Dear Ecologgers, We are establishing and tracking focal populations of a native grass species (Bouteloua curtipendula) in a field site that already contains that species. We need to be able differentiate between sown seedlings and recruits from the existing population.
So far, we're considering (1) sowing the seeds in mesh tubes, through which the plants can develop or (2) installing landscape fabric (e.g., Agribon, Reemay) over the sown seeds with a narrow slit to accommodate emerging seedlings (this would exclude enough volunteer recruits for our purposes). Due to the volume of seed we're working with, gluing individual seeds to toothpicks isn't feasible. If you have experience with this or similar approaches, any suggestions or advice on products to use or avoid would be much appreciated! - Shelby Flint Healthy Prairies Project [email protected]
