Past Project: Western prairie fringed orchid phenology

The western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara) may once have been widespread throughout the Midwest, but is now primarily found in small isolated prairies. Their populations (as estimated by the number of flowering individuals) experience large fluctuations from year to year in response to precipitation. Using methods developed by the Natural Heritage and Non-Game Research Program at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, we have been monitoring 2 western prairie fringed orchid populations in Iowa. These long-term data, along with those collected by citizen scientist in Minnesota, will allow us to determine the orchid’s vulnerability to changes in climate and prairie management.

Our data have contributed to the prediction model for western prairie fringed orchid emergence and flowering at phenology.naturecast.org

Publications (Please contact me if you would like a reprint)

Biederman LA, Weldon SM, Anderson DS, Leoschke MJ. 2020. Precipitation contributes to plant height, but not reproductive effort, for western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara Sheviak & Bowles); evidence from herbarium records. Ecology & Evolution

Biederman LA, Anderson D, Sather N, Pearson J, Beckman K, Prekker J. 2018. Using phenological monitoring in situ and historical records to determine environmental triggers for emergence and anthesis in the rare orchid Platanthera praeclara Sheviak & Bowles. Global Ecology and Conservation

Biederman LA, Beckman J, Prekker J, Anderson D, Sather NP, Dahle R. 2014. Phenological Monitoring aids habitat management of threatened plant. Natural Areas Journal

Datasets

Biederman LA, Weldon S. Dataset associated with “Biederman et al. 2020”

Biederman LA, Anderson D, Sather N, Pearson J, Beckman K, Prekker J. 2018. Platanthrea praeclara phenology data

Funding Organizations: 

Iowa Department of Natural Resources ; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources