After waiting out winter storm Uma yesterday, today we officially head west! Here’s a study area description of SD copied from a neat paper.
“The study area was the state of South Dakota, as well as portions of the Black Hills extending into Crook County, Wyoming (Fig. 1). South Dakota was glaciated east of the Missouri River during the Wisconsin ice age, which deposited thick till that interrupted drainage patterns (Gries 1996). The resulting Prairie Pothole Region contains numerous wetlands and shallow lakes (Kahara et al. 2009). Lands west of the Missouri River were not glaciated, have a drier climate, and contain fewer wetlands. Along the western edge of the state, the Black Hills is a uplift dome rising 1,200 m above the plains, consisting of an inner core of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic bedrock surrounded by Paleozoic, Triassic, and Jurassic sedimentary bedrock.” – Carol A. Johnston and Kayla I. Miller
We’re also hitting peak waterfowl migration, so there are geese by the thousands traveling overhead in flocks!
Literature Cited
JOHNSTON, CAROL A., and KAYLA I. MILLER. “Phragmites australis in South Dakota: Historical Distribution and Environment.” Prairie Naturalist 43.1/2 (2011): 38-44.