Category: Wildlife | Accent on Natural Landscaping

Tomorrow is World Turtle Day 2019

May 22, 2019

Started in 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, World Turtle Day is observed on May 23rd and aims to increase the public’s knowledge about turtles and tortoises and the vital role they play in our ecosystem.

Baby Painted Turtles look like plastic toys, but they’re not.

The Painted Turtle gets its name from the bottom of its beautifully patterned shell.

Baby Snapping Turtles are so cute. It’s a shame people become fearful of them as they get older.

At the WILD Center, here in Wisconsin, while I worked there as Wild Ones Executive Director, we observed the Painted, Snapping and Blandings* Turtles. Too often, unfortunately, I have seen people deliberately swerving their cars in front of the WILD Center to run over turtles crossing the road to get to their egg-laying habitat. While other more friendly humans, fortunately, have deliberately stopped and helped the turtles across the road to safety in the WILD Center prairie or even down to the marshy area along the Little Lake Butte des Morts lake edge.

“Turtles are important as scavengers, herbivores, carnivores and often contribute significant biomass to the ecosystem. They break down the energy of plant materials and convert them into protein.” Their eggs not only make new turtles, but they also provide food for many predators — land and water. (Turtle Conservation Society)

*The Blandings Turtle is listed as a Species of Special Concern in Wisconsin.

Marine Turtles

While researching marine turtles, I was surprised to learn the decaying unhatched eggs of the tens of thousands deposited by nesting marine turtles help to nourish the beach ecosystem. Without this nourishment helping to maintain the vegetation, more erosion would surely occur along the beaches.

Another interesting fact about marine turtles is they act like the lawn mower of the ocean floor. If they didn’t keep the seagrasses eaten short, these plants would not survive for other aquatic critters to use for food, breeding and shelter.

They also function as the vacuum cleaner for ocean coral. The Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, for example, would not stay as healthy as it is without the sea turtles scooping up the excess algae which tends to rob the coral of sunlight. This, however, does not overcome the damage to the coral from climate change and pollution. (Natural Geographic)

Although there is good support on public lands, turtle habitat and turtle hatchlings should be protected everywhere on land and in the water. Sounds like a good opportunity for citizen science efforts — monitoring turtle nests and hatchlings.

See also 13 Awesome Photos of Turtles by EPA.

Bluebonnets or Lupines

May 17, 2019

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets are now blossoming in Texas so I thought it would be a good time to try to explain the difference between a bluebonnet and a Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis).

Texas Bluebonnet (*Lupinus texensis*) Photo by Norman G Flaigg courtesy of Wildflower Center.

Texas bluebonnets are actually six different Lupinus species with only one having the official name of Texas Bluebonnet or Lupinus texensis. Bluebonnets grow in most southwestern states, while Wild Lupine (Lupinus perrenis) grows in Wisconsin and most northeastern and southeastern states.

Although they are both in the Lupinus genus, they blossom at different times and, of course, in different climates. The shape of the petals of the Bluebonnet flower (raceme*) resembles the bonnets worn by pioneer women, hence the name. Typically blue in color, the flower florets also will grow in shades of white, pink, lavender, purple and maroon. Each floret has a wide white banner spot in the center of the banner petal. As the floret ages, this spot often turns reddish-purple. As the entire flower (raceme) ages, one of the top petals turns reddish-purple. It is considered ephemeral; it goes dormant by late spring.

According to Mike Quinn, past president of the Austin Butterfly Forum, “the bluebonnet is the larval food host for the Northern Cloudywing, Gray Hairstreak, Henry’s Elfin, Painted and American Lady, and Orange Sulphur butterflies.” (Wildflower.org)

Wild Lupine

Like the Texas Bluebonnet, Wild Lupine (Lupinus perrenis) likes well-drained soil and a sunny location. Wild Lupine, however, blooms late spring to early summer. It, too, is considered an ephemeral because it goes dormant by mid-summer. Its blooms, described as pea-like, are blue to violet in color and also have a white area at the tip of each floret.

Although the Wild Lupine is the only host plant for the Karner Blue butterfly caterpillar, a federally-endangered species native to the Great Lakes region, it is also a host plant for the Frosted Elfin and the Eastern Persius Duskywing butterflies.

Seeds and Leaves

All species of Lupinus have leaves which are palmate with anywhere from 3 to 11 leaflets. When seeds are ripe they spring from their pods with a popping sound. Before they can germinate, however, the seeds must be scarified (roughed up) to allow water uptake.

The bluebonnets and Wild Lupine belong to the Legume or Bean Family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) which makes the plant a good source for nitrogren — a natural fertilizer. That is why plants of the Legume Family are able to grow so well in disturbed areas and often are used as a cover crop to enrich the soil.

*Spike-like cluster

Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)

May 13, 2019

In the St. Louis area, Heavenly Bamboo is considered to be semi-evergreen to deciduous because plants will typically lose their foliage (become deciduous) as soon as winter temperatures dip below 10 degrees F, with the stems sometimes dying to the ground. (MO Botanical Garden)

As if we don’t already have enough to do eradicating invasive species, now there is a new barberry plant on the horizon. Heavenly Bambo (Nandinia domestica) is an Asian import. It is semi-evergreen here in Wisconsin, can handle full sun to part shade and has a spectacular fruit display. Therein lies the problem. It is killing songbirds that are mistaking it for a good food source this time of year. But research has shown the seeds contain a cyanide, which causes a swift, but painful death.

Although it’s been found primarily in the Southern states, Wild Ones Fox Valley Area Chapter member Loris Damerow tells me certain cultivars of this plant can be hardy into Zone 5 of the Hardiness Zone map.

Making an on-line search for retail sources for this plant, I found it available at Walmart and several other on-line nurseries. If you run across this plant at a nursery, no matter how beautiful it appears, please don’t purchase it. In fact, make the nursery aware of it’s deadly effect on birds and potentially other wildlife, and ask them either to remove the plants or include a warning for the purchaser.

REMOVE BERRIES

If you should come across this plant in a neighbor’s yard or a municipal park or another area, with permission, please make every attempt to get the fruits removed before it is too late for the returning migrating birds. This time of the year, and especially because of our late spring, the Heavenly Bamboo fruits are appealing to wildlife since there is so little native plant nourishment available. Cut the berries from the plant and deposit them in the garbage; do not compost them.

CONTACT YOUR DNR

Here in Wisconsin, if you find a plant for sale which is on the invasive species list (NR40), you are encouraged to contact:

Matt Wallrath – State of Wisconsin, DNR
Trade Outreach Coordinator, Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation
Business Phone: 608-266-8916 Cell: 608-345-7063
Matthew.Wallrath@wisconsin.gov

Likely other states have similar contacts available for you to notify their DNR about the sale of invasive species. Don’t hesitate to check for this information and let them know if you find invasive species available for sale.

Thank you Kimberly Bruce for making me aware of this article: Feeding Behavior-Related Toxicity due to Nandina domestica in Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum).

Late Monarch Arrivals in Texas may mean Loss of Population Growth

April 17, 2019

Last month, Chip Taylor, Founder and Director of Monarch Watch, responded to a question related to the potential for monarch migration routes being shut down between Mexico and Texas because of the cold weather, and what this would mean for monarch population growth. The writer understood monarchs arriving early in Texas might not find nectar sources or milkweed on which to lay eggs, which could result in loss of population growth. But why would late arriving monarchs result in similar losses?

Typically this delayed arrival results in lower population numbers because the overwintering monarchs arriving late in Texas means, generationally, there may not be enough time egg to egg to increase population growth before starting the cycle all over again.

Late Arrivals

Monarch butterfly depositing an egg on the host milkweed plant. Photo by Candi Sarikonda

Chips response was “late arrivals mean late egg laying that produces a cohort of new adults 30+ days later that is also late relative to those that arrived earlier and matured their offspring earlier. The net effect for the population is to send a first generation north with a higher mean age to first reproduction than if all eggs were laid earlier. This later first generation cohort is likely to arrive later in the North as well as producing more late effects. The overall outcome could be a smaller fall population under some conditions.

Population growth is all about age to first reproduction – sometimes characterized as generation length. In terms of insects, I think of egg to egg intervals. I want them to be as short as possible if I want a population to grow. Degree days are one way to capture these population characteristics but degree days are not as good as direct observation for a number of reasons.

Importance of First Sightings Data

The dynamics of the growth of the population last year – when compared to all previous years – caused me to realize that the temporal and spatial distribution of eggs as well as the quantity laid by returning females – were important determinants of monarch population growth.

I’m slow to figure things out. It took me 26 years and lots and lots of First Sightings Data posted to Journey North to figure that out.

Thanks to Journey North and all those citizens who post their observations to that site.”

Note: The cold temperatures did abate last month, and monarchs had favorable conditions along both pathways out of Mexico.