My last week at the Manassas National Battlefields was another very informative week. I attended a bobwhite quail habitat monitoring training, which as I learned this summer is very important project that has been going on at the park. The Manassas National Battlefield Resource Management staff have worked very hard to create habitat that would provide nesting cover, brooding cover, and protective cover for the quails. The training I attended educated the MNBP resource management staff on another way to survey the habitat. This way is a standardized method that was created by the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, who also organized our training. A benefit that comes from this standardized method is that the data can be put into a database that will hold the same survey data from plots all around the country.
I also attended a plant identification course led by Marion Lobstein, a member of the Virginia Native Plant Society. This course took me back to biology class as we learned about structures of different groups of plants and were able to dissect flowers to compare reproductive systems. The workshop also gave insight on how to better use the Flora of Virginia to key out plants that we didn't know. This book can be a little daunting due to its large size and use of scientific language, however after we learned how to properly use it, it became clear that is can be very useful.
I cannot believe my summer as the Manassas LEAF intern is coming to a close. It has been an amazing summer filled with new experiences, new knowledge, and new friends. Before I was given this opportunity, I had never really participated in field work with the exception of a few college courses. Spending hours outside in the heat, covered in protective clothing to spray invasive species has given me a sense of appreciation for those who do that for a living, and our native species are able to thrive because of it. This internship has also allowed me to look at the outdoors through a different lens. When I am outside for a walk I find myself looking for plant biodiversity and for tree regeneration, important things that I overlooked before. I look forward to seeing what the future LEAF interns are able to participate in and accomplish and I hope I am able to continue spreading the importance of our forests and environment.