A new plant species appears after fire

I have been searching the area that was burned last year for the emergence of wildflowers that the fire might have encouraged to sprout after some dormancy.
I have seen some species in new places as a result of the fire, but this week found a species I had never recorded here.
It is Early Blue Violet (Viola palmata), a fairly widespread species that I have been seeing occasionally this year, but never in great numbers as the other violet species around the area.

More Cogon Grass Appears

While I was out today collecting some trash and checking on the status of lupine seedlings I noticed a new patch of Cogon Grass.
It was growing at the edge of the scrub along an area that had been bush-hogged earlier this year.
I don't know whether it arrived via the mowing equipment or blew in from a nearby infestation along Recker Highway.
I need to deal with it before it expands.

Lupine Season Slowly Begins

Scrub Lupine seedlings are beginning to appear at the preserve.
I checked today following a rainy weekend to collect more small pieces of trash in the disturbed sand.
I brought flags in case some lupines had emerged.
When I checked last week, there was little to see.

One surprise was to find some seedlings in the area north of the planting area that had been disked a few months ago
I also found two seedlings in the area where I discovered lupines from an old seed bank unrelated to the seedlings from Bok Tower that make up the main body of the lupine population.
Meanwhile, last week additional seedlings and pots containing seeds were brought to the preserve.
There are no mature plants in the preserve now, so there will be no flowers or new seeds this year.

Picking Up The Pieces

The combination of the recent disking of the fire lane in the perimeter and down the middle of the north tract and recent rainfall has created an opportunity to collect small pieces of debris.
I filled two five-gallon buckets  in the initial run of part of this section.
As I expected, most of it consisted of broken glass.
However, I also found some old auto parts.
It's raining again today.
I'll return when the sun returns to see what else I can find.
While I was out there, I noticed one of the benches needed to be repaired.
I took care of that, too.

Rare plants recovering from management mishap

A couple of years ago while the fire lane on the south tract was being maintained or something, the tractor tires dug deep ruts into an area that had the highest concentration of  an endangered plant species called Polygonella basiramia that had been flagged in hopes the area might have been treated more gently.
There had been about 300 plants in this area.
Last year I checked the site and didn't find any plants there.
I checked recently and located a handful of plants, so perhaps they are gradually coming back.
I'll have to recheck next year to see what the status is.

Cleaning Up Cogon Infestation Again

One of the ongoing management challenges here has involved the control of isolated patches of cogon grass that have sprung up in a few locations inside the preserve.
Some have been successfully herbicided by FWC staffers, but some persist despite previous efforts.
One lies along the edge of the fire lane in the south tract.
I have resorted to periodically digging up the plants--it is important to remove the roots--and hauling them away for proper disposal.
Now that the weather has cooled, I have resumed the work.
The other day I filled two garbage cans with plants. I will come back to check on any stragglers I may have overlooked.
 

The explained and unexplained decline of rare plants

Little by little,  fewer individuals of some listed plants are visible here.
First came the Giant Orchids, which went from 25 to 0 as a result of the heavy equipment used for mechanical clearing before the site's first burn in 2008.
Last year some heavy tractor work along the north fire lane in the south tract made 300 Polygonella basiramia disappear, at least temporarily.

The latest decline involved Scrub blazing star (pictured above), which was a common sight along the north-south trail in the north tract. This week, at the height of the flowering period,  I found only one.
The area along the path had been mechanically cleared within the past year.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery plan for this species  recommends preventing this plant being run over by off-road vehicles. I assume this would apply to equipment used for bush-hogging falls into this category.
I found a small group of about 7 plants along a new cleared path east of the path.
I have been unable to find any west of the path where the most were located during a survey about 10 years ago.
I don't have any idea why those plants are missing.
Anyway, the total number from the earlier survey was 40 plants and now there are about a half a dozen.
This merits a further examination.