Rising out of the landscape like tiny islands in a vast sea of corn and soybeans, the hills of McKnight Prairie provide a refuge for rare native prairie plants. This 33-acre plot of land located...
Mating season is just around the corner for many animals that call the Arb home. For our native garter snake population, mating is quite the sight… and smell. Garter snakes, which are non-venomous,...
The freezing temperatures of the last few weeks would have just about anybody dreaming they could sleep through it and emerge in the spring. Hibernation does seem like a pretty appealing option.
Rodents...
The consequences of rapidly accelerating climate change have put ecologists and conservationists in a moral and ecological pickle. The debate over assisted migration - whether humans should intentionally...
Goldenrod on Carleton's prairie restorationsPhoto: Brittany Johnson '18
Walking through the Arboretum, it’s easy to get lulled into thinking the landscape has always looked more or less the same....
If you’ve ever wandered the murky banks of the Cannon River, you may have come across the shells of freshwater mussels. Now considered one of the most rapidly declining faunal groups, there are 297...
The pussy willow (Salix discolor) is a native shrub that is one of the first plants to flower in the spring. Because they start blooming in very early spring, pussy willows are a valuable source of pollen...
Did you know that the Arb is home to evidence of early microbial life? A large ancient stromatolite is visible along Spring Creek in the Upper Arb. Stromatolites are microbial reefs created by the activity...
