[project] transforming a small ecosystem

[Frank Fremerey]

Do *not* uproot it -- it'll just disperse even faster from the cut rhizome parts.

in the well suppressed parts, where Aegopodium is now minority, I uprooted and removed the Aegopodium and immeriately sew mustard and watered the piece. No Aegopodium came back after now half a year. In parts with bare soild Aegopodium came back strongly and I am set to throw it our and add more mustard...

[Frank Fremerey]

A little inventory control.

Some parts are heavily infested by Aegopodium, but I still see a lot of different species.

We cannot bring a goat into the picture for many reasons, not even an electrical one.

What to do in April 2019? What to do in May?

[Birna Rørslett]

These pictures show Cuckoo Flower Cardamine pratensis being quite frequent. Cannot remember whether this crucifer has been listed before in your patch?

[Frank Fremerey]

These pictures show Cuckoo Flower Cardamine pratensis being quite frequent. Cannot remember whether this crucifer has been listed before in your patch?

is is a good sign or a bad sign???

I read on the web about the ecology. It seems to be a nectar rich perennial that attracts a lot of insects. Very nice. That is what I want all year round.

[Birna Rørslett]

Cardamine is a typical meadow species. so on its own a good sign. Whether it will persevere on the patch is an open question though. This is not a very competitive species.

[Frank Fremerey]

Cardamine is a typical meadow species. so on its own a good sign. Whether it will persevere on the patch is an open question though. This is not a very competitive species.

I read it builds a Rhizom as Aegopodium does. Aegopodium is well supressed in the parts where Raddish grows. Some gardeners recommend to add potatoes to the mix for Aegipodium supression. In the current mix it is next to impossible to weed Giersch without destroying the competition....

[Frank Fremerey]

[Frank's ecosystem] insects & flowers

[Frank Fremerey]

many more insects in action to follow, all found on my 30sqm in half an hour:

[Frank Fremerey]

next set. I changed earlier from D850/300PF to D500/300PF/TC14E3 which seemed to be a very appropriate choice in stark light!

[pluton]

I like the shots featuring the backlit bees most.   

[Bruno Schroder]

Nice one, Frank, with the D500/300PF combo. Is this cropped?

[Frank Fremerey]

Nice one, Frank, with the D500/300PF combo. Is this cropped?

Some are cropped, some heavily cropped, some OOC

More from today (300PF & TC14E3 & D500):

[Frank Fremerey]

I like the shots featuring the backlit bees most.   

mooooorrrreeee:

[Frank Fremerey]

is there a biologist here, who knows these insects?

As a layman I feel I did find many species but I am far from having documented all of the insects I saw with my bare eyes...

some of them are really small like hover flies in different colors, some are really fast like big bumble bees or some very nervous ones even hard to catch with the bare eye.

[Bruno Schroder]

Precisely identifying a bee, fly, hover fly, etc ... is not easy.  The key below (sorry, in French) is a simplified one https://typo3.natagora.be/fileadmin/Interreg/Sapoll/pdf/cles_des_genres_SAPOLL_v7.1.pdf

Personally, I’m happy with a broad category and the identification of a few easy to recognize like Bombylius major that you have: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombylius_major

BTW, I’m sure you thought about it already but setting up a few hollow tubes of varying diameters would provide a nesting place for solitary bees.

Youre project is evolving very nicely.