Day 9: Deschutes National Park, Pumice Moonwort Survey w/ Marlow Fisher 6-23-25

 

Today was a blast doing survey work with Marlow Fisher who is a Botanist for the Deschutes National Park. She does a ton of conservation work with many plants, but this survey was aimed at population counts for the Pumice Moonwort (Botrychium Panicola) nicknamed the Bopu which is kind of funny.

The weather wasn’t all crazy and hot today and there was a chill breeze making our work much easier. Our total count was over 700! Bopu is a plant that only grows in pumice soils in higher elevations. The site today was 4895 ft, and we found an abundance of plants. Marlow had told us that even on Mt. Baker at 8000+ ft elevation they are growing with much of the same size ranges we saw today, the guess is that the sustained snow and porosity of the soil allows them to thrive. Initially I thought the plant would be stomped out, eaten, or negatively impacted by the manure and urine in the area but this was already explored so I guess not.

Although, I have an interest in botany I don’t intend to switch fields anytime soon. My main objective is to study and combat climate change and it affects. If I can crossover and see how plants react to changes in humidity, temperature, and precipitation then I am all for it. These plants seem to be impacted by these factors since they grow long roots to reach the water. In some depressions of the site there was groups of them in the center where on the sides they were scarce if not absent.  Seeing such a thriving site was nice because this more or less shows they are reaching levels of water to be capable of growth in these numbers, but it might be because its late June and temperatures haven't truly been hot yet.

This section of the trip was the one that surprises me the most so far. It is outside my scope of interest yet was super fun to do. I never truly considered botany but have been interested in plants and soils. I am glad to have helped out in the data collection, hopefully this makes Marlow's life a little easier. Our group this year didn't shy away from the walking, heat, and neck soreness (I got anyway) from looking for such a small plant. It was cool to see how they pivot to account for the gaps in our survey and the joy from seeing so many plants- again 700+! 

 Side view of the Pumice Moonwort

 Top view of the Pumice Moonwort
 
 The field site that luckily wasn't bad in terms of grueling weather 

 A single ladybug vibing out- just like me fr. I didn't see any other ladybugs and this one really stood out since it was brighter red... my phone didn't quite capture that. 



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