Restoring the Prairie
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Historic Illinois and Percentage of Prairie
Historic Illinois and Percentage of Prairie The tall grass prairie is found in the easternmost third of the Great Plains. It receives the most rainfall, averaging 30-40 inches a year. The tallgrass prairie is predominantly made up of Indian grass, switchgrass, and especially big blues stem, which can grow up to 12 feet high and a half an inch a day. The tallgrass prairie is the most lush , with much taller and denser grasses than the western prairie. An acre of intact tallgrass hosts somewhere between 200 and 400 species of native plants—3 out of 4 of them wildflowers. Each week from April to September, about a dozen new kinds of flowers come into bloom. An acre of good tallgrass may have 5 to 10 acres of leaf surfaces and produce 5000 pounds of forage a year. Grazing cattle typically gain 2-3 pounds a day on these grasslands. Today, what was the tallgrass prairie is now the ‘cornbelt’. http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/percentprairie.gif Illinois Symbols The land that became the state of Illinois was covered by prairie grasses. Big Bluestem may have been the most widespread and abundant grass throughout the true prairie. Big Bluestem grows in such tall and dense stands that it often prevents other grasses from growing around it by shading them out. In the past this resulted in large areas of almost pure big bluestem in the prairies. Big bluestem grows to the height of between three and twelve feet (one to three meters). It has tall slender stems. The grass is green throughout most much of the summer ; the stem turns to blue-purple as it matures; thus the name bluestem. -
Central Mixedgrass Prairie Ecological System (Central Shortgrass Prairie Ecoregion Version)
CENTRAL MIXEDGRASS PRAIRIE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM (CENTRAL SHORTGRASS PRAIRIE ECOREGION VERSION) ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT Draft of June 29, 2007 Prepared by: Karin Decker Colorado Natural Heritage Program Colorado State University 254 General Services Building Fort Collins, CO 80523 Table of Contents A. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 3 A.1 Classification Summary ........................................................................................... 3 A.2 Ecological System Description ................................................................................ 5 A.2.1 Environment....................................................................................................... 5 A.2.2 Vegetation & Ecosystem.................................................................................... 6 A.2.3 Dynamics ........................................................................................................... 8 A.2.4 Landscape......................................................................................................... 10 A.2.5 Size................................................................................................................... 11 A.3 Ecological Integrity................................................................................................ 12 A.3.1 Threats.............................................................................................................. 12 A.3.2 Justification of Metrics.................................................................................... -
A Prairie Ecosystem the Kansas Grassland Biome Is Divided Into Tallgrass, Mixed-Grass, and Shortgrass Prairies
A Prairie Ecosystem The Kansas grassland biome is divided into tallgrass, mixed-grass, and shortgrass prairies. Emporia, KS is located in the Tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Before settlement, the tallgrass prairie occupied a north-south strip which encompassed the eastern third of Kansas. The tallgrass prairie exists today since much the land is not farmable due to terrain (slope, rock layers, soil depth, etc.). The grasses can grow in excess of six feet tall during moist years if they reside in deep soils. The annual precipitation, or rainfall, in this region exceeds 30 inches. The original tallgrass prairie spanned almost 250 million acres. Today, about four percent remains with the largest areas being the Flint Hills of Kansas and the Osage Hills of Oklahoma. Examples of grasses found in tallgrass prairies include big bluestem, indian grass, switchgrass, and eastern gamagrass. The sun is the main source of energy for every living thing on earth. An organism that makes its own food from the sun is called a producer. Examples of producers in the prairie are grasses and wildflowers because they use the sun to make their own food through a process called photosynthesis. An organism that depends on others for food is called a consumer. Examples of consumers in the prairie include coyotes, snakes, mice and prairie chickens because they hunt or scavenge for their food. An organism that breaks down materials in dead organisms is called a decomposer. Examples of decomposers in the prairie are worms. Recycling happens in the prairie through decomposition. Recycling means to reuse something once it has died or has been thrown away. -
Switchgrass – Reprinted from Friends of Hagerman NWR Weekly Blog, December 14, 2017 (Written by Linn Cates)
Switchgrass – Reprinted from Friends of Hagerman NWR Weekly Blog, December 14, 2017 (Written by Linn Cates) Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum, is a fast-growing, tall, warm weather perennial grass. It forms large, open, feathery looking, finely textured seed heads that transform it from a pleasing, but plainer look, (while the nearby spring and summer flowers demand the limelight) to an impressive, dressy fall showing. This continues, though somewhat subdued, right through the winter, until mid-spring when things warm up and a whole new chorus of green leaves emerge from the switchgrass crown to begin the show anew. Native to the North American prairie, switchgrass’s large range is east of the Rocky Mountains (south of latitude 55°N,) from Canada south through the United States and into Mexico. In Texas, it grows in all regions (below left in Comfort, TX) but is rare in the Trans-Pecos area of west Texas. In our part of Texas, North Central, you can see it at Clymer Meadow (above right), a large prairie remnant nearby in Hunt County, in native haying meadows near St. Jo in Montague County, at Austin College’s Sneed property in Grayson County, and at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge among other places. But you could see it easily and up close by driving out to Hagerman NWR Visitor Center and taking a look in the Butterfly Garden right behind the parking area. You won’t miss it; one of the garden’s switchgrass specimens (below) has a plaque hanging in front of it, identifying it as “Switchgrass, Plant of the Month.” The repertoire of this performer, Panicum virgatum, is extensive. -
Great Plains Ecosystems: Past, Present, and Future
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USGS Staff -- Published Research US Geological Survey 2004 Great Plains Ecosystems: Past, Present, and Future Fred B. Samson United States Forest Service Fritz L. Knopf United States Geological Survey Biological Resources Division Wayne Ostlie The Nature Conservancy, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Samson, Fred B.; Knopf, Fritz L.; and Ostlie, Wayne, "Great Plains Ecosystems: Past, Present, and Future" (2004). USGS Staff -- Published Research. 45. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/45 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Geological Survey at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USGS Staff -- Published Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Great Plains Ecosystems: Past, Present, and Future Fred B. Samson, Fritz L. Knopf, & Wayne R. Ostlie 6 SPECIALCOVERAGE ...eat Plains ecosystems: _ _ t, present, and future HH[[~dIed B. Samson, Fritz L. Knopf, and e R. Ostlie sts that the main bodies of North American prairie (i.e., the tall- grass, mixed, and shortgrass) are among the most endangered resources on the con- tinent. The purpose of this paper is to provide a past and present biological base- line by which to understand North American prairies and to provide a platform for future conservation. Events both immediate to the end of the Pleistocene and his- toric suggest that the present grassland conditions are different from those within which most of the grassland organisms evolved. -
Prairie Restoration Technical Guides
Optimal Collection Period Seed Ripening Period EARLY SEASON NATIVE FORBS May June July August September EARLY SEASON NATIVE FORBS May June July August SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 Caltha palustris Marsh marigold LATE SEASON NATIVE FORBS August September October November SEED COLLECTING Prairie smoke SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 1-10 10-20 20-30 FROM Antennaria neglecta Pussytoes Stachys palustris Woundwort Castilleja coccinea Indian paintbrush Vicia americana Vetch False dandelion Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed Susan TALLGRASS PRAIRIES Saxifraga pensylvanica Swamp saxifrage Lobelia spicata Spiked lobelia Senecio aureus Golden ragwort Iris shrevei Sisyrinchium campestre Blue-eyed grass Hypoxis hirsuta Yellow star grass Rosa carolina Pasture rose Content by Greg Houseal Pedicularis canadensis Lousewort Oxypolis rigidior Cowbane PRAIRIE RESTORATION SERIES V Prairie violet Vernonia fasciculata Ironweed Cardamine bulbosa Spring cress Veronicastrum virginicum Culver's root Allium canadense Wild garlic Heliopsis helianthoides Seed of many native species are now Lithospermum canescens Hoary puccoon L Narrow-leaved loosestrife commercially1 available for prairie Phlox maculata Marsh phlox Lythrum alatum Winged loosestrife Phlox pilosa Prairie phlox reconstructions, large or small. Yet many Ceanothus americana New Jersey tea Anemone canadensis Canada anemone Eupatorium maculatum Spotted Joe Pye people have an interest in collecting Prunella vulgaris var. -
Native Prairie Roadsides: the Iowa Example
Kansas State University Libraries New Prairie Press 2011 – Freedom’s Frontier in the Flint Hills Symphony in the Flint Hills Field Journal (Laurie J. Hamilton, Editor) Native Prairie Roadsides: The Iowa Example Daryl D. Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/sfh Recommended Citation Smith, Daryl D. (2011). "Native Prairie Roadsides: The Iowa Example," Symphony in the Flint Hills Field Journal. https://newprairiepress.org/sfh/2011/nature/7 To order hard copies of the Field Journals, go to shop.symphonyintheflinthills.org. The Field Journals are made possible in part with funding from the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation. This is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Symphony in the Flint Hills Field Journal by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Native Prairie Roadsides: The Iowa Example “No doubt each of us relates to certain aspects of the prairie that have special meaning. For me, the plants of the prairie invoke feelings of awe and wonderment as well as continuity with the past. Nothing is more relaxing than lying on your back in late summer and viewing a deep blue sky through the outstretched turkeyfeet of bluestem.” 1 Most original roads in Iowa and Kansas followed existing trails and traversed the tallgrass prairie. As long as prairie was adjacent to the roadside, seed was available to maintain prairie vegetation in disturbed rights-of-way. As the human population and Management (IRVM) programs that KANSAS TURNPIKE agriculture increased, cropland replaced combined native vegetation, reduced Ron Klataske the adjacent prairies. -
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve the Largest Protected Area of Tallgrass Prairie on Earth, Spanning 39,000 Acres Near Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve The largest protected area of tallgrass prairie on Earth, spanning 39,000 acres near Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Transcript Chapter 1 — 1:17 Introduction Announcer: The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska, Oklahoma is the largest protected area of tallgrass prairie on Earth spanning 39,000 acres. The prairie is a complex environment harboring a rich diversity of plants and animals. Prior to its purchase by the Nature Conservancy, the Preserve was called the Bernard Ranch, which had been part of the Chapman Bernard Ranch of 100,000 acres. The tallgrass prairie goes beyond what the eye can see. What Walt Witman called that delicate miracle, the ever-recurring grass. Bison are the most prominent attraction of the Preserve. The herd numbers more than 2,500 and grazes over 25,000 acres. Annually, over 10,000 visitors drive the scenic route on public country roads through the heart of the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve to observe the bison. Starting and ending in Pawhuska, the complete drive is approximately 50 miles and takes about two hours at a leisurely pace. The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is open daily from dawn to dusk. There is no admission charge. Listen to Harvey Payne and Jenk Jones tell you the story of how this Oklahoma prairie land became a preservation site. Brought to you by foundations and individuals who believe in preserving Oklahoma’s legacy one voice at a time at voicesofoklahoma.com. Chapter 2 — 5:04 Our Storytellers John Erling: My name is John Erling. Today’s date is July 15th, 2014 and we’re recording this interview here in the offices of Voices of Oklahoma. -
Prairie Reconstruction DRS CAROLYN GRYGIEL, JACK NORLAND and MARIO BIONDINI
© LINDA NORLAND Prairie reconstruction AND MARIO BIONDINI NORLAND JACK GRYGIEL, CAROLYN DRS Professor Emeritus and former Director of Natural Resources Management at North Dakota State University, Dr Carolyn Grygiel and her colleagues Drs Jack Norland and Mario Biondini are at the forefront of new methods for redressing the lost biodiversity of grasslands Firstly, as Director of Natural Resources to be pushing vegetation changes at the Are herbicides Management (NRM), how did you support landscape level. This new perspective led me or rototilling the faculty and student body in their to the concept of ‘patch dynamics’, which traditional management endeavours? would eventually focus on the impacts of options? Can they be applied small-scale disturbances as a model for sustainably? CG: While I was Director my main focus prairie reconstruction. was working with the undergraduate Herbicide application/drill seeding and and graduate students, inspiring them Is it feasible to ‘rewild’ these environments? rototilling/broadcast seeding are conventional to take the ‘long-term decision’ and ask Why must they be managed as prairie land? methods that take an agronomic, ie. farming, the ‘next big question.’ As is customary approach to restoring a natural system. While with interdisciplinary programmes, NRM Prairie reconstruction is feasible. Our both of these methods may prove initially was primarily dependent upon other research has shown that the installation effective, they are not generally sustainable departmental cohorts to provide our of small-scale disturbances and proper in that the forb component diminishes within graduate students with research projects seed mixtures can sustainably enhance a few years. We contend that the success and stipends. -
Texas Blackland Prairies ECOREGION HANDBOOK August 2012
TEXAS CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN Texas Blackland Prairies ECOREGION HANDBOOK August 2012 Citing this document: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 2012. Texas Conservation Action Plan 2012 – 2016: Texas Blackland Prairies Handbook. Editor, Wendy Connally, Texas Conservation Action Plan Coordinator. Austin, Texas. Contents SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 HOW TO GET INVOLVED ............................................................................................................................... 2 OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 RARE SPECIES and COMMUNITIES .............................................................................................................. 14 PRIORITY HABITATS ..................................................................................................................................... 15 ISSUES ......................................................................................................................................................... 20 CONSERVATION ACTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 32 ECOREGION HANDBOOK FIGURES Figure 1. TBPR Ecoregion with County Boundaries ..................................................................................... -
Woody-Invaded Prairie to Utility Prairie
Restoring Your Woody-Invaded Prairie to Utility Prairie The author of this Restoration Guide is Laura Phillips-Mao, University of Minnesota. Steve Chaplin, MN/ND/SD Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, administered the project and helped with production. Marybeth Block, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, provided review and editorial comments. Susan Galatowitsch, University of Minnesota, contributed to an earlier version of this guide. ©The Nature Conservancy January 1, 2017 Funding for the development of this restoration guide was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) through grant LCCMR092C. The Trust Fund is a permanent fund constitutionally established by the citizens of Minnesota to assist in the protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources. Currently 40% of net Minnesota State Lottery proceeds are dedicated to building the Trust Fund and ensuring future benefits for Minnesota’s environment and natural resources. Additional funding for the update and redesign of the guide was provided by a Working Lands Initiative grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Cover photo taken at Sheepberry Fen Preserve by Alison Mickelson, Greater Good Photography. Restoring Your Woody- Why restore woody-invaded Invaded Prairie to prairies? Prairies that are not burned, grazed or mowed “Utility Prairie” are often invaded by woody trees and shrubs. In Minnesota, the prairie-forest border shifts In this guide, you will learn the basic steps to over time in response to changes in climate and restoring a degraded prairie invaded by woody fire frequency. -
Nine-Mile Prairie I
The Legacy of Nine-Mile Prairie I. Brief History II. Ecological Changes III. Environmental Changes IV. Changing Perspectives on Tallgrass Prairie Conservation John E. Weaver V. The Future of Nine-Mile Prairie (1884-1966) 1857: GLO Survey of 9MP – “The surface is of high rolling prairie”, no trees were noted. Bison and fire soon disappeared. 1885: Charles Bessey arrives at UNL 1898: Frederic Clements receives PhD UNL Early 1900’s: 9MP owned by the Flader family (west half), and the McManaman family (east half). Most of the area hayed annually. 1909: John E. Weaver receives BS UNL 1915: J.E. Weaver new Professor at UNL 1927-1928: First ecological descriptions for “800 acres of treeless, unbroken prairie” by T.L. Steiger, a PhD student of Weaver (published 1930) 1934: J.E. Weaver publishes “The Prairie” in State Historic Marker honoring Ecological Monographs (one of >100 publications) J.E. Weaver, post-storm 2017 1930’s: Drought and Dust Bowl 1949 1941: Professor Frank purchases eastern half of 9MP 1944: F.W. Albertson & J.E. Weaver publish “Nature & degree of recovery of grassland from the Great Drought 1933-1940” 1952: Weaver retires 1966: Weaver dies 1950: US Air Force takes over 9MP & surrounding area to support a Strategic Air Command Base (1952-1966). 1970’s: Lincoln Airport Authority acquires 9MP & Air Park. 9MP is rented by Ernie Rousek on behalf of Wachiska Audubon. 1981: Legislative Act (Bill 58) encourages LAA to protect 9MP (R.B. Crosby, E. Rousek, A.T. Harrison) 1984: NU Foundation purchases Nine-Mile Prairie (donation by Marguerite Hall) 2001: Michael Forsberg’s 9MP photo released as US postage stamp.