Susan Knight
Commentator - Field NotesSusan Knight works for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Limnology at Trout Lake Station and collaborates closely with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. She is involved in many aspects of aquatic plants, including aquatic plant identification workshops and research on aquatic invasive plants. She is especially fond of bladderworts.
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One of the crops most iconic to our area is ginseng, Panax quinquefolia. Marathon County, just south of Lincoln County is the center of ginseng farming, not just in Wisconsin but it is recognized as the largest source and the best quality of ginseng in the world. -
Salamanders, newts and mudpuppies are amphibians, and they are all salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts or mudpuppies. -
There are many kinds of record keeping that scientists use to recapture recent and ancient history -
The Common Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon, is common throughout much of eastern North America. Our local subspecies, the Northern Watersnake, is common throughout much of Wisconsin. -
Global warming may also be affecting a global water circulation system abbreviated AMOC that includes the Gulf Stream, that river of ocean water that moves warm tropical water north along the east coast of North America before veering off toward Europe. -
Spiny water fleas are aquatic arthropods called zooplankton. Zooplankton are small shrimp-like creatures, and most of them survive by eating phytoplankton, the microscopic photosynthetic algae at the bottom of the food chain in lakes. -
Most trees are either deciduous, and drop their leaves in fall, or are evergreen, and hang onto their leaves for more than one season. The evergreen trees tend to be in more stressed environments, stressed by either cold temperatures or low water availability. -
Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian or omnivore, plants are at the base of what you eat — even Oreos. -
Swans may not be the most important factor in the decline of wild rice, but there is no doubt that the number of swans has increased on our Northwoods lakes. How did this happen? -
As we move through the season, keep your eye out for these unloved plants. They are all native to Wisconsin and belong here just as the maples and hazelnuts and lady slippers belong in our woods.
