September 03, 2004
Alameda Island
Today I returned to south San Francisco Bay to help Christina Sloop set up a pollination experiment in the hybrid Spartina (cordgrass) swarm. I first visited Alameda Island back in January, when the cordgrass was little more than knee-high. As you can see, things have changed!
The aim of this experiment is to test whether the hybrid plants are able to self-fertilise. If they have, this is bad news: it means that isolated plants growing out in the mudflats (which would normally have little chance of receiving pollen from other plants) are able to reproduce, thus speeding up the invasion. In order to test for self-compatibility, take one inflorescence....
.... and exclude pollen from other plants by creating, for want of a better word, a plant condom!
The condoms are placed over each inflorescence, and if any seeds are produced, the plant must have self-fertilised.
In the mean time, the hybrid swarm continues its inexorable march towards San Francisco...
Birding, as always, was very pleasant here. Clapper Rails called from the cordgrass, while many shorebirds, Brown Pelicans, Elegant and Forster's Terns sat out on the mud.
An unexpected bonus was this confiding Garter Snake.
Tomorrow sees me jetting off to The Big Apple, ostensibly to catch up with old friends. Needless to say, I shall be attempting to wangle a morning in Central Park and hopefully add a few more eastern warblers to my life list... check back next week!