Rachel Hager (2017)

“The funds awarded by The Wetland Foundation supported travel costs to conduct field research on the project entitled “Impact of seed diversity on restoration outcomes with environmental extremes”. These funds enabled me to collect native bulrush seeds during late summer/early fall from three species (Schoenoplectus acutus, Bolboschoenus maritimus, Schoenoplectus americanus) from four different states (Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada) sampling across the range that these species occupy within known bird dispersal (i.e., gene flow) corridors.

The objective of this research was: To evaluate the effects of fluctuating water levels on bulrush seedling emergence and survival. To accomplish this objective I performed a greenhouse experiment manipulating fluctuating water levels to four different levels…and measured the impact on bulrush performance. I explored the effect of water level on several functional traits including seedling growth rate.”