Toadflax Biocontrol Field Notes

Welcome to my field notes journal. I use this space to document all field related activites for my PhD and activities related to the biological control of yellow and Dalmatian toadflax. This work is ongoing, and I will update this page with new material as it occurs.

Elk Park and Badger Gulch - Spring 2025

yellow toadflax

Back to Elk Park to finish up building the exclosure fence, and visited Badger Gulch to set up trail cameras and retrieve weather data.

South Dakota Trip (Aberdeen) - Spring 2025

Yellow toadflax

Trip to South Dakota to build exclosures, set up Rhinusa pilosa monitoring grids, and release Mecinus janthinus at Sand Lake NWR and Schaunaman Ranch.

South Dakota Trip (Spearfish) - Spring 2025

Yellow toadflax

We continued west to the Black Hills, where we set up Rhinusa pilosa monitoring grids and released Mecinus janthinus at sites near Nemo and Sawyer, South Dakota.

Elk Park Exclosure Repair

Yellow toadflax

Repaired the Elk Park exclosure after tree damage, expanded the monitoring grid, and installed trail cameras and data loggers at both the exclosure and control sites.

Horse Gulch Stem Collection - Fall 2024

Dalmatian toadflax

Visited the 2024 Horse Gulch Fire site in the Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest Lake near historical Mecinus janthiniformis biocontrol monitoring sites.