Toadflax Biocontrol Project Notes

MSU
Science
I use this space to document all field related activities for my PhD at Montana State University 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.
Coordinates for each site can be found below:
Montana
Alice Creek Badger Gulch Copper Creek Elk Park Hog Hollow Horse Gulch Fire Phelps Creek Slim Sam Creek
South Dakota
Schaunaman Ranch Sand Lake Bergdorf WPA Nemo Sawyer
Field Log

Copper & Slim Sam Creeks - Summer 2025
Montana
Life Tables

Life table stem collection outing from Copper Creek in the Scapegoat Wilderness and Slim Sam Creek in the Elk Horn Mountains.

Jun 25, 2025

Phelps Creek - Summer 2025
Montana
Life Tables

The first stem collections for my life table project. I collected Dalmatain toadflax from Phelps Creek, a site down south of Bozeman just outside of Gardiner, MT

Jun 24, 2025

Hog Hollow - June 2025
Montana
yellow toadflax

I visited Hog Hollow to release Rhinusa pilosa in our grids.

Jun 11, 2025

Elk Park and Badger Gulch - June 2025
Montana
yellow toadflax

Eric and I released Rhinusa pilosa in the grids and retrieved images from the trail cameras.

Jun 10, 2025

Hog Hollow - May 2025
Montana
yellow toadflax

Drove out to Hog Hollow to retrieve data and set up cameras.

May 27, 2025

Elk Park and Badger Gulch - May 2025
Montana
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.

May 21, 2025

South Dakota Trip (Spearfish) - Spring 2025
South Dakota
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.

May 16, 2025

South Dakota Trip (Aberdeen) - Spring 2025
South Dakota
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.

May 14, 2025

Elk Park Exclosure Repair
Montana
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.

May 8, 2025

Horse Gulch Stem Collection - Fall 2024
Montana
Dalmatian toadflax

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

Nov 15, 2024
No matching items