Thank you and Farewell!

Our last day with Inna and Vladimir was on Saturday. We drove from Arapaho NWR to Denver and spent the afternoon doing some shopping. Mike and his wife Emily had us over for a lovely dinner on Saturday night. We made some toasts to the success of the trip, and the friendships that have been formed.

On Sunday morning, Inna and Vladimir began their long trip back to Moscow. We had an amazing time exploring Colorado and Utah with them, and look forward to future collaborations!

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Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge

On Friday, we traveled from Browns Park to Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. We made a quick detour into Dinosaur National Monument to see the Gates of Lodore, a beautiful canyon entrance. In the same area, there was also a population of Eriogonum shockleyi, which only has a few occurrences in Colorado.

At Arapaho, we met with Amy Thornburg, who was filling in for the Project Manager of the refuge and Megan Creegan, Biological Science Technician. Arapaho NWR protects wetland habitat along the Illinois River, which is along the central flyway for migratory birds. The refuge is at an elevation of 8200 ft., which allows many interesting high-elevation plants to grow there. Prescribed burns, grazing and haying are all used to manage meadow areas. Water is diverted from the Illinois River to flood wetlands in early spring. Luckily, the refuge does not have a problem with woody invasive species such as Tamarix ramosissima or Elaeagnus angustifolia.

The Northpark phacelia, Phacelia formosula, is an endangered species that grows on the refuge. The species is currently being monitored and new sites are being evaluated for reintroduction.

 



The Phacelia formosula site overlooks Muskrat Pond.

 

 Phacelia formosula

 



Amy, Megan and Mike at the Phacelia formosula site.

 

Another interesting plant nearby was Astragalus kentrophyta, with extremely tiny flowers around 1 cm in size.

Gates of Lodore

Eriogonum shockleyi