http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:11:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 © lmiddleton@embarqmail.com () lmiddleton@embarqmail.com() stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed lmiddleton@embarqmail.com No no http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler 144 144 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/02/03/119-fernbrook-natural-area-hosts-winter-landscapes-and-much-more/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/02/03/119-fernbrook-natural-area-hosts-winter-landscapes-and-much-more/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:53:12 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/?p=176 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/02/03/119-fernbrook-natural-area-hosts-winter-landscapes-and-much-more/feed/ 0 4:49 January 15, 2009 Fernbrook Natural Area in northern Albemarle County near Stony Brook is host of images of death, decay, and resurrection in the flora and ... January 15, 2009 Fernbrook Natural Area in northern Albemarle County near Stony Brook is host of images of death, decay, and resurrection in the flora and fauna of the Piedmont woods. The January cold spell has arrived ndash; always a harsh reminder, especially here in Virginia ndash; of the intractability of winter.nbsp; Being from New England, it feels welcome, like a patch of remnant habitat ndash; familiar and necessary for my survival.nbsp;nbsp; The bite of cold when I first leave the house for my walk, the peeling back of layers as heat of my body meets morning chill. The knowledge of light that has come with experiencing over half a decade of Januarys, as the skies are brighter, the days are longer, but still, somehow, muted by the cold.nbsp; My need to be outside is greater at this time of year than others --against the inertia that a warm house foster, an urgency tugs at me as the voices of the winter landscape are calling. I went to feed this winter hunger last weekend at Fernbook Natural Area, thenbsp; 63-acre preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy in northern Albemarle County near Stony Point.nbsp; This time of year, it is a palette of earth tones, rich with every shade of brown, red, yellow, orange, and black.nbsp; Green pokes up here and there: running cedar emerging from the layer of leaves, the rhododendron on the northern slopes; and the ever-reliable, Christmas fern, though sagging from the weight of wingter, it is still standing, ready to be counted. The trail slopes down through a tall stand of red oak, hickory and yellow poplar towards a small stream that drains the ridge.nbsp; Only the beech trees and few oaks still hold their leaves, browned now, quaking in the slight wind.nbsp; The late afternoon light is mediated by clouds, occasional patches of blue lingering before a darkening sky. This winter in particular, I am attuned to disintegration and death, and a forest like the one at Fernbrook is as good a place as any to find it.nbsp; Decay is everywhere:nbsp; dense downed logs along the trail are scuffed by travelers' boots into light tufts.nbsp; The bark of Virginia pine still standing, is pocked by holes that spiral round the trunk marking the drill of the downy woodpecker.nbsp; A cavity higher up could be home to a pileated.nbsp; These are some of the larger agents of change in the forest, foraging for a meal beneath the bark of host trees giving way slowly to insects. Still on the branches of beech trees, are black clumps of sooty mold.nbsp; A hunk the size of my fist has dropped to the ground at the base of a beech, and I pick it up ndash; light as a sponge, this is final stage for the mold that is unique to the beech tree.nbsp; Scorias spongiosa, as a species of sooty mold that grows below colonies of beech woolly aphids, whose honeydew ndash; or excrement ndash; provides nourishment through its life stages.nbsp; In January, these aphids are long gone, but when I pry the mold apart, I find shiny black ants feasting on the spores. Cleared in colonial days for timber, Fernbrook was abandoned sometime after the Civil War.nbsp; But here and there, the pencil-sharp snags of Virginia cedar point skyward, and from time to time, the slope is anchored by a mound of rocks that marked perhaps the corner of an old field.nbsp; The small stream has the characteristic steep banks of our Piedmont streams that have been cut vertically during the years of high erosion when no protective measures stemmed the flow of topsoil from newly logged acres. Just as surely as I am looking at death and decay, I am also witness to rebirth, in everything from the defiant fist-like buds of the dogwoods in understudy, to the delicate, cigar-shaped twist of the beech bud.nbsp; Each soggy, rotten log hosts its own ecosystem of fungi, bacteria, and insects, thriving in dark spaces, drunk on the nutrients they release back to the cycle of life. Through the bare trees I can see upward to the sky, anoth... Albemarle,County,,Climate,,Ecology,,History,,Natural,History,,North,Fork,Rivanna,,Sediment,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:26:49 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/18/116-the-emerald-ash-borer/feed/ 0 5:34 December 18, 2008 Learning to identify trees is the business of the amateur naturalist -- and these days, one that includes learning about and spreading the ... December 18, 2008 Learning to identify trees is the business of the amateur naturalist -- and these days, one that includes learning about and spreading the word about invasive pests that are threatening whole species, such as the Emerald Ash Borer. Last weekend I took a short walk along the scrubby and thinly buffered banks of the Rivanna near Free Bridge with some fellow Master Naturalists.nbsp; We were out to hone our tree identification skills ndash; best done, I've found, after the fall of leaves when one is forced to use the most reliable tools of branching, bark, and leaf scar shape to confirm the ID. Land disturbance and compaction at this site along the river has been pretty much uninterrupted with a succession of fords and bridges dating back to the 1700s ndash; making the area vulnerable to a host of invasive species, such as Siberian elm, callery pear, and Oriental bittersweet.nbsp; But we also found plenty of natives: box elders, sycamores, and green and white ash.nbsp; I've learned over the short time I've practiced my naturalist skills that it is best to focus on one or two species in any given walk, lest I become overwhelmed and loose everything in the resulting confusion.nbsp; On this day, I'd chosen the ash tree, genus Fraxinus, a tree whose wood is strong and straight-grained for use in hardwood flooring, but tough and elastic when used in baseball bats, canoe paddles, and oars.nbsp; Within several hundred yards I met both the green ash, common here in the southeast, and the white ash, at the lower end of its hardiness zone.nbsp; Fraxinus belongs to that small category of trees and shrubs whose branching is opposite, and the mature bark presents interlacing ridges that form a diamond shaped pattern -- both attributes helpful in the identification of a tree commonly planted for shade.nbsp; And there, in the bottom-land along the river, we weren't surprised to see it had taken root, because it thrives in moist soil while tolerating drought well. As I paused to look closely at the pointy terminal bud of the green ash and compare it with the more oblique bud of the white, someone mentioned the Emerald ash borer, a bug that, as it name implies, is up to no good with a tree that fills out the hardwood canopy of our oak-hickory forests here in the south. Later, perusing the various web-sites devoted to trees and forest health, I learned enough to alarm me ndash; that the Emerald ash borer, a small, strikingly green insect arrived from Asian and made itself first known in Michigan in 2002.nbsp; After claiming the lives of at least 30 million trees in Michigan alone, it has moved east, into Maryland and now Northern Virginia, where it was found in 2003 ndash; eradicated ndash; and then rediscovered in the summer of 2008 in Fairfax. The emerald ash borer works fast, excavating serpentine tunnels through the circulatory system of the tree just below the bark.nbsp; The effects are hard to detect in trees until the damage is done ndash; upper branches die first, and as the canopy declines, the tree sprouts wildly at its base in the effort to make new leaves.nbsp;nbsp; The beetle's range is about a half a mile, so destruction of ash trees in a radius around the infested site is one control method ndash; as are quarantines of wood products and plant stock. In July, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services established a quarantine area that consists of Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William, Fauquier and Loudoun counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Manassas and Manassas Park. Public awareness campaigns have sprouted up, too.nbsp; Slogans such as, "Spread the word, not the pest" may help ndash; and you can find more information at websites such as dontmovefirewood.org and stopthebeetle.info. It is not an exaggeration to say that the loss of these trees may change our Eastern forests as radically as the chestnut blight altered them in the early 1900s. At a time w... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Ecology,,Education,,Natural,History,,Other,waters lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/04/114-winter-stoneflies/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/04/114-winter-stoneflies/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:05:21 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/04/114-winter-stoneflies/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/12/04/114-winter-stoneflies/feed/ 1 5:10 February 28, 2008 In the midst of winter, there are bugs in the stream that are alive and well ndash; and some, eve, are hatching out ... February 28, 2008 In the midst of winter, there are bugs in the stream that are alive and well ndash; and some, eve, are hatching out to become insects, having found their aquatic niche at a time when no others compete.nbsp; During StreamWatch sampling on the upper Doylersquo;s, we find several families of winter stoneflies. This show originally aired on February 28, 2008 and again on December 4, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. The upper Doyles River, like most headwater streams in the Rivanna watershed, is about as pristine as they come.nbsp; The waters that collect from springs and drainages of the land that is protected by Shenandoah National Park do not suffer the assaults of sediment and runoff that challenge the health of streams at lower elevations.nbsp; For this reason, the community based water monitoring program, StreamWatch, has chosen a spot high on the Doyles as one of several headwater streams that will be used during the next few years as ldquo;reference streamsrdquo; ndash; a standard of ldquo;as good as it gets in our watershedrdquo; -- against which other tributaries of the Rivanna will be evaluated. A couple of weeks ago, during a lull in the waves of wintry mix that so often challenge us in the piedmont, I visited the site for the first time.nbsp; The snow was still in patches on the ground, especially on the cooler, north facing slopes, but the sun was casting bright shadows lighting up the grays and browns of winter.nbsp; The macroinvertebrates, that we were there to count, cycle through their lives no matter the weather.nbsp; Some species are only found in the upper reaches where springs fill rugged, narrow streams that drop through pools and riffles, creating a cool, oxygen rich environment that is ideal for the aquatic world of bugs and the trout that feed on them. Recently, Irsquo;ve become interested in stoneflies ndash; the order Plecopteranbsp; that is well known to aquatic biologists and fishermennbsp; -- and on this day especially I was eager to see which stoneflies might come up to be counted in our mesh net after a vigorous rubbing of rocks and gravel. Ournbsp; total count was 355 bugs from three short net samples ndash; with almost 2/3 of them mayflies ndash; another bug that is known to thrive in cleaner water ndash; but also a hearty count of stoneflies, over forty of these representing at least five different families. In aquatic biology, it isnrsquo;t just the numbers of these sensitive organisms thatrsquo;s important ndash; when many different species are represented, this indicates richness, the abundance of varieties pointing to a complex and thriving ecosystem, with plenty of niches for many different kinds of organisms. The water is 3 degrees Centigrade, or about 38 degrees Fahrenheit, and we collect stoneflies from five families: green, common, perlodid, giant, and small winter stonefly.nbsp; Each of these has its place in the food chain ndash; some are crawlers that graze the algae and bacteria from the rocky bottom.nbsp; Others feed on the abundance of detritus caught between rocky pools and drops, munching through twigs and leaves, and recycling nutrients back to the water.nbsp; Some are carnivorous, and some are opportunistic.nbsp; And their lifecycles also vary: when they lay eggs, hatch into the larval stage, emerge from the water, and finally complete the cycle by depositing eggs for the next generation ndash; these are particular to each kind. Today, wersquo;ve caught a few of the small winter stonefly, which are sometimes called snowflies to honor the season in which they hatch from eggs that have been deposited by their terrestrial parents.nbsp; As the water warms, these bugs burrow down to the region of the loose sand, gravel, and cobble where surface water and groundwater mix and wait out the summer in quiet dormancy.nbsp; As the water starts t... Albemarle,County,,Climate,,Doyles,River,,Ecology,,Headwaters,,Natural,History,,Rivanna,River,,Water,Quality,,Wildlife lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/20/112-ginkgo-trees-the-oldest-living-plant/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/20/112-ginkgo-trees-the-oldest-living-plant/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:06:13 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/20/112-ginkgo-trees-the-oldest-living-plant/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/20/112-ginkgo-trees-the-oldest-living-plant/feed/ 1
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5:22 November 20, 2008 One of the oldest living plants on earth, Ginkgo biloba, owes its longevity to its ability to tolerate a wide range of climatic ... November 20, 2008 One of the oldest living plants on earth, Ginkgo biloba, owes its longevity to its ability to tolerate a wide range of climatic condition. This show originally aired on November 20, 2007 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net Occasionally, I get a call from someone ndash; usually my husband ndash; to report a sighting that is noteworthy of investigating for this show.nbsp; So last week, when my husband called, asking for the Rivanna Rambler in a whiny, pinched voice, I knew another tip was on its way. "I want to report a tree," the voice said. I pretended it was a crank call.nbsp; "What kind of tree?nbsp; Who Is this?" "A tree with leaves falling off of it." "What kind of tree?"nbsp; Hey, leaves were falling everywhere around town as the cold air and shorter days were finally forcing autumn's leafy splendor to the ground. "Gink-go." The voice said. Before I could say, "So what?" my husband, in normal voice now, told me that the gingko trees along Monticello Avenue that had just shed their leaves.nbsp; He had come upon them, empty and bare, a perfect circle of fan-shaped yellow leaves at the base of each tree. Now, I know of ginkgo biloba, used for thousands of years medicinally in the Far East, as a popular herbal supplement that is said to improve circulation and treat memory loss ndash; and researchers at Johns Hopkins say it shows promise of minimizing brain damage from stroke.nbsp; I had not paid it much attention, though, during tree courses, because it was only a specimen tree ndash; requiring propagation because it is not native to this area. But I was startled to learn that the gingko does, in fact, tend to drop its leaves all at one time, as though in response to a signal spread simultaneously through the organism along pathways we have yet to discover.nbsp; A signal, that it is time.nbsp; Time to let go and pass into the quiet dormancy of winter. I thought I'd better investigate for myself, so I drove over to UVA and found a large specimen on the curve of Alderman as it joins Ivy Road, just opposite the Chapel.nbsp; Its dark trunk and branches were not completely bare, but I could see the distinctive spur shoots on its branches.nbsp; Along that side of the road, five other ginkgos had been planted, young ones, only twenty feet tall, and here I saw at the base of each the telltale circle of yellow.nbsp; Later, I learned that the oldest local specimen stands by the Rotunda ndash;- the Pratt Ginkgo, named for William Pratt, the first Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, who planted it from seed in 1860.nbsp; Blandy Experimental Farm has a grove 340 specimens, one of the largest collections outside of China. By the age of the dinosaurs 200 million years ago, several species of ginkgos had been widespread in North America and Europe for many millions of years.nbsp; But the tree seemed to decline after the age of the dinosaurs, and was gone from both North America Europe two million years ago.nbsp; When it was rediscovered 1691 in Japan, botanists realized that the tree had actually survived in China where Buddhist monks cultivated the tree and spread it by seed to Japan and Korea.nbsp; Records show that individual trees have lived 3000, maybe even 4000 years ndash; and the species perhaps owes its survival to its longevity. The gingko tree is now ubiquitous ndash; as an ornamental in gardens all over the world, as street trees, as specimens in botanical gardens everywhere. In the Far East it is still planted near monasteries and shrines because it is thought that the bark and leaves secrete a sap that is fire-retardant.nbsp; It survives well in urban settings around the world due to its natural resistance to diseases, insects, air pollution and even radioactive radiation. Not surprisingly, once noticed, I started to see the ginkgo tree everywhere.nbsp; Around to... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Ecology,,Natural,History lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/13/111-autumn-on-the-rivanna-encore/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/13/111-autumn-on-the-rivanna-encore/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:05:06 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/13/111-autumn-on-the-rivanna-encore/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/13/111-autumn-on-the-rivanna-encore/feed/ 0
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4:40 November 13, 2008 A warm day on the river traveling to Rivanna Mills to sample provides opportunity to reflect on the need for both the short ... November 13, 2008 A warm day on the river traveling to Rivanna Mills to sample provides opportunity to reflect on the need for both the short and long view of changes in the watershed. This show originally aired on November 8, 2007 and then again on November 13, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. There is something not altogether right about this day.nbsp; Here it is, November 1st, and we should be bundled in fleece and wearing high rubber boots to venture out on the water.nbsp; Instead, wersquo;re wearing light rubber wading shoes that sink into the mud as we shove the canoe from the launch into the Rivanna at Hells Bend Farm, striving for a patch of water that will be deep enough to float the boat.nbsp; Though the water is a cool 56 degrees, the air temperature is climbing past 65 as the sun arcs into the autumn afternoon.nbsp; Irsquo;m not sure what doesnrsquo;t feel right: is it the air temperature? or the water level? which is still near historic lows in spite of patches of rain wersquo;ve had. Headed downriver to sample for aquatic bugs for the StreamWatch volunteer program, we quickly learn that the shoals in the center extend almost entirely across the river.nbsp; We snuggle up against the left bank, a vertical wall of dying asters and poison ivy, where a channel twice the width of the canoe is just deep enough to get a decent stroke.nbsp; Rounding Hellrsquo;s Bend, we stick to the outside, but in the long straightaway below we have to shove our way to the other side, seeking a route through the shallows of coarse sand deposited as the water slowed and dropped its load after the last storm.nbsp; The bottom is now being sculpted by the gentle flow into underwater ripples and bluffs much like the sharp relief of the winter beach is built by the tides and wind.nbsp; The channels along the banks are a Piedmont version of aquamarine.nbsp; The summerrsquo;s weed is gone, and everywhere, the water is clear enough to see to the bottom, where sunken leaves tumble and pile up against underwater tree limbs and rock outcroppings. Once at the sampling site below the Mill, we get to work, scraping bugs from a shallow cobbled riffle into the mesh net and pouring over the contents with our middle aged eyes.nbsp; We enter the world of macro ndash; where everything of interest is small ndash; one-eighth to as much as an inch long, like the fat, ribbed crane fly larvae that are in abundance today.nbsp; Wersquo;ve also captured small pebbles, twigs, and leaves in various stages of decomposition ndash; and from this tumble of browns and yellows, we must pick out the larvae of mayflies, water pennies, and caddisflies ndash; as well as the tiny clams and snails and worms that inhabit the stream.nbsp; Having sampled for a couple of years, we know that you look until you canrsquo;t find any more bugs, and then you look again, switch sides of the table and look some more, flip the net over and keep on looking, before you can have confidence that yoursquo;ve collected all the bugs in the net, which is necessary to assure quality data.nbsp; While we pour over the net, the river tumbles over the stone from the old dam, the sound making it seem like a fuller river than it is. By four orsquo;clock, wersquo;re winding down, just as the sky turns an ominous gray and the late afternoon sun catches clouds in curving lines stretched out in the wake the tropical depression Noel.nbsp; After pulling the canoe back up through the rapids to head home, I trip trying to step in the canoe and am suddenly on my butt in two feet of water that now feels plenty cool.nbsp; The paddle back upstream is welcome and warming work.nbsp; At the far end of the long straight channel, the late afternoon sky is dense with clouds descending their dark on tawny yellow sycamores that flank the river.nbsp; After straining to find the small bugs, it feels good to ... Climate,,Ecology,,Fluvanna,County,,Natural,History,,North,Fork,Rivanna,,Rivanna,River,,Rivanna,mainstem lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/06/110-here-comes-the-hydrilla-part-2/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/06/110-here-comes-the-hydrilla-part-2/#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:05:46 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/06/110-here-comes-the-hydrilla-part-2/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/11/06/110-here-comes-the-hydrilla-part-2/feed/ 0
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5:04 November 6, 2008 Hydrilla may improve certain aspects of water quality, but it is an invasive aquatic weed that has caused numerous problems around the country.nbsp; ... November 6, 2008 Hydrilla may improve certain aspects of water quality, but it is an invasive aquatic weed that has caused numerous problems around the country.nbsp; The future maintenance of the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir will need to address this growing problem in the reservoir.nbsp; This show originally aired on October 30, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. Last week, we learned about the aquatic weed, hydrilla, an herbaceous, perennial freshwater herb originally imported from southeast Asian for aquariums and water gardens ndash; and a plant that has taken over millions of acres of shallow standing and moving water in the United States.nbsp; Unfortunately, it has taken rootnbsp; in our watershed, particularly in the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, but it has also been found in tributaries like the North Fork as well as the river itself downstream from the reservoir. Like many plants that are characterized as invasive, it is not unattractive.nbsp; It has delicate leaves organized in whorls of three to eight around a central stalk that rises to the surface in water that can be from a foot to fifteen feet deep.nbsp; The leaves are 2 to 4 millimeters wide and can be from six to 20 millimeters long ndash; and what distinguishes hydrilla from the native pondweed (elodea), as well as a another look-alike transplant, the Brazilian waterweed, is the presence of many sharp teeth along the margin of the leaves. Invasive species take hold in our local habitat through a variety of means.nbsp; Some terrestrial plants out-compete natives by emerging earlier in the season, or being resistant to the evolutionary system of ecological checks and balances, or by reproducing in a scale that overwhelms local species.nbsp; Hydrilla has its own set of tricks for flourishing in the places it is introduced, whether by boats traveling from one waterway to another, or on the wind, or using other aquatic species to hitchhike a ride.nbsp; Once in a waterbody, it spreads out and forms dense canopies that can shade out native vegetation ndash; and while these areas can provide protective nursery grounds for juvenile fish, it is not a major food source for aquatic species.nbsp; Fishermen on our reservoir report seeing larger fish taking cover in the hydrilla ndash; but it is hard to get to them without snagging a lure full of heavy weed. Hydrilla also alters water quality by raising the pH and decreasing oxygen as well as increasing temperature under the mats of weed.nbsp; In slow moving water, the stands that are rooted to the bottom can catch sediment and accelerate the process of filling in and creating islands, as has been seen along many stretches of the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir. And these clever hydrilla have more than one way of reproducing. The plants, such as those often found in the mid-Atlantic, can host both male and female flowers, making for an easy date between ovary and sperm.nbsp; Plants also produce rhizomes that root horizontally in bottom soils, sending up new shoots opportunistically.nbsp; If that weren't enough, the plants also produce turions, small tuber-like growths that grow between stem and leaf and breaking free in the fall and floating till they fetch up in another spot, ready to take root in the spring.nbsp; With all these reproductive mechanisms at work, it's easy to see how simply mowing down the plants, as is done in some areas to clear docks or swimming areas, is only a partial solution ndash; and how eradication, as well as prevention of its spread, is next to impossible. Though chemical agents can kill the plants, many localities have used grass carp ndash; also an imported species ndash; to control hydrilla, though this has its own risks. Grass carp will out-compete native fish species ndash; and are only recommended in enclosed water bodies.nbsp; Our reservoir is only a temporary impoundment... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Ecology,,Natural,History,,North,Fork,Rivanna,,Rivanna,River,,Rivanna,mainstem,,South,Fork,,Water,Quality,,Water,Supply lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/23/108-an-exhibit-of-gar/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/23/108-an-exhibit-of-gar/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:16:44 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/23/108-an-exhibit-of-gar/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/23/108-an-exhibit-of-gar/feed/ 0
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5:00 October 23, 2008 There's a healthy population of long nose gar in the Rivanna ndash; an amazing fish that not only looks prehistoric, but really is ... October 23, 2008 There's a healthy population of long nose gar in the Rivanna ndash; an amazing fish that not only looks prehistoric, but really is prehistoric.nbsp; The gar's ability to survive in low oxygen waters is part of the secret to its long term survivability as a species. nbsp; This show originally aired on October 30, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. I do not have a lot of experience counting fish that are schooling, but as our canoe floated by the long olive green shapes in the clear water of the lower Rivanna, I couldnrsquo;t help but cry out, "There must be fifty of them!" Well, as soon as I said it, I began to wonder if I was even close.nbsp; True, it was only Becky and me in our canoe paddling down the shallow sunlit water towards the Rivenna Mills sampling site in Fluvanna.nbsp; But the claim could not go unverified, so budding naturalists that we are, we turned around and cautiously paddled back upstream, hugging the bank as far away as possible from where we'd seen the fishnbsp; that were also swimming upstream.nbsp; Turning once again, we floated back down in the foot deep water, slow enough to count them as we drifted by.nbsp; Close enough to admire the broad flat tail fin, ridged and undulating, gently propelling the fish upstream.nbsp; Close enough to see the unmistakable body shaped like a cylinder, olive green and spotted with black from tail to head.nbsp; And close enough for the give ndash;away that makes it possible for even a non-fishermen like me know for sure that the slender tapering snout must be the long nosed gar.nbsp; There's nothing else like it in these waters save, perhaps, the American eel, and I know just enough about fish to know that these were no eels. Sometimes called pike, sometimes gar-pike, these long-nosed gar, were proceeding by in a lazy upstream stroll, in groups of three and five.nbsp; The long-nosed gar is the only species of gar native to Virginia, and today they ranged from foot long adolescents to close to three feet long.nbsp; The gar is often called a living fossil, because its family has survived with little change since the time of the dinosaurs.nbsp; The Latin name, osseus, confirms its structure:nbsp; Genus name, Lepisosteus,nbsp; comes from Lepis, Greek for scale, and osteus meaning boney in Latin.nbsp; The species name, osseus, repeats the boney description for added measure, just like the fish, whose touch, over-lapping plate-like scales wrap it in a virtual coat of armor, leaving it few predators in the wild. Locals nod knowingly when we tell them we have seen gar along this stretch of the Rivanna. Though they can make for a good fight on the end of the fishing line, they are commonly thought of as noxious predators, eating all the game fish around.nbsp; But they actually play a special role in the ecology of the river ndash; true predators, they help balance the populations of other fish.nbsp; Armed with rows of razor-sharp teeth, they lie still and ready to ambush the unwary fish that swims close by with a quick thrash of the snout, and they prefer smaller fish and minnows. The long-nosed gar has evolved to handle varying levels of oxygen in the water.nbsp; Typically, like other fish,nbsp; it breathes through gaseous exchange at its gills ndash; but the gar also has a swim bladder connected to its esophagus that serves as an auxiliary breathing apparatus when oxygen levels in the water are low or not even present.nbsp; They are sometimes seen at the surface of the water, gulping the air.nbsp; Thus, they do well in slow moving streams and behind impoundments.nbsp; Though I have no way of measuring it, today I suspect that the low flowing Rivanna, absent the flush of any recent high waters, is also deficient in the life giving oxygen. As it turned out, there were actually fifty-one long-nosed gar schooling in this stretch of the Rivanna... Ecology,,Fluvanna,County,,Natural,History,,Rivanna,River,,Rivanna,mainstem,,Wildlife lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/09/106-carbon-cycles-at-scheier-natural-arera/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/09/106-carbon-cycles-at-scheier-natural-arera/#comments Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:07:41 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/09/106-carbon-cycles-at-scheier-natural-arera/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/09/106-carbon-cycles-at-scheier-natural-arera/feed/ 0
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5:19 October 9, 2008 At Scheier Natural Area in Fluvanna County, forester Steve Pence describes how a forest in succession contributes to the carbon cycle. This show ... October 9, 2008 At Scheier Natural Area in Fluvanna County, forester Steve Pence describes how a forest in succession contributes to the carbon cycle. This show originally aired on October 5, 2006 and as an encore on October 9, 2008nbsp; on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. Summer is having its last licks in the Piedmont, spreading a layer of warm heavy air over the southwestern reaches of the Rivanna watershed in Fluvanna.nbsp; My destination is Scheier Natural Area 10 miles west of Palmyra.nbsp; Rolling hills farmed in hay give way to patches of forest and modest houses set back from the road.nbsp; Goldenrod and Queen Annersquo;s lace offer patches of color and light.nbsp; Here and there, I can see the peaks of pine emerging like soldiers from behind an unruly patch of trees, evidence of land reclaimed for growing timber.nbsp; In the distance, the mountain to the west sit blue and cool on this muggy Sunday afternoon.nbsp; Irsquo;m headed for a talk offered by the Rivanna Conservation Society, who owns the 100 acre preserve. As I join the group late, Steve Pence, of the Virginia Department of Forestry, has already warmed to the subjects of the role of trees in our lives and the changing climate, a complex subject at best.nbsp; Steve has worked with trees his entire career, so I trust that any opinions he offers are informed.nbsp; Hersquo;s just finishing up on the basics of the carbon cycle ndash; how trees breathe in carbon dioxide and give off the oxygen so necessary to human life.nbsp; And talking about the difference, from a foresterrsquo;s point of view, between carbon sequestration and carbon sink, terms we should all be learning these days as we face the uncertainties of global climate change. ldquo;In short,rdquo; he says, ldquo;We need plants; but they donrsquo;t need us.rdquo; This is a startling thought to me as I stand amidst a crop of young trees, two foot high seedlings of oak, beech, hickory and maple on the edge of the thicker woods beyond the gravel parking lot. Carbon sequestration is the term used to describe how carbon, the ubiquitous and necessary building block of life, is removed from the atmosphere as a young forest of rapidly growing trees absorbs carbon dioxide, resulting in a reserve called a carbon sink.nbsp; If, on the other hand, a forest is allowed to mature, itrsquo;s ability to ldquo;take uprdquo; or remove carbon from the atmosphere is slowed, resulting in a dynamic equilibrium:nbsp; as trees die and decompose, they give up the carbon to the soil and atmosphere.nbsp; As new trees grow in their place, these youngsters utilize the carbon in the atmosphere to photosynthesize -- hence the green leaves, the underground roots, the colors of fall, and the shelter from the storm. Proactive efforts to mitigate global warming often include planting trees, to accelerate this process of removing carbon from the atmosphere.nbsp; However, the rate at which forests can sequester carbon, given the available land, is far exceeded by the rate at which it is released by the combustion of the fossilized forests that we have removed from the carbon sinks in the form of coal, oil and natural gas.nbsp; The facts remain that to reduce carbon emissions in the US by 7% , as stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol, would require the planting of "an area the size of Texas every 30 years", according to William Schlesinger, of Duke University. When Howard Scheier bought this land in the 1950rsquo;s, it was open and agricultural, farmed successively in corn, cotton, and tobacco since the last century.nbsp; He planted loblolly pine, reclaiming the land as trees.nbsp; In the 1980rsquo;s, when the pine bark beetle was starting to impact forests in Virginia, Mr. Scheier proactively harvested all loblollies on his property, leaving the young hardwoods that had sprouted in the understory to grow and thrive.nbsp; Thes... Climate,,Ecology,,Fluvanna,County,,Natural,History lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/02/105-walking-to-hightop-mountain-from-smith-roach-gap/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/02/105-walking-to-hightop-mountain-from-smith-roach-gap/#comments Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:42:12 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/02/105-walking-to-hightop-mountain-from-smith-roach-gap/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/10/02/105-walking-to-hightop-mountain-from-smith-roach-gap/feed/ 0
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5:19 October 2, 2008 The trail in Shenandoah National Park (SNP) in this stretch of Greene County shows signs of previous land use. nbsp;nbsp; This show originally ... October 2, 2008 The trail in Shenandoah National Park (SNP) in this stretch of Greene County shows signs of previous land use. nbsp;nbsp; This show originally aired on October18, 2007 and with an encore performance on October 2, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. It is a golden warm October day ndash; one in which I would be inclined to take to the river, but cannot due to water levels that are impossibly low.nbsp; So instead, I head out with my husband for a high point in the watershed as if, perhaps to get closer to the clouds that hold the moisture hostage high above us. We drive up to Greene County and follow Route 33 ndash; the Spotswood Highway ndash; west following the crest of the divide between the Rapidan and the Rivanna.nbsp; From Ruckersville towards the mountains, the ridge defines the head of the watersheds of Welsh Run, Deep Run, Blue Run, and then Long Run.nbsp; At Lydia where Route 634 ends in the highway, we meet Swift Run which tracks right along Route 33 as it tumbles from its headwaters at Swift Run Gap, elevation almost 2400 feet.nbsp; We trace the curves in the mountain on a route that has changed little since it was traveled by Governor Alexander Spotswood and his famous Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, the 1716 exploratory party that crossed into the Shenandoah Valley through the pass here. Where we can see it, Swift Run itself is dry, its bones exposed between scant flow and small, still pools of wet. Once on Skyline Drive, we head south a few miles to the parking lot at Smith Roach Gap ndash; at 2600 feet, itrsquo;s the next crossing over the mountains.nbsp; Named for an early settler , last name Roach, first name Smith, it marks the headwaters of the Roach River which falls from the mountains eastward into Bacon Hollow, Deep Hollow, and Waterfall Hollow. We hike north in quiet on the trail towards the summit of Hightopnbsp; Mountain, the leaves so dry they barely rustle.nbsp; Everything is yellow and brown, like a summer in California, where water goes underground only to emerge in the rivers again during the rains of winter.nbsp; Here, too, it feels like the water is absent, but in a season of record high temperatures and record low rainfall, I feel unsure of its return.nbsp; Fall wildflowers are in show: purple and white asters, yellow goldenrod and milkweed pods in various stages of undress.nbsp; Grass beds along the path glisten in the afternoon sun. I am calmed by this walk in the woods, but I also know that this part of the piedmont is known for its rough and tumble ways.nbsp; Though itrsquo;s been 80 years since landowners were evicted from the Blue Ridge to establish Shenandoah National Park, the memory is still nursed ndash; and I am aware that this is a country where I need to cultivate understanding.nbsp; Tucked into these hills are homesteads, orchards, and graveyards:nbsp;nbsp; grown over, reclaimed by the succession of cedar given way now to hickory and oak.nbsp; We see little of this on our walk, but when the trail opens into flat stretches between granite outcrops and ferns, it is not hard to imagine pasture, croplands, and the hardscrabble life of the mountains. In my own life, I have felt the loss of landscapes special to me -- places that have been paved, graded, or filled and planted with houses, shopping centers, roads and marinas.nbsp; Though truly incomprehensible, this helps me feel compassion for the Monacans and other Native Americans displaced from the land during the so-called era of contact.nbsp; And centuries later, in these hills, it is a similar displacement, but the opposite has happened ndash; where the dead are buried, the cemetery markers are overgrown with honeysuckle; where the barns and houses once stood, the foundations are crumbling under lichen and wind. And the springs nursed forth from the folds of the hills are secrets only the ... Greene,County,,History,,Natural,History,,Rivanna,River,,Tributaries lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/25/104-summer-memories/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/25/104-summer-memories/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:48:41 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/25/104-summer-memories/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/09/25/104-summer-memories/feed/ 0 00:01:01 nbsp;September 25, 2008 Our home places are treasures that are beyond value.nbsp; A visit to the Rambler's summertime home of youth reinforces the bittersweet richness of ... nbsp;September 25, 2008 Our home places are treasures that are beyond value.nbsp; A visit to the Rambler's summertime home of youth reinforces the bittersweet richness of these special landscapes. This show originally aired in September 25, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net I recently spent a few days on Cape Cod, that sandy fist off the coast of Massachusetts -- prime vacation destination and historic homeport to whalers and fishermen and native Americans even earlier.nbsp; On the morning of my departure, I took one last dip in the buoyant salt water of Nantucket Sound and emerged wet and dripping in the early autumn cool, glad for my native New England blood. Where I stood, the beach is short and tucked in between stone jetties that flank two harbors ndash; Wychmere and Saquetucket.nbsp; The beach extends back several hundred yards, rising up a slight bluff to the house, just barely beyond the reach of the hurricane storm surge.nbsp; The beach grass is studded with sprawling clumps rosa rugosa, the beach rose, whose fleshy fruits produce the rose hips for jelly and medicines. I used to think it was native, but now know it is actually an introduced species ndash; and on this beach, now being overtaken by another non-native, the oriental bittersweet, whose bowers obscure the fold of the bluff itself. Just across the channel beyond the Wychmere Harbor jetty is the beach where I learned the ways of water.nbsp; Every summer, our family rented a house for several weeks down the road from the bluff.nbsp; Those summer days consisted of walking everywhere:nbsp; to the one-room library open only on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, but full of alluring Nancy Drew and Black Stallion classics.nbsp; Or down to the harbor with one fat orange life preserver dangled over my shoulders and a set of oars under the other, to a modest plywood dinghy named "Cheer-up" that I would row, rain or shine, through calm or gusty winds, across the harbor to the yacht club where I learned how to sail in an equally modest plywood catboat called "Dragonfly."nbsp; Sometimes, we'd walked across the street from our house to one of the two clay tennis courts owned by neighboring families, where I would try to emulate the strong and graceful strokes of the adults. And, of course, we walked to the beach.nbsp; Down the end of Bay View lane, a dark tunnel between two tall fences overhung with privet in musky bloom, the path a cool mix of sand and loam, pine needles crunching under bare feet.nbsp; And there was a light at the end of this tunnel, for there, at the top of the stairs to the beach, was the view of the water, to the barrier islands and, if the tide was right, a squat clump of land we knew to be Nantucket.nbsp; At this beach, I learned to swim and to float.nbsp; I learned the sharp bite of crabs on my toes, I learned of phosphorescence at night and by day to dive into crashing storm waves, to love the feel of coarse sand against skin reddened by sun, knowing a shower awaited back at the house.nbsp; By any account, it was a privileged childhood, whose riches have only become more apparent as I have aged. Like most landscapes, this these beaches and bluffs have changed with time.nbsp; The Harbor called Saquetucket used to be a fresh water creek, whose sinuous curves we floated, on the outgoing tide through the peaty bog pockmarked with the holes of fiddler crabs.nbsp; My nose remembers the rank marsh smell even though boats traverse its channel, now dredged straight and deep. The real estate that was once a shabby summer inn on the beach has now sprouted three gigantic condominiums, whose scale so dwarfs the shoreline that they have become a navigation aid from far at sea. For all of us, September is a time of transition ndash; the most recent summer has passed and its memories merge with all summers past.nbsp; It's not only the p... Ecology,,Natural,History,,Other,waters lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No