Back in Atqasuk today and working hard. The last time I vaguely alluded to my work at the Atqasuk wet site I had some questions from a dear aunt about the important job I have of watching grass grow.

At what rate do plants grow?

They grow quickly! We did growth measures on my site today and some plants that had not been visible yet last week were over ten centimeters this week, if not more.

Fast enough that some would be distinguishable before your job is done (and you’d know if a guess was correct)?

We are here for almost the whole growing season, meaning that some flowers are already wilting and are starting to go to seed. When the inflorescences come up and open, then it is easier to tell for sure which is which. Of course, we never guess… even the little (2 cm or shorter) plants from last week were identifiable by this week. When I say that even my professor wasn’t always sure, I mean that the plants were too young to have distinguishable characteristics. He is much too clever to have to guess.

What is process for identifying plants? Do you have pictures to compare them to? Written descriptions? Or what?

We started out with Bob pointing to something and telling us what it was, quickly progressing to Bob pointing to something and saying, “What’s that?” In the plots themselves there are popsicle sized craft sticks with ID codes on them for the individuals we have to mark. This makes it easier to have a visible example of the species when trying to identify something somewhere else inside or outside the plot. Of course, we are also equipped with all manner of written descriptions, but since the differences are subtle, it mostly took some trail-by-fire quizzes of Bob’s. There was no real fire, only shame.

Are plants in wet site all different than dry site, or do they have some in common?

There are some plants in common, but not very many between the Atqasuk wet and dry sites. The same is true in Barrow, and Barrow and Atqasuk have some common plants as well. What is likely to happen between wet and dry is to have different (but related) species. For example, the Atqasuk dry site has Luzula confusa and Luzula artica while in the wet site I have Luzula wahlenbergii. I kind of like Lwah. It’s cute.

And remember, there are no dumb questions, or so says the one asking them.

That remains to be seen. But I highly esteem these questions.