Prairie Fork News and Updates: Second Quarter 2023

Latest News, Management News, Research News,

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Spring has sprung and so has the activity level in the area.

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Black Eyed-Susan, Photo credit: Jeff Demand April 2023

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Website 2023

Please check out our new and improved PFCA (Prairie Fork Conservation Area) webpage! https://prairiefork.org/

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Purple Milkweed, Photo credit: Jeff Demand April 2023

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Variegated Fritterary, Photo credit: Jeff Demand April 2023

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Educational Updates

The education staff was very busy this Spring hosting 66 groups at Prairie Fork this past spring. With the additional availability of Areas 1 and 2, more students and visitors were able to use the meeting spaces and enjoy campouts.

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Outdoor Classroom 3, Photo credit: Amber Edwards 2023

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This spring, we were able to place our newly received Leopold benches crafted by Eagle Scout Jack Callahan in Outdoor Classroom 3. The benches in that outdoor classroom face the prairie of the Gold Trail; some were also placed at Crow Pond, where the students can dip net on the North side of the pond.

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Photo credit: Amber Edwards 2023

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Photo credit: Amber Edwards 2023

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Photo credit: Amber Edwards 2023

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As flowers began to bloom, students stopped to investigate, identify, and see what pollinators might be on the flowers.

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Edward Jones Associates, Photo credit: Amber Edwards 2023

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Edward Jones Associates visiting this spring gave back by planting several varieties of Milkweed along the trails.

Area two has officially opened for booking. This area has three hiking trails (orange, silver and purple) that take you through restored prairie, through forest, by a wetland, and the Prairie Fork Stream. Outdoor classroom #4 has dock access to the crayfish wetland named after the abundant number of crayfish burrows found in the surrounding fields. Outdoor classroom #5 faces the prairie with Outdoor classroom #6 in the forest.

This area also encompasses the Education Building which is an insulated metal building that has three bay doors that can open with tables and chairs for set up as needed. The picnic area has plastic picnic tables, porta potties and a handwashing station. PFCA provides Trash & Recycling for visitors (we know this would make Pat very happy!). This area also has bus parking and a BBQ grill for campouts.

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Outdoor Classroom 4, Photo credit: Amber Edwards 2023

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Students on Field Trip, Photo Credit by Amber Edwards

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Education Building, Photo credit: Amber Edwards 2023

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Facility Pavilion 2, Photo Credit by Amber Edwards

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We were able to start working with our Education Interns as the school year ended. They were able to interact at some late spring field experiences, they also helped assemble the new benches for the pavilion and the new picnic tables for Area two. Each intern has been working on individual programs to be delivered at Prairie Fork along with Outdoor Classroom and Trail Maintenance.

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Area Management Updates

Habitat Management:

Invasive Species Control: Reed Canary Grass sprayings – 90 acres
Bush Honeysuckle and Autumn Olive control – 34 acres
PFCA management and crews completed the rehabilitation and fencing of 3 parking lots (AB, Twin Oaks, D South).

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Research Continuing Projects Updates:

Here is a look at ongoing research at PFCA.

Dr. Rebecca North’s Ph.D. student, Fatima Laraib, provided us with a brief summary of work their lab is conducting on the project “How does Vitamin B1 Influence Harmful Algal Blooms and Lake Toxicity?” The overall purpose of this project is to conduct thiamine addition experiments to understand the effect of thiamine and its moiety, HMP, on phytoplankton and cyanobacteria biomass, phytoplankton photosynthetic efficiency, and cyanotoxin concentrations across four different lake trophic statuses. Before starting the actual experiment, Dr. Rebecca North and I conducted a practice experiment at Crow Pond on April 27, 2023. With the help of other students in the lab, we filled 5 cubitainers with 18L of water from Crow Pond. Then, back in the limnology lab, we spiked these cubitainers with thiamine, HMP, nitrogen, and phosphorus. We incubated the cubitainers and subsampled the water for various parameters on the 3rd and 6th days of incubation.

We conducted the real experiment on June 2, 2023, at Crow Pond, where we filled 15 cubitainers with 18 L of water. Similarly, we spiked these cubitainers with the nutrients back in the limnology lab and incubated them. We subsampled the water from the cubitainers on the 3rd and 6th days of incubation and analyzed the water quality. (Laraib photos from email courtesy MU Limnology Lab http://limnology.missouri.edu/index.html)

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Lariaib North Project, Photo Credit by MU Limnology Lab

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Lariaib North Project, Photo Credit by MU Limnology Lab

Dr. Samniqueka Halsey and her team of researchers are conducting a study measuring the effects of prescribed burning and prairie restoration on the abundance of small mammals and disease-infected ticks. Through the process of trapping and handling, the quantity of the mammals and ticks are compared with other similar landscapes in central Missouri (e.g. Tucker Prairie, Prairie Fork Conservation Area).(Project data collection information contributed by Lauren Marshall, Education Intern in SNR for: Project Title: Detection and Characteristics of Ehrlichia and Rickettsia in Callaway County, Missouri. http://www.halseyacelab.org/

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Until Next Time, “Learn, Get Dirty and Have Fun!”

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