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Land Management History and Floristics in Mixed-Grass Prairie

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Land Management History and Floristics in Mixed-Grass Prairie Unauthorized uses of copyrighted materials are prohibited by law. The PDF file of this article is provided subject to the copyright policy of the journal. Please consult the journal or contact the publisher if you have questions about copyright policy. R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E ABSTRACT: Opportunities for conserving native plant diversity in the northern Great Plains should be found on National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs), but floristics of these areas are largely undocumented. During 1998-2002, we used 25-m belt transects (n=713) to measure the general floristic makeup of a northern mixed-grass prairie on 4300 ha of glacial drift plain soils at Des Lacs NWR and J. Clark Salyer NWR in North Dakota. These prairies had been managed mainly by rest since the 1930s. For compara- tive purposes, we also measured about 1200 ha of nearby, privately owned prairies (n=154 transects), • which had been annually grazed since at least the mid-1900s. Vegetation dominated by low (<1.5 m) native shrubs were common on both NWR prairies and on grazed prairies near Des Lacs NWR, occur- ring roughly in a 1:3 ratio with herbaceous-dominated vegetation. Nearly all prairies were moderately Land Management to severely invaded by introduced plant species, mainly smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) on NWRs, and Kentucky bluegrass, almost exclusively, on adjacent History and Floristics grazed prairies. Plant assemblages composed of native species were encountered rarely (3-6%), except they occurred fairly often (16%) on grazed prairie next to J. Clark Salyer NWR. Our study demonstrates pitfalls of managing disturbance-dependent grasslands as relatively static, late-succession systems for in Mixed-Grass many decades, without basic inventory and monitoring to comprehend and address associated ecological changes. A consequence of this course of action on NWR prairies we studied was a hastened invasion Prairie, North by introduced grass species, especially smooth brome. Index terms: Bromus inermis Leyss., invasive species, mixed-grass prairie, Poa pratensis L., restora- Dakota, USA tion Robert K. Murphy1 INTRODUCTION poses, we also sampled plant composition U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on nearby, privately owned prairies with a Des Lacs National Wildlife Mixed-grass prairie has declined 70-90% in history of management that differed from Refuge Complex northern Great Plains states and provinces, that on the NWRs. 8315 Hwy 8 mainly due to conversion to agriculture Kenmare, ND 58746 USA (Samson and Knopf 1994). Remnant tracts STUDY AREA AND METHODS are mostly privately owned and likely Todd A. Grant will continue to decline in quantity and Our study sites are Des Lacs NWR and J. quality due to further conversion, certain U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Clark Salyer NWR, located about 100 km livestock grazing practices and trends, J. Clark Salyer National apart within the Souris River basin of north- suppression of wildfire, and invasions Wildlife Refuge western and north central North Dakota by woody and introduced plant species 681 Salyer Road (Figure 1). “Drift prairie,” characterized (Samson and Knopf 1994, Higgins et Upham, ND 58789 USA by native sod in relatively deep (12-15 al. 2002). Conservation of representative cm surface, 25-30 cm subsurface), level mixed-grass prairie is a primary resource loams typical of the extensive Drift Plain • goal on most National Wildlife Refuges physiographic region (Bluemle 1991), is (NWRs) and other publicly-owned lands a major component of the NWRs (2000 in the northern Great Plains. Key roles of ha on 7900-ha Des Lacs NWR, 2300 ha the NWR system include contribution to on 23,900-ha J. Clark Salyer NWR). Drift ecosystem integrity and the conservation prairies on each NWR consist of roughly of biological diversity (U.S. House of Rep- 25-km long, 0.5-km to 2.0-km wide tracts resentatives 1997). Roughly 20,000 ha of along east and west sides of shallow river mixed-grass prairie occurs on glacial drift impoundments. Drift prairie on each NWR plain soils on NWRs and other lands owned is bordered mainly by cropland (dryland by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in farming for small grains) and by wetland North Dakota (Figure 1). These prairies, impoundments of the Des Lacs or Souris like those of other NWRs in the Great rivers. Other bordering land includes scat- Plains, should contribute to conservation tered, 16-ha to 130-ha tracts of either an- of native plant assemblages unique to the 1 nually grazed, privately owned drift prairie Corresponding author: region, but their floristic composition is [email protected] or cropland formerly seeded to introduced undocumented. Our goal was to sample grasses and forbs for conservation purposes the general plant composition of native (e.g., to inhibit soil erosion, provide bird- prairies on two of these NWRs to help nesting cover). Natural Areas Journal 25:351–358 identify opportunities and limitations for prairie conservation. For comparative pur- Volume 25 (4), 2005 Natural Areas Journal 351 NWR. In contrast, drift prairie on nearby, privately owned land generally was grazed season-long almost annually since at least the mid-1900s, at moderate to heavy (>1.8 AUMs/ha) stocking rates, and had not been burned. Starting in the 1960s, herbicides were used to control localized infesta- tions of the introduced forb, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.), on both NWR and grazed drift prairies. Biological control with flea beetles (Apthona spp.) became the main method of managing leafy spurge on the NWRs by the late 1990s. During late summer, we used 25-m belt transects to record frequencies of plant species or species groups (Grant et al. 2004) on drift prairie at each NWR and Figure 1. The Drift Plain physiographic region (bold outline) as it overlies North Dakota. Within this on privately owned, grazed drift prairies area, tracts owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System (represented within 2 km of each NWR (total, about by widely scattered, dark polygons) include nearly 20,000 ha of northern mixed-grass prairie. Losses of North America’s northern mixed-grass prairie have been particularly severe in the Drift Plain, and 1200 ha). We distributed 1 transect/5-8 the status of native flora on extant prairies in the region is unknown. The general floristic composition ha of drift prairie, except on the grazed of relatively extensive Drift Plain prairies at two National Wildlife Refuges (indicated) is the subject prairie near Des Lacs NWR, where we of this study. sampled half as intensively because the vegetation makeup within varied less The Souris River basin is in the eastern Des Lacs NWR and J. Clark Salyer than that on drift prairie elsewhere in our (mesic) subregion of the northern mixed- NWR were each established in 1935 “as study area. Transects were distributed grass prairie. Native flora is a cool- a breeding and resting ground for migra- randomly, and each was oriented along season (C3)-dominated, needlegrass- tory birds and other wildlife” (Executive a random compass bearing. We classified wheatgrass (Stipa-Agropyron) association Order 7154-A). Through the late 1960s, the dominant plant group at 50 successive, (Coupland 1992, Bragg 1995). Species drift prairie on the NWRs typically was 0.5-m x 0.1-m belts along each 25-m long characteristic of this association include grazed season-long by cattle at light to transect, using common plant groups of other cool-season graminoids such as moderate stocking rates (0.6-1.8 Animal the region (Grant et al. 2004; Appendix Junegrass (Koeleria pyramidata Lam.; Unit Months [AUMs]/ha), although at A). Transect data were summarized by nomenclature follows Great Plains Flora Des Lacs NWR, years of grazing often percentage frequency of occurrence ac- Association 1986), native Poa spp., and alternated with years of rest (i.e., no cording to plant species group, life form, sedges (Carex spp.); several warm-season prescribed defoliations). To emphasize or invasion class (i.e., mostly [>50%] or (C4) grass species, mainly blue grama dense, undisturbed nesting cover for prairie somewhat [5-50%] invaded by introduced (Bouteloua gracilis H.B.K.), sideoats ducks, a drift prairie on the refuges was plant species, or devoid of introduced plant grama (B. curtipendula Michx.), and big rested with increasing frequency during species). The data were averaged for the bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman); the early 1970s through early 1990s, with drift prairie of each NWR and for privately the low shrubs, western snowberry long-range plans at J. Clark Salyer NWR owned drift prairie adjacent to each NWR. (Symphoricarpos occidentalis Hook.) and to eliminate grazing (e.g., by the mid- We simply used 95% confidence intervals silverberry (Elaeagnus commutata Bernh.); 1980s, total ha annually grazed on J. Clark to discern significant differences between and many forb species, mainly Asteraceae Salyer NWR was 85-90% less than that these means (Johnson 1999). and Fabaceae. The climate of our study grazed during the 1960s). Tracts totaling area is semiarid to subhumid continental, roughly two-thirds of the drift prairie on RESULTS with average monthly temperatures ranging each NWR were prescribe-burned (spring from -15 0C in January to 20 0C in July or late summer), usually just once, during During 1998-2000, we collected frequency (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, unpubl. this 20-year period. About one-third of the data from 252 transects on drift prairie at data). The mean annual precipitation on prairie at Des Lacs NWR was grazed at Des Lacs NWR and from 36 transects on Des Lacs NWR and J. Clark NWR during moderate stocking rates (1.5-1.8 AUMs/ha) nine nearby, grazed tracts of drift prairie.
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