Hi Folks:
Thanks for the great show of support! In answer to one of the questions, the bog we are going to lease houses the northern most population of Sarracenia purpurea in Virginia, just a few hundred meters from our operations center at Meadowview. The population has declined from 10 plants in 1990 to two in 2010. We intervened several years ago to clear brush and prevented the population from going completely extinct. Average purple pitcher plant population size in Virginia is 8 plants. So.. you can see, and I predicted this in my dissertation, that we are going to lose all our native pitcher plant sites in Virginia. There are a number of reasons for this upcoming extinction, AND IT IS PREVENTABLE, but only if we have control of the property to properly manage and restore the site.
The great thing about this natural pitcher plant population near Meadowview is that it is so close by that our logistics for doing the restoration work become much simpler. We have a plan for purchasing all the properties to this bog which will give us a fabulous nature trail.
This winter we will be doing a lot of clearing work in these bogs. If you are interested in helping out you can actually come and stay at the research station. We have two bedrooms, one occupied by our present intern. Contact me if you are interested in volunteering to help with restoration work over the winter.
Also, you can read more about our Central Virginia Pitcher Plant Preserve by going to our web site (www.pitcherplant.org), clicking on the newsletter link, and reading the 2009 newsletter.
Sincerely,
Phil Sheridan, Ph.D.
Director
Meadowview Biological
Research Station
Thanks for the great show of support! In answer to one of the questions, the bog we are going to lease houses the northern most population of Sarracenia purpurea in Virginia, just a few hundred meters from our operations center at Meadowview. The population has declined from 10 plants in 1990 to two in 2010. We intervened several years ago to clear brush and prevented the population from going completely extinct. Average purple pitcher plant population size in Virginia is 8 plants. So.. you can see, and I predicted this in my dissertation, that we are going to lose all our native pitcher plant sites in Virginia. There are a number of reasons for this upcoming extinction, AND IT IS PREVENTABLE, but only if we have control of the property to properly manage and restore the site.
The great thing about this natural pitcher plant population near Meadowview is that it is so close by that our logistics for doing the restoration work become much simpler. We have a plan for purchasing all the properties to this bog which will give us a fabulous nature trail.
This winter we will be doing a lot of clearing work in these bogs. If you are interested in helping out you can actually come and stay at the research station. We have two bedrooms, one occupied by our present intern. Contact me if you are interested in volunteering to help with restoration work over the winter.
Also, you can read more about our Central Virginia Pitcher Plant Preserve by going to our web site (www.pitcherplant.org), clicking on the newsletter link, and reading the 2009 newsletter.
Sincerely,
Phil Sheridan, Ph.D.
Director
Meadowview Biological
Research Station