Proceedings of the 24Th North American Prairie Conference Roger Anderson Illinois State University
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Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData North American Prairie Conference Proceedings 7-2016 01. From Cemetery Prairies to National Tallgrass Prairies: Proceedings of the 24th North American Prairie Conference Roger Anderson Illinois State University Chris Benda Illinois Native Plant Society Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/napc Part of the Plant Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, Roger and Benda, Chris, "01. From Cemetery Prairies to National Tallgrass Prairies: Proceedings of the 24th North American Prairie Conference" (2016). North American Prairie Conference Proceedings. 1. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/napc/1 This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in North American Prairie Conference Proceedings by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Proceedings of the 24th North American Prairie Conference Rainbow Prairie by Photographer Robert Shaw Held July 17-20, 2016 Illinois State University Normal, Illinois From Cemetery Prairies to National Tallgrass Prairies Editor Roger C. Anderson Associate Editor Chris Benda 1 Welcome to the 24th North American Prairie Conference in Illinois “From Cemetery Prairies to National Tallgrass Prairies” In the upper Midwest of the United States (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin), of 86,898,620 acres of historic prairie that occurred in this area, only 176,580 acres (0.2%) of high quality remnant prairie remains. Due to agriculture, urbanization, and invasion by woody species following fire suppression, most remnant tallgrass prairies consist of small isolated fragments. Illinois is called the “prairie state” apparently because it was the first state European settlers encountered that had extensive areas of tallgrass prairie. In the early 1800’s, 60% (22,000,000 acres) of the state had prairie vegetation, but today only 2,200 acres of high quality prairie remain and most of the remnants are less than 12 acres. Nearly the entire prairie was converted to agriculture. The motto for the conference emphasizes that prairies in Illinois range from small remnants in pioneer cemeteries, that were never plowed and are the best representatives of historic prairie vegetation in Illinois, to landscape scale prairie restorations of 1,000s of acres, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (US Forest Service) and the Nachusa Grasslands (The Nature Conservancy). The Conference consists of Field Trips, Contributed Oral Presentations, Posters, Breakout Discussion Groups, Plenary Speakers, and two Invited Oral Presentation Sessions on Landscape Scale Restorations and Grassland Birds. Most presenters are from the Midwest, but some are from other areas including Arizona, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Ontario. A wide range of topics are considered including prairie restorations and reconstructions, fire effects on grassland birds, prairie insects and other invertebrates, management methods including patch burn grazing, fire season and frequency, prairie mutualists and parasites, pollination, urban prairies, and seeds of prairie plants. The first North American Prairie Conference was held at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and was organized by Peter Schramm in 1968. One-hundred people attended the conference. The 24th North American Conference is the second conference held in Illinois and was hosted by Illinois State University. There are many common threads that connect the North American Prairie Conferences. These commonalities include the broad base of topics covered and the attendees. Attendees include members of the general public who love prairies, scientists and resource managers from universities and governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, companies involved in restoration, and commercial prairie nurseries growing plants and producing seeds. Everyone who attends these conferences leaves with new information and a broadened understanding of prairies and greater enthusiasm for this biotic community. Enjoy your Conference. Roger C. Anderson Chair of the 24th NAPC Steering Committee 2 Acknowledgements 24th NAPC Steering Committee Fran Harty, The Nature Conservancy Chris Benda, Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois Native Plant Society Bill Davison, University of Illinois Extension Jamie Ellis, Illinois Natural History Survey, Grand Prairie Friends Angella Moorehouse, IDNR, Natural Heritage Stuart Allison, Knox College Jack Pizzo, Pizzo and Associates Bohdan Dziadyk, Augustana College Sherrie Snyder, Wild Ones, Angela Funk, Sugar Grove Nature Center Becky Anderson, ISU Angelo Capparella, ISU, School of Biological Sciences, ParkLands Foundation Diane Byers, School of Biological Sciences, ISU Scott Sakaluk, School of Biological Sciences, ISU Charles Thompson, School of Biological of Sciences, ISU Victoria Borowicz, School of Biological of Sciences, ISU Daryl Smith, University of Northern Iowa Tracy Oakley, Conferences Services, ISU Roger Anderson, Steering Committee Chair, ISU Thanks to all individuals and organizations that freely gave of their time and resources to support the 2016 NAPC. We especially want to thank Daryl Smith, who encouraged us to host the 24th NAPC, gave freely of his time, and shared his experience with organizing two NAPC’s. Charles Thompson and Scott Sakaluk evaluated the suitability of all poster and oral paper presentations for inclusion in the 24th NAPC. Becky Anderson prepared field trip information for our website and in a flyer available for each field trip participant. Fran Harty was our workhorse who solicited key sponsors, organized an invited oral paper session, and contributed to our steering committee meetings. At Illinois State University, Conference Services ISU organized necessary University facilities, contacted vendors, prepared the conference program, and website, and dealt with difficult issues in an effective manner. The School of Biological Sciences and Research and Sponsored Programs provided resources and support for the conference. We also thank oral paper session moderators, persons who judged student presentations for awards, field trip leaders, discussion group leaders, and our plenary session speakers. 3 Proceeding Manuscript Reviewers Oral Session Moderators M. Rebecca Anderson Chris Helzer Fran Harty Nicholas Anderson Rich Henderson Roberta Clifton Nicholas Barber Greg Hoch Given Harper Angelo Capparella Bill Kleiman Dennis Nyberg Cody Considine Craig Maier Yari Johnson Ryan Campbell Angella Moorehouse Jim Herkert Dan Carter Dennis Nyberg Raelene Crandall Kent Connell Rory O'Connor Theodore Burke Mathew E. Dornbush Pam Otto Angella Moorehouse Jamie Ellis Noel Pavlovic Greg Keilback Ralph Grundel Thomas Rosburg Maureen McHale Carola Haas Daryl Smith Daryl Smith Mike Hansen Michelle Simone James Ellis Given Harper Charles Thompson John Harrington James Trager Fran Harty Reuven Yosef Awards for Student Posters and Oral Paper Presentations 1st Place: Rebecca S. Barak. Shopping for a prairie: Diversity and composition of commercially available seed mixes for prairie restoration. Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL and Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. 2nd Place: Catherine E. Dana. Prairie cicada (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) natural history and distribution in Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL. Poster Presentations 1st Place: Rachel E. Becknell. Plant-microbial interactions and their effects on tallgrass prairie communities. Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO. 2nd Place: Nick Anderson. Increased seed mix diversity in a prairie restoration changes abiotic factors implicated in nest site selection by ground nesting bees. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL. The awards were $100 and $50 for first and second places winners, respectively. Oral Paper Judges Poster Judges M. R. Anderson Daryl Smith Steve Glass Given Harper Given Harper Yari Johnson Yari Johnson Mike Lemke Mike Lemke Steve Glass Daryl Smith M. R. Anderson Photographers Michael Jeffords, Kirk Hallowell, and Robert Shaw provided pictures for our conference program and proceedings. 4 CONFERENCE SPONSORS We would like to recognize our sponsors for the 24th North American Conference CONFERENCE UNDERWRITER ($5,000 - $10,000) The Nature Conservancy CONFERENCE PARTNERS ($1,000 - $2,499) Research and Agrecol Sponsored Programs Native Seed & Plant Nursery Illinois State University Tallgrass Prairie Cardno Applied Ecological and Oak Savanna Shaping the future Services Fire Science Consortium CONFERENCE SUPPORTERS ($500 - $999) Openlands Prairie Moon Nursery Great Plains The Pizzo conserving Fire Science Group nature for life Exchange CONFERENCE ADVOCATE ($50 - $499) Grand Prairie ERNST Shooting Star Wild Ones Phi Sigma Friends SEEDS Native Seeds Native Plants Biological Natural Landscapes Sciences Illinois Prairie Honor Society PEORIA BOTANY SOCIETY University of Iowa Press Roger and Becky Anderson 5 Exhibitors Agrecol Native Nursery Illinois Native Plant Society Shooting Star Native seeds Evansville, WI Carbondale, IL Spring Grove MN 608-223-3571 708-613-0163 507-498-3944 www.agrecol.com https://ill-inps.org/contact-us/ www.shootingstarnativeseed.com Black Sweater Art Midwest Groundcover Tallgrass Prairie Center Buffalo Grove, IL St. Charles, IL University of Northern Iowa 847-537-5627 847-742-1790 Cedar Falls, [email protected]