in the photo to the right, at the end of a long transect. Because the real measure of successful reproduction is the number of new baby grasses, we also collected seeds from wiregrass on the transects to germinate in the lab. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/35446a08-a7be-4bee-bec0-12d455fabd37/Screen+Shot+2021-11-30+at+7.33.08+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Canopy openness affects wiregrass reproduction - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/ce9a0541-1fbf-4385-b415-6f84d4a0eda3/Screen+Shot+2021-11-30+at+7.31.23+PM.png Wiregrass Blog - Canopy openness affects wiregrass reproduction - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/is-that-wiregrass-or monthly 0.5 2021-12-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1635679776654-JQ07SO7LRKO9017E8K7N/Screen+Shot+2021-10-31+at+7.28.52+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is that wiregrass or…? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1635773130943-Y07STO8P4FKSRNSL4XZ8/Screen+Shot+2021-11-01+at+9.25.13+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is that wiregrass or…? - Unless the grasses are flowering, the only distinct difference between them are tufts of hair where the green leaf blade meets the sheath. In the right photo, we show the small white hairs on dropseed near the base of the plant. Some say dropseed’s leaves are softer in texture, but we have not been able to reliably use this character to distinguish them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1635773071374-FYYQQ76ELFS1R1UES74B/Screen+Shot+2021-11-01+at+9.24.11+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is that wiregrass or…? - When they are flowering, it is easy to tell wiregrass and dropseed apart by their distinctive flowering culms. Aristida beyrichiana, also called Beyrich 3-awn, is known for its long, twisted awns. The seeds themselves are not awned, but rather the awns extend from the lemma, a structure that surrounds each seed. When they are flowering, it is easy to tell them apart by their distinctive flowering culms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1635770331517-WHULCW6QTVVX3Y1FDOZ2/Screen+Shot+2021-11-01+at+8.38.11+AM.png Wiregrass Blog - Is that wiregrass or…? - Make it stand out Have you used dropseed in your restoration mixes? If so, we would love to hear from you! https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/welcome-to-our-wiregrass-blog monthly 0.5 2021-10-15 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Competition monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Environmental+Variation monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Seed+viability monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Latin+Square+plots monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Restoration+challenges monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/seed+germination monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Density monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Reproduction monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Spread monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Restoration monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Fire+season monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Basic+ecology monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Hand+collected+wiregrass monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Outreach monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/New+method monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/restoration+seeding monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Site+preparation monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Seed+removal monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/restoration monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Dropseed monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/seed+quality monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Seeding+rates monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/seeding+rates monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Restoration+seeding monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Seed+testing monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Soil+moisture monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Germination monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/seeds monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/seedling+establishment monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Survival monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/seed+viability monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Pine+canopy monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Seed+germination monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Experimental+design monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/category/Morphology monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/germination monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/Seeds monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/seeding+rates monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/seeds monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/Wiregrass+pickles monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/Fire+season monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/Smut+fungus monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/seed+viability monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/restoration monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/wiregrass-blog/tag/viability monthly 0.5 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/home daily 1.0 2025-11-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1626703765281-ZFKXUZ6RT1NWJTPHIU0U/Ecologists+do+it+in+the+field.jpg Home - Would you like to collaborate or join our diverse, inclusive team? We welcome collaborators and students who would like to bring their unique perspective to our team at the University of Florida. We have paid undergraduate research positions available, and when funding is available, we will advertise postdoctoral and graduate research positions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627649539300-4ORDCOBM4JSVEVNIOZVM/Southern+Fire+Exhange+logo+color+high-res.jpg Home - Southern Fire Exchange connects the fire community with the latest fire science. Do you have a fire management question? Would you like to connect with others in the fire science community? Southern Fire Exchange (SFE) has been a trusted source of up-to-date fire science information for over 10 years. SFE strives to improve access to and usefulness of southern fire science information and offer opportunities for the fire community to interact and learn from one another. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1634340357979-ZKHQI8HA1FQX968T8J47/IMG_3228.jpg Home - Check out our wiregrass blog We are sharing recent research and our restoration trials and tribulations as we restore our first 10 acres. If you love wiregrass as much as we do (or even half as much as we do), please consider joining our community and contributing a guest blog. We would love to hear about your wiregrass observations and successes! https://www.ecologyonfire.com/team daily 0.75 2025-05-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1626659181381-JHN4WP0YG4SP9CBA6NI9/Crandall_Tree+hugging.JPG Our Team - Raelene M. Crandall, Ph.D. Lab Principle Investigator Dr. Crandall grew up in northern Indiana playing in creeks, building forts in trees, and picking wildflowers. As an undergraduate at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN, she learned that fire was integral to maintaining the habitats she enjoyed as a child. She was also given the opportunity to light her first prescribed fire and fell in love with fire and the effects fire has on plant regrowth and flowering. Following her undergraduate degree, Dr. Crandall worked as a wildland firefighter in the Western U.S. and a land manager in the Midwest before beginning graduate school to follow her curiosity and ignite students’ interest in fire. She completed a M.S. at Oklahoma State University, a Ph.D. at Louisiana State University, and a postdoc at Washington University in St. Louis before beginning her appointment at the University of Florida in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences. Throughout Dr. Crandall’s career, her interests have remained focused on understanding how plant populations respond to fire. Every plant species has a unique life story and she loves to unravel their tales. raecrandall@ufl.edu | Twitter | GoogleScholar | ResearchGate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627654271056-P3CQT3KQWC2NYDEM0GLR/DGWadeTract4.JPG Our Team - David R. Godwin, Ph.D. Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1626707091863-K7J37B20SUYR5XG7WS18/Jen_burning2021.jpg Our Team - Jennifer Fill, Ph.D. Research Assistant Scientist Jen is broadly interested in the ecology and management of fire and fiery ecosystems. Her passion lies in understanding fundamental ecosystem dynamics so we can more appropriately manage them, especially landscapes that are strongly affected by human activities. Jen received a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina, Columbia where she studied southeastern U.S. pine savanna ecology, restoration, and management. She then traveled to Stellenbosch University in South Africa for her first postdoc, which involved studies on invasive plants and fire management in fynbos and savanna landscapes. As a Research Assistant Scientist collaborating with the Crandall Fire Ecology Lab, Jen is studying how interactions among fire and plants influence the resilience of pine savannas in the U.S. and Belize. jfill@ufl.edu | Twitter | GoogleScholar | ResearchGate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627861069973-J2CO6KH7FUABY9AB483F/Webpage_RashelleDeak.jpeg Our Team - Rashelle Deak Ph.D. Candidate Prior to joining the Crandall Fire Ecology Lab, Rashelle studied the degree to which urban expansion affects plant invasion patterns in forested ecosystems of the eastern U.S. Her current research focuses primarily on the effects of wildland fire and other abiotic factors on population dynamics of pine species in the southeastern U.S. Additional areas of interest include interactions between wildland fire, pollinator service and climate change, and understanding the implications of these interactions for the restoration and management of pine-dominated ecosystems. Rashelle received her M.S. in Ecological Restoration from the University of Florida in 2019. rdeak@ufl.edu | Twitter | ResearchGate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/60d09235-d2c0-4b71-95fa-bc717d5181c5/Phillip+Rodgers+photo.JPG Our Team - Phillip Rodgers Ph.D. Student After completing his master's degree in human-wildlife conflicts in southwestern Florida, Phillip worked as a wildlife habitat management biologist for several years. He developed a passion for managing and restoring wildlife habitat through the application of prescribed fires. Phillip recently returned to the research world as a conservation social scientist working for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Phillip is pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology and hopes his research on the human dimensions of prescribed burning will contribute to the application of more prescribed fire in Florida, the southeastern United States, and beyond. He is a Florida native and a former Gator grad. Phillip’s undergraduate and master's studies were both in the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation department at UF, where he focused on the human dimensions of natural resource management. p.rodgers1@ufl.edu | ResearchGate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627860509085-NZE8XTSVS5QTPQLSXPAE/People_Todd_Angel.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627860648092-FPRUDX85AUXDTRFHA05P/People_Hermann.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627553847441-DXSKPDON2171ZVGW77L2/IMG_4452.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1626663774291-8W78GPP844TP984FY7J5/Measureing+wiregrass.jpg https://www.ecologyonfire.com/publications daily 0.75 2026-03-18 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/opportunities daily 0.75 2023-11-29 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/research daily 0.75 2023-07-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1626818115739-E2GKID0VCWU429NBJ7YR/Wiregrass%2Bresprouting.jpg Research - Savanna Restoration using Wiregrass Wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana/stricta) plays a keystone role in ecosystem health of imperiled longleaf pine (LLP; Pinus palustris) savannas of the southeastern USA. It promotes the grass-fire feedback, provides ecosystem services, and promotes biodiversity. The long-term goal of this research is to evaluate how seeding and fire management practices affect restoration using wiregrass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1626818081330-3M40VIOCCQE4YZJ65A70/IMG_1436.jpg Research - Belizean Pine Savannas Pine ecosystems are a significant regional natural resource in Central America. Inappropriate fire management practices, indicated especially by low pine recruitment, threaten ecosystem health and sustainability. Because healthy ecosystems are maintained by interactions among fire, pines, and grasses, science-based fire management requires data on the mechanisms by which fire affects pine and grass population dynamics. But little scientific data exist. Our goal is to identify how fire frequency and seasonal timing affect pine and grass population growth via effects on vital rates. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627514221318-2HMUAFHM9EPORBJJ2F8Z/IMG_7147.jpeg Research - Rare Plant Conservation Worldwide many species are threatened with imminent extinction or are rapidly approaching that condition. Threats to population viability of rare species are imposed by changes in the environment, either by natural or anthropogenic causes, or a consequence of population size. An understanding of plant population responses to environmental changes (e.g., fire or flooding regimes) via changes in vital rates will facilitate effective conservation. We are currently collecting data on 8 state or federally protected plant species and hope to add more in the future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1626818309977-XFKAI26OPJKKGQX1IGJI/Gulf+Frittilary+on+Liatris+chapmanii.SJBSBP.9-23-05.JPG Research - Fire Regimes and Communities Fire-dependent longleaf pine savannas and grasslands are an important resource in the southeastern U.S., providing ecosystem services and habitat for federally listed species. Understanding ecological drivers between fire and biodiversity is critical when developing adaptive fire management strategies for resilience to climate change. Using multiple, long-term vegetation datasets, we are examining how fire regimes structure plant species associations and assembly patterns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/0b232bd8-8d45-4b11-be21-78f94839ff98/063150C2-EB56-4643-8383-D76454499E60.JPG Research - Fire Science Communication Public acceptance of prescribed fire is essential to ensure we can continue to burn and maintain healthy forests in the future. Thus, we seek to understand how clear and targeted messages from trusted messengers can help the public understand the importance of prescribed burning. We use surveys, conversation cafes, and interviews to determine how messaging should be developed and who should deliver the messages. https://www.ecologyonfire.com/teaching daily 0.75 2023-03-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627776699025-QK21GWVOVPPVP7NKCXTO/IMG_9586.JPG Teaching https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627776781751-6ZNGX25O5DZX7UZ55ITR/IMG_7412.JPG Teaching https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627776971233-H1OD93W2E7JD8M5ZITWG/Palmetto+burning.jpeg Teaching https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1627777355637-KW6GT74414LLFP2G9XKB/DSC_0309.JPG Teaching https://www.ecologyonfire.com/resources daily 0.75 2023-06-22 https://www.ecologyonfire.com/art daily 0.75 2025-08-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/31cf290e-48bb-4bab-bf34-41994a033287/Crandall_2022_Headshot.jpg Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/1628010151622-ZEIGNQCTPPI6QXDRNU7S/fire+in+annual+winter+burn+unit+at+ACF.jpg Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/345673da-e43f-40eb-9c81-bca390b641bb/IMG_1315.jpg Art https://www.ecologyonfire.com/forestexcel daily 0.75 2025-11-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/93e6d389-7509-4623-81b0-8072d8fbdc99/Caribbean+pine+recruitment.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/950d1394-1746-4673-aa24-34437ad1067d/Picture1.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/87e94f68-cbf8-4564-a01b-0473f100c382/Screenshot+2025-10-20+at+5.05.14%E2%80%AFPM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/397541f7-9250-43c8-bbfd-14fe34d1c774/Pivot+table+2.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/297bf97e-2629-4037-943a-63d91f681f4a/Screenshot+2025-11-28+at+7.45.58%E2%80%AFPM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/ddf0a331-a911-46eb-962d-11f54b60bf86/Screenshot+2025-11-28+at+7.51.08%E2%80%AFPM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/fe45d1ef-c182-4220-b386-84c44696e2f6/Screenshot+2025-11-28+at+7.43.39%E2%80%AFPM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f4a1565da2d77997a1dc99/3a7760f9-23ca-4a3d-b806-674c43a9d8cd/Screenshot+2025-11-28+at+7.45.21%E2%80%AFPM.png https://www.ecologyonfire.com/studentresources daily 0.75 2025-11-13