Native Plants and Sustainable Habitats
Quote from Carol Grayshaw on March 18, 2024, 9:43 amPenn State Awarded $140,000 for Biodiversity Research, Conservation
Olivia Bosar, PA Outdoors, February 15
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (WTAJ) – Penn State has been awarded a combined total of over $140,000 of state funding to support its work in biodiversity projects to protect local natural habitats.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) under the Wild Resources Conservation Program awarded the university monies to support three separate studies aimed at preserving native plant and fish species.
The three grants from DCNR to Penn State are:
- $42,591 to support a statewide project that will develop a recovery plan for the rapidly declining plant, Scarlet Paintbrush which is considered a threatened species in the state.
- $43,333 to help fund a statewide project that will conduct studies on the taxonomy and distribution narrow-leaf ramps, a newly discovered native plant species with 13 locations in southwestern Pennsylvania.
- $54,845 will support a project in Centre County that will investigate the influence of dissolved oxygen on the distribution and habits of the Chesapeake Logperch, a rare fish that can be found in Pennsylvania.
Penn State Awarded $140,000 for Biodiversity Research, Conservation
Olivia Bosar, PA Outdoors, February 15
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (WTAJ) – Penn State has been awarded a combined total of over $140,000 of state funding to support its work in biodiversity projects to protect local natural habitats.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) under the Wild Resources Conservation Program awarded the university monies to support three separate studies aimed at preserving native plant and fish species.
The three grants from DCNR to Penn State are:
- $42,591 to support a statewide project that will develop a recovery plan for the rapidly declining plant, Scarlet Paintbrush which is considered a threatened species in the state.
- $43,333 to help fund a statewide project that will conduct studies on the taxonomy and distribution narrow-leaf ramps, a newly discovered native plant species with 13 locations in southwestern Pennsylvania.
- $54,845 will support a project in Centre County that will investigate the influence of dissolved oxygen on the distribution and habits of the Chesapeake Logperch, a rare fish that can be found in Pennsylvania.
Quote from Carol Grayshaw on April 12, 2024, 12:49 pmWhat is a Miyawaki Forest?
From Katherine Hayhoe, Talking Climate Newsletter, April 6
All around the world, people are planting tiny forests full of native plants on plots of land as small as a tennis court! These tiny forests — also called pocket forests, mini forests, and, in the U.K., “wee” forests — are based on principles developed in the 1970s by a Japanese botanist named Akira Miyawaki.
Want to learn more? Watch this video on the first tiny forest in Massachusetts and consider starting one where you live. It’s a great project to do with kids and your community!
What is a Miyawaki Forest?
From Katherine Hayhoe, Talking Climate Newsletter, April 6
All around the world, people are planting tiny forests full of native plants on plots of land as small as a tennis court! These tiny forests — also called pocket forests, mini forests, and, in the U.K., “wee” forests — are based on principles developed in the 1970s by a Japanese botanist named Akira Miyawaki.
Want to learn more? Watch this video on the first tiny forest in Massachusetts and consider starting one where you live. It’s a great project to do with kids and your community!
Quote from Carol Grayshaw on April 18, 2024, 1:07 pmHawk Mountain Sanctuary: 2024 Spring Migration Hawkwatch has Begun!
Hawk Mountain's official spring migration count kicked off on Monday, April 1, and will continue through May 15. Sanctuary counters, trainees, and volunteers will be stationed at North Lookout with their eyes to the skies, tallying every avian migrant that passes by.
Highlights from the 14 species of raptors seen from the lookout include a sub-adult golden eagle observed April 11th and migratory bald eagles and ospreys dodging the local bald eagle pair. The first Broadwing of the season passed the lookout on April 5, and numbers have been gradually increasing with 54 Broadwing's observed on April 15 giving the current high-count placeholder at 74 migrants. During the solar eclipse, clouds marred the 95% coverage, but the lookout continued to count sharp-shinned hawks migrating throughout the window.
Raptor species totals are updated daily at hawkmountain.org/count.
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary: 2024 Spring Migration Hawkwatch has Begun!
Hawk Mountain's official spring migration count kicked off on Monday, April 1, and will continue through May 15. Sanctuary counters, trainees, and volunteers will be stationed at North Lookout with their eyes to the skies, tallying every avian migrant that passes by.
Highlights from the 14 species of raptors seen from the lookout include a sub-adult golden eagle observed April 11th and migratory bald eagles and ospreys dodging the local bald eagle pair. The first Broadwing of the season passed the lookout on April 5, and numbers have been gradually increasing with 54 Broadwing's observed on April 15 giving the current high-count placeholder at 74 migrants. During the solar eclipse, clouds marred the 95% coverage, but the lookout continued to count sharp-shinned hawks migrating throughout the window.
Raptor species totals are updated daily at hawkmountain.org/count.