Unit 15: Old Mesic (remnant)

2000-2005

Fall 2001: One year after clearing, piles of autumn olive are dry and ready to burn

Winter 2001-2002: Burning autumn olive piles

Winter 2001-2002: Multiple piles of brush are burned to clear the old prairie remnant

 

2002-2005: Old Mesic is brush-hogged every summer to keep invasive brush at bay

2002-2005: Old Mesic is brush-hogged every summer to keep invasive brush at bay

Fall 2004: Mom at the north end of Old Mesic near oak tree

2006

Fall 2006: First year without mowing reveals a field of mostly orchard grass and timothy for the most part

Fall 2006: New England Aster was the first nice wildflower that I recognized after I quite mowing.  It only appeared around areas where the brush piles were burned in 2001 which must have exposed the seed bank.

Fall 2006: New England Aster growing at the edge of where one of the brush piles was burned

2007

Summer 2007: After one spring burn, New England Aster & Stiff Goldenrod are blooming

Summer 2007: Showy Goldenrod & Arrow-Leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum urophyllum)

Summer 2007: Looking north along the east edge of Old Mesic

2008

March 2008: Viewing east over south end of site

March 2008: Looking north

May 2008: Even after 2 spring burns, autumn olive continues to be a big problem

Summer 2008: Increased diversity despite shrub problem

Summer 2008: Looking northeast - Lots of autumn olive and queen anne's lace, but Wild Bergamot and Black-Eyed Susan are starting to show up.

2009

Spring 2009: Old Mesic is completely brush-hogged following spring burns to remove autumn olive

Spring 2009: Brush-hogging the prairie right after the controlled burns really increases light for prairie plants and helps setback the invasive autumn olive shrubs

Summer 2009: Shrubs are setback but Queen Anne's Lace still quite abundant

2010

January 2010: Clearing Elm trees and invasive shrubs and brambles along the trail to Old Mesic

Spring 2010: Old Mesic is given a rest from burning this season

Spring 2010: No burns in Old Mesic this spring

Summer 2010: Shrubs not brush-hogged in spring so that they could be hand-cut and herbicided

Fall 2010: Not brush-hogging Old Mesic this spring was a big mistake.  Autumn Olive put on substantial top growth this season and probably kept a lot of plants from flowering and setting seed (looking south along trail).

2011

Spring 2011: Despite the huge shrub problem, we had a great spring burn in Old Mesic.  The leaves from the autumn olive shrubs are actually highly flammable and helped move the fire across the majority of the site.

Spring 2011: We definitely got after the shrub problem with the brush-hog after our burns were complete

June 2011: Old Mesic looking much healthier with the autumn olive setback

Summer 2011: Spiderwort and Ironweed surrounded by a sea of black-eyed susans



Summer 2011: Prairie Dock basal leaves in Old Mesic

Summer 2011: Ironweed blooming, this prairie was really looking good and big bluestem was starting to pop-up all over the place from seed that I had planted a few years prior

2012


Spring 2012: This site was brush-hogged in March and burned in early April to help continue to setback autumn olive.  Despite being mowed, we had a great burn and was a little later in the spring then previous years.