ANNOUNCEMENTS:
MONTHLY WEEDING - The second and fourth mondays each month the Friends of the Prairie group will get together to spray and mark clusters of invasive weeds in the Southwest Greenway. Within a few days Valleycrest will follow and spray the weeds. Please feel free to come and join us!
WHO WE ARE:
A group of volunteers called Friends of the Mueller Prairie has been formed to lead in the effort to remove invasive species. The friends will also work to improve the biodiversity of the prairie and other parts of the greenway. Their work will be done in support of the Mueller P.O.A. in coordination with expert prairie consultants. The Friends group holds educational workshops, as well as work days in the prairie. Come say hello if you see a group of your neighbors toiling in the prairie!
ARTICLES:
What's Up in the Mueller Prairie? Mueller Messenger Articles 2010
By Mary T. Parker and Janelle Dozier
To read the articles in their entirety, please select the month.
What’s Up in the Prairie? - July 14, 2010
By Mary T. Parker and Janelle Dozier
As the summer heat sets in, various grass species are coming into bloom or entering an active growth phase preceding the development of flowers. Blooming grasses you can see now include Sideoats Grama plants and Silver Bluestem plants, as well as a few scattered Upland Switchgrass plants. You may also note Green Sprangletop plants just beginning to unfold their sprawling inflorescences, as well as flowers on some of the smaller grasses, such as Buffalograss.
A few summer and fall wildflowers, such as Gumweed and Camphorweed, are beginning to bloom. Otherwise the prairie lacks the exuberant colors of spring. Maximilian Sunflowers in the tall-grass area have not yet produced their bright yellow flowers which will cheer up the prairie during late summer and early fall.
Butterflies are returning to the Mueller Prairie. You can see these colorful visitors, as well as dragonflies, any time you walk the paths. Lately small colorful Bordered Patch butterflies have been gathering nectar from the yellow Zexmenia flowers located near the spider sculpture. These insects are also flitting about in weedy areas near Manor Road.
So far, I have seen about 20 butterfly species at Mueller. Butterfly populations were low throughout our area during 2008 and most of 2009 because of severe drought and summer heat waves; however, the butterfly species density at the Mueller site has not increased noticeably during 2010. Some 170 species of butterflies have been documented in the Austin area, roughly half of which are regarded as common. So, there are many more species of butterflies that we might be able to lure to the prairie.
Part of the reason for the relative paucity of butterflies at Mueller is that the site lacks many butterfly larval food plants (or "host" plants). Female butterflies of each species select certain plant species upon which to lay their eggs. Typically, females of a given species will choose host plants in a particular family or families of plants. If suitable host plants are not present in an area, then species of butterflies requiring those plants will be absent except for adults hatched elsewhere which may move into the area to drink nectar from various wildflowers.
However, butterflies are not nearly so choosy about sources of nectar. Therefore, adult butterflies will be found feeding on flowers of species other than their host plants. A second reason for the low number of butterflies at Mueller is that the variety of good nectar plants is limited.
A long-term goal of the Friends of the Mueller Prairie is to improve butterfly habitat on the site by the addition of appropriate host and nectar plants selected for species of butterflies known from our area. We will be rewarded by greater numbers of butterflies and a larger number of species living in and visiting our prairie.
For general information about Central Texas butterflies, visit the web site of the Austin Butterfly Forum (http://www.austinbutterflies.org).
What's Up in the Mueller Prairie? - May 10, 2010
By Mary T. Parker and Janelle Dozier
Anyone walking by the Mueller Prairie has seen great masses of blooming wildflowers among various grasses. Flowering species which are now prominent include plains coreopsis, pink evening primrose, and Engelmann's daisy. Smaller less abundant plants which are also blooming include prairie bishop's-weed, Texas thistle, Texas bindweed, mealy sage, and prairie verbena. Mexican hats are just beginning to poke up their colorful little sombreros. Bluebonnets, which were conspicuous last month, have now gone to seed. Some of the grasses are also beginning to flower. (Check www.wildflower.org/plants/ for photos and detailed information.)
These plants did not just appear by magic! They are the result of work undertaken by a partnership among Catellus, RVI, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Mueller Property Owners Association (P.O.A.), and the Friends of the Mueller Prairie. The Mueller Prairie, also known as the Southwest Greenway, encompasses 31 acres. It is intended to reflect a part of our natural heritage which has almost entirely disappeared. In Texas, millions of acres of the original prairies have fallen to the plow and other human uses, leaving only a few tiny remnants.
The Mueller Prairie site was carefully prepared by using soil that was saved during construction activities and seeded with 24 species of native grasses and 19 species of native wildflowers. Some of these plant species are becoming established and are reseeding themselves. Many other species have appeared spontaneously, mostly from seeds present in the soil (the "seed bank").
But, not all is well in the Mueller Prairie. A number of invasive non-native plants have gotten a foothold in the prairie. If these plants are not controlled, they will overwhelm many of the native species. The prairie is located in an urban area which harbors a constant supply of invasive plants which can reach the site. Therefore, controlling these unwelcome species will be a long-term process.
