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Photos: Native grass field at Little River Recreational
Area prior to burn (above) and after burn (right)
IN THIS
ISSUE...
President’s Update Indiana Native Plants and
Wildflower Society Article
Species Spotlight: Northern
Harrier
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
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Fall 2015
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SIOSA President Update
Casey Campbell
Hello all!
This fall burning season has mostly been
a bust so far. Rain, snow, and wind have
kept many of us from getting out to
burn. Hopefully the warm December
weather will continue and some burning
can take place soon. Remember as a
SIOSA member you can borrow the tools
we have available. Give Rich or Travis a
call at Little River Recreational Area to
reserve them, 641-446-7307.
The November burn workshop saw the
attendance of some new folks including
state park rangers from Nine Eagles and
Lake Darling state parks. Thanks for
coming everyone! We spent classroom
time reviewing the reasons to burn, how
to write a burn plan, and looking at
equipment options. After lunch we
headed across the road and burned a few
acres of prairie at Little River north of the
cabins. It went quick with a good WNW
breeze, but folks got a chance to use a
drip torch, various sprayers, and other
hand tools. Many questions were
answered and everyone seemed to enjoy
the experience.
very informative and varied. Please take a
look and attend when you can. Thank
you Nancy for all the work you do on
this!
The February meeting will include
discussions on our 2016 plan and our
strategic plan. In the continuing effort to
get back to an alliance, we will be
inviting out past partners and others we
feel might be interested in joining with
us. As funding continues to get tighter
for everyone, working together can make
what funds we do have go farther. We
will send out an email with the date,
time, and location as soon as they are
finalized. Please attend if possible as
your ideas and input can help us move
forward.
With the holiday season upon us, I hope
each of you takes time to enjoy your
family and friends. We’ll see you in 2016!
Casey
If you have a minute drop me a note
([email protected]) and let me
know what you’d like to see added to our
burn workshops. We’d like to get more
folks to participate.
While you are at it let me know what
additional activities you’d like to see in
2016. We are having our annual meeting
in early February and can incorporate
your ideas then. Going forward we’ll be
sending out information about the
monthly activities that “For Land’s Sake”
in Madison County sponsors. They are
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
For more photos of the burn workshop go to
the Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
page on Facebook.
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Fall 2015
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palatable to wildlife (mainly mammals)
and to germinate several months later
than white oak acorns.
(An article from the Indiana Native Plant and
Wildflower Society (INPAWS) journal, Volume
22, Number 1, Spring, 2015; reprinted with
permission from the author; above photo by
Lynne Tweedie taken at Morton Arboretum)
The Host with the Most!
By Holly Faust
We hear so much about planting native
flora and have learned that there are a lot
of benefits in planting natives. There are
countless fascinating host plant
phenomena going on in our environment
every day. I have decided to start with
trees, specifically the oak family.
There are 18 native oak (Quercus)
species in Indiana, divided into two
groups, red oaks and white oaks. Red
oak leaves typically have lobes that end
in points. This is due to the leaf veins
extending beyond the leaf’s edge. The
bark is also darker in red oaks. Their
acorns take two years to develop;
because of this the acorns are high in
tannins. This causes them to be less
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
White oak leaves have rounded lobes
because the veins do not extend
beyond the leaf edges. These acorns
develop in one year and are thus
sweeter, containing less tannin. They
sprout and grow very quickly upon
contacting the soil’s surface. White oaks
are sporadic in their mast (nut)
production. Most years, production is
light and few years produce bumper
crops. Wildlife dependent on acorn crops are
bobwhite, quail, crows, acorn woodpecker, wood ducks, mallards, wild
turkeys, jays, raccoons, opossums, red
and gray foxes, squirrels, rabbits, mice,
voles, rabbits and deer. These animals
gobble up the sweeter white oak acorns
in the autumn as they fall, but eat or
store red oak acorns as the seasons
progress.
Several insect species also compete with
these animals for acorns. Over 556
species of insects depend on oak trees,
in turn supporting dozens of species of
birds, insects and other wildlife. Squirrels sense when an acorn has been
invaded by an insect and leave such nuts
on the ground. This not only helps the
squirrel choose better acorns but it helps
insects, specifically the acorn weevil
(Curculio species). •
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Fall 2015
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Short- and long-snout acorn weevils feed
on the nuts. The female uses her snout to
create a tiny hole in the soft young acorn
in which she lays her fertilized egg. She
then plugs the hole with her frass – a
poop plug! The female weevil can do this
more than once in each acorn. The eggs
hatch and the larvae feed on the
nutritious nut meat, high in fat and
carbohydrates. In autumn the acorn falls
to the ground, and the larvae exit the
acorn via a tiny 1/8” hole
and burrow into the
ground. Here they stay for
one to two years before
they emerge as adult
weevils. The larvae in turn
are a lovely protein-packed
food for other insects,
spiders and small mammals. relationship with ants. Older hairstreak
larvae secrete “honeydew” (a sugary
mixture) from their glands. Ants love this
stuff! The ants go to great lengths to
secure their honeydew supply. They
protect the hairstreak larvae (caterpillars)
by leading them to the base of the tree
in the morning. Here the ants will have
built a conical shaped byre in which the
larvae spend the day protected from
diurnal (daytime) predators. When
evening comes, the ants
escort the larvae back up
the tree to the leaves,
where they stand guard
all night while the
caterpillars feed on the
leaves. The caterpillars
get protection and the
ants get their honeydew.
Acorn weevils are controlled
by, you guessed it, weevil wasps.
Cerceris halone is an exclusive acorn
weevil predator. This 1/2” black and
yellow wasp digs a hole and hunts for the
weevils. She bites her prey, paralyzing it,
and carries it back to her lair where she
stuffs it in and lays an egg on it. The
larvae hatch to find a fresh meal waiting
for them! An oak tree provides
shelter and shade, building materials for
nests and food, and returns up to 400
gallons of water a day into the
atmosphere, continuing the water cycle
and providing oxygen which is released
into the atmosphere.
The Lepidoptera order includes many
species that use oaks as host plants.
Hairstreaks are among the most
interesting such butterflies. The Edwards’
hairstreak (Satyrium edwardsii) in
particular has a mutually beneficial
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
The Quercus genus is truly the host with
the most!
Holly Faust is an interpreter with Hamilton County
Parks & Recreation at Cool Creek Nature Center,
Carmel, IN. She is a member of INPAWS Central
Chapter. Above: photo of acorn weevil larva by
Laura Jesse and her full article is at: http://
www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2007/sep/
072107.htm
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SPECIES SPOTLIGHT:
Northern Harrier
Scientific Name: Circus
cyaneus
Identification
The Northern Harrier (formerly known
as Marsh Hawk) is a slender, mediumsized, and low-flying bird of prey
(raptor) of upland grasslands and lowlying marshes. It is easily recognized at
close range by its white rump and owllike facial disk. Unlike most raptors, the
sexes differ in coloration. The smaller
adult males are slate gray, while the
females and immature birds are brown.
A juvenile Northern Harrier with chestnut
brown coloring on the underside
Photo Claude Nadeau/VIREO at
www.audubon.org
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
Habitat and Range
The Northern Harrier is a bird of open
landscapes and wide horizons. It
prefers wetlands and marshy meadows;
dry upland prairies and grasslands, and
old fields; and wet, only lightly grazed
pastures.
Finding this Bird
Harriers are very distinctive hawks,
long-winged and long-tailed, usually
seen quartering low over the ground in
open country. They are found in many
kinds of open terrain, both wet and dry
habitats, where there is good ground
cover. In southern Iowa they are most
common during spring and fall
migration, late fall, winter and early
spring.
A female Northern Harrier with light
brown coloring and dark streaking on the
underside
Photo Blake Shaw/VIREO at
www.audubon.org
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Feeding Habits
Harriers hunt from the air (not a perch),
and capture a wide range of prey while
coursing low and buoyantly over the
ground. Unlike other hawks, this
species relies
heavily on its
acute hearing to
locate and
capture prey.
Annual breeding
numbers and
productivity are
strongly
influenced by
the availability
of the species’
prey in spring,
usually voles
and small
mammals.
suggest that it is still declining in parts
of North America. It is listed as
Endangered in Iowa, primarily due to
its dependence on declining wetland
and undisturbed grassland habitats.
An adult
male
Northern
Harrier,
also called
a “Gray
Ghost”;
note white
rump patch
that is
distinctive
of this
species
Photo:
Blake
Shaw/
VIREO
Nesting
Nests are constructed by the female
from grass, straw and sticks collected
by the male. The nests are normally on
the ground in treeless vegetated
habitats, and can be in either wetlands
or uplands. Clutches range from four to
nine eggs, but generally contain five
eggs. Incubation is by the female only,
and lasts from 30 to 32 days. Male
harriers continue to supply food while
the female incubates eggs and tends to
the young. When prey animals are
abundant, males may supply more than
one female with food.
Management practices, such as
mowing and burning, especially if
poorly timed, will eliminate nesting
success. Harrier nests are also preyed
upon by raccoons, skunks, snakes, and
other animals. Shooting pressure has
been and remains a threat to harrier
populations in certain regions,
especially for birds wintering at
communal roosts in southern portions
of the U.S. This species is protected
under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of
1972 and Iowa’s law Endangered Plants
and Wildlife, Chapter 481B of the Code
of Iowa.
Conservation Status
Sources: www.audubon.org,
www.iowaaudubon.org
This species has disappeared from
many former nesting areas, especially
in southern parts of range, and surveys
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/ThreatenedEndangered
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Fall Burn Workshop
at Little River
Recreational Area
Above: Participants
keep an eye and a
hose on the back
burn at the east
edge before the
west edge of the
designated burn
area is lit.
Right: Participants
review burn plan
before starting.
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
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Fall 2015
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PLEASE DONATE
WE RELY ON YOUR SUPPORT!
SIOSA OFFICERS &
DIRECTORS
SIOSA Membership Rates
Student Member $10
Savanna Friend $25
Supporting Member $100
Sustaining Member $250
Savanna Steward $500
Officers:!
!
!
!
!
!
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Casey Campbell, President
!
726 53rd Street
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Des Moines, IA 50312
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[email protected]
Name:
Bill Brown, Vice President !
!
Dick Hillyard, Treasurer
Veronica Mecko, Adm. Assistant
_________________________________
Email Address:
Directors:
_________________________________
John Orvis
Dick Hillyard
Rich Erke
Dave Whittlesey
Casey Campbell
Bill Brown
Bruce Nelson
Andrew Kellner
Nancy Forrest
!
Home Address:
_________________________________
Phone Number (optional):
_________________________________
If you would like your contribution to
specifically support one of the following
SIOSA services, please indicate which one:
Program Advisors:
Gregg Pattison, USFWS
Richard Erke, Decatur County Conservation
Board
William and Sibylla Brown, Timberhill Oak
Savanna
- Habitat & Restoration
- Membership Recruitment
- Outreach & Education
SIOSA newsletters are published quarterly.
Submissions to the newsletter should be sent
to [email protected].
- Annual Meeting
Please print and mail the completed form
with check/money order payable to
SIOSA to:
SIOSA
c/o Richard Hillyard
21654 295th Ave, Leon, IA 50144
THANK YOU for your support!
Southern Iowa Oak Savanna Alliance
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Fall 2015