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I have read the following articles:
Hike a National Park Without Leaving Home,
The Middle Rio Grande Bosque: An Endangered Ecosystem (Crawford et al.),
The Middle Rio Grande Bosque (Lisa Ellis, from The Bosque Education Guide),
Managed flooding for riparian ecosystem resotration: Managed flooding reorganizes riparian forest ecosystems along the middle Rio Grande in New Mexico (Molles et al.),
Bosque Fires and Fire Mortality of Cottonwood (Stuever, Mary C.),
Issues in Ecology: Water in a Changing World (Jackson et al.)
There are many more articles that I plan to read.
The Rio Grande Nature Center: Bosque Riparian Walk Outline
Catchy title:
I. Introduction to Bosque
a. Focus area: Middle Rio Grande Area
b. history of river
i. Natural flow and meander
ii. Human influences and effects
II. Walk from the Rio Grande Nature Center
a. Short guide of visitor center building
i. Resources available to visitors include:
brochures
b. Walk along the trail (Things to be on the lookout for along the way)
i. vegetation
Yerba mansa
indicator species, will be found in moist soil, near water table, means water table high in area
white flowers in early spring (exact months?), red stem with conical red capsule in all other seasons
smells like eucalyptus
yerba mansa is a medicinal plant used in a variety of ways:
"Yerba mansa is used to treat inflammation of the mucous membranes, swollen gums and sore throat. An infusion of roots can be taken as a diuretic to treat rheumatic diseases like gout by ridding the body of excess uric acid, which causes painful inflammation of the joints. Yerba mansa prevents the buildup of uric acid crystals in the kidneys which could causes kidney stones if left untreated. A powder of dried root can be sprinkled on infected areas to alleviate athlete's foot or diaper rash.[6][7]
Yerba mansa is versatile, it can be taken orally as a tea, tincture, infusion or dried in capsule form. It can be used externally for soaking inflamed or infected areas. It can be ground and used as a dusting powder." from google.
Cottonwoods
importance to ecosystem
Uplands bushes and the change of their
iii. Birds (include brief identification and season of possible sightings)
Blue Heron
roadrunner
sandhill cranes
Canada Goose
iv. Mammals (include brief identification and season of possible sightings)
coyote
porcupine
raccoon
beaver
white-footed mouse
v. Influences of man and their effects on the ecosystem
Jetty Jacks
Levee
Irrigation ditches
Salt cedar
Russian Olive
Shakespeare's finches
vi. Riparian restoration in the bosque
Extraction of invasive species
Pros and cons
Removal of jetty jacks
Flooding and fire effects
I may get an interview from someone at the Nature Center. I may get an interview from Kimi Shreer from the Bosque ecosystem Monitoring Program, education influence on the youth and the data use from the monitoring collection.
I will be taking a hike along the trail in order to determine what else to include in the podcast.