Let’s Celebrate Washington’s Native Flora and South Sound Prairies, Post by Deborah Naslund, photos as attributed.
In addition to her volunteer activities on our South Sound prairies, Deb Naslund is currently Chair of the South Sound Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society. You can reach her at chair@southsoundchapterwnps.org.
Let’s Celebrate Washington’s Native Flora and South Sound Prairies
April is National Native Plant Appreciation Month! And the Washington Native Plant Society is hosting a month-long celebration of Washington’s native flora. The theme this year is Native Pollinators need Native Plants. There are 28 webinars scheduled, hosted by chapters from across the state, along with a number of native plant walks and native plant sales. All WNPS Native Plant Appreciation Month events are free and open to the public.
Of special interest to South Sound prairies are several talks by our renowned scientists who have devoted their research to this unique ecosystem.
Coming up on Monday, April 12th is a webinar presented by Lauren “Ivy” Clark, “Bee-crossed Paintbrushes”. Ivy will take us through a look at the complex connections between our native prairie paintbrush plants (Castilleja spp.) and the various pollinators that interact with them either as pollinators or as predators. This talk will feature her Masters research on Castilleja species and how the pollinators move among them on two South Sound Prairie sites. This webinar is sponsored by the South Sound Chapter of WNPS. Follow this link to register: https://www.wnps.org/ss-events/calendar/978.
On April 22, Sarah Hamman will present “Restoration from the Ground Up: Incorporating Soils Knowledge into Native Plant Restoration Efforts”. Sarah will discuss ways that soils knowledge can be used to improve the success of restoration of native plant communities, including South Sound Prairies, in Washington. Find more information and registration details here: https://www.wnps.org/calendar/982
If talk of oak galls has triggered your curiosity, you may want to catch “The Wonderful World of Galls”, with Christine Heycke, sponsored by the Olympia Peninsula Chapter of WNPS. Find out more and register for this webinar here: https://www.wnps.org/op-events/calendar/975
Two fabulous webinars have already happened.
On April 6th, Dr. Susan Waters presented Plants, Pollinators, Native Prairies, and Conservation. Susan described her fascinating research using plant-pollinator networks to examine the effects of restoration on pollinating insect communities and the interactions that feed back to affect rare plant and insect species. The focus of her work is the Cascadia prairie ecosystems.
On April 1st, Dr. Lalita Calabria presented The Biodiversity and Conservation of Puget Sound Prairie Bryophytes and Lichens. This presentation described the biodiversity and conservation status of Puget Sound prairie bryophyte and lichen communities including potential impacts from prescribed burning practices on rare lichens. Dr. Calabria also highlighted the spatial and temporal variability of N2-fixing moss-cyanobacteria associations in Puget Sound prairies.
But not to worry, both webinars were recorded and you can find them here: https://www.wnps.org/wnps-annual-events/virtual-events
Don’t miss another of these fabulous talks. Sign up for as many of the webinars as you would like to watch! You can find the full schedule of activities at https://www.wnps.org/wnps-annual-events/npam.