The field work for Brittany Lenze's research project on the effects of soil warming on the growth of Canada Thistle came to an end a little over 2 weeks ago when we harvested the plants that originally started out as rhizomes last June. This is the second phase of her research that included a greenhouse experiment last year. The preliminary results are, thus far, quite interesting. In addition to finding a potentially novel herbivore on this invasive plant species, we were able to demonstrate 1) that any system with pots above the ground won't mimic the amplitude of soil temperature variations seen in the surrounding soil and 2) that the the plastic sheeting (not temperature) resulted in increased plant biomass. We also found an interesting result (pictured to the right) where the roots of this species spread prolifically down through the pots, into the surrounding soil, and sprouted under the plastic. I am not an expert on this species, but our experience collecting rhizomes and the literature we reviewed suggested that root growth would be more modest. Great stuff!

Brittany Lenze (Class of 2019, top) and Ruric Bowman (Class of 2020, bottom) presented their research on the effects of climate change on invasive plants and evolution of dispersal traits in stream insects at the 2018 Susquehanna River Symposium. While nobody brought home any awards, I was super proud of them both for putting together posters demonstrating their hypothesis driven, well thought-out research. I'm especially proud of Brittany whose Canada Thistle plots were harvested just a few days prior to the meeting. Learn more about the meeting HERE.