From Fields to Forest
a ForestHer NC workshop
When: Tuesday, September 29th | 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM ET
Where: 204 N Main St, 204 N Main St, Richfield, NC
Insects and other invertebrates are a vital part of a healthy ecosystem. This in-person event will bring landowners and resource professionals together to learn how “bugs” fill critical roles as predators, prey, and pollinators. In addition, we will explore how you can make your property more attractive for these often-overlooked animals.
The value a diverse plant community offers for food, and cover can’t be replaced with food plots, agricultural crops, or exotic plants. This workshop will focus on management options for your fields and woods that will increase native plant diversity, sustaining a vast web of invertebrates.
NCWF staff member, John Isenhour, will lead a hike (.8 mile) through open meadows and managed woods, with opportunities to see and discuss techniques for enhancing native plant communities, including herbicide treatments, mechanical disturbance, and prescribed fire. We will also discuss the benefits and challenges of planting native seed mixtures.
An NCWRC biologist, Gabriela Garrison, who specializes in invertebrates and pollinator plants will explain and demonstrate the fascinating and complex relationships between native plants and insects. She will use this “late season” meadow to show how a diverse herbaceous layer is brimming with native bees, lesser known pollinators such as flies and wasps, “pests” such as aphids, and predatory insects. This portion of the workshop will include an opportunity to find and identify invertebrates. She will explain and demonstrate all the ways a native meadow sustains invertebrates all year long.
Whether you want to see more butterflies, songbirds, game birds, or deer, you will learn how managing native plants and invertebrates will support your wildlife goals.
REGISTRATION:
Register for $20, lunch provided: https://www.foresthernc.org/events/from-fields-to-forest