Our Work with
Ponisio Lab
Data Collection
In past years, the Ponisio Lab set up plots following the Holiday Farm Fire in former burn pile sites in the upland region of Whitewater Ranch to determine successful and unsuccessful pollinator plantings. To monitor these plantings, we first identified the plant species, and then measured the estimated percent cover, number of individuals, and number of blooms for each subplot within the greater site.
We also measured presence-absence to observe which plantings were unsuccessful and did not return from last year. Similarly, of the plantings that did return, we used our findings to observe which plant species were the most successful. There are roughly 20 pairs of plots inside and outside of the burned slash piles that were seeded in 2021. Through this data collection the Ponisio Lab and Whitewater Ranch alike will be able to determine the best species to plant in former burn sites both on and off the property.
Pollinator Surveys
The pollinator surveys require the team of 12 to break up into pairs or smaller groups. One member of the group was in charge of recording, and the other was the pollinator surveyor or observer. If there was a third member they acted as a time-keeper. Four 60 meter transects were set up throughout the blueberry fields along designated rows and bushes from past surveys. The pollinator surveyor must walk at a 3 meters per minute pace down the 60 meter transect to complete the survey in 20 minutes. Both the temperature and wind speeds were recorded before and after each pollinator survey.
The types of pollinators that were recorded during this survey include; European honeybees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, mason bees, flies or bee-flies, and others. Pollinators were recorded only if they landed on the reproductive part of the blueberry and these surveys were conducted twice throughout our time at Whitewater Ranch.