What makes prairies unique

Late spring burns benefit major tallgrasses; forbs might be impaired in amount of growth but overall forb diversity is not affected. Historically, the tallgrass prairie was grazed by large herds of bison, antelope, deer, and elk along with colonies of prairie dogs. Except for prairie dogs, these species were migratory, continuously searching for green forage and responding to environmental variables such as precipitation, drought, and fire.

This resulted in rotational grazing that allowed vegetation to recover in the absence of the herbivores; it also caused repetitive seasonal grazing pressures which the vegetation adapted to in the process of natural selection.

Bison grazing increases plant species diversity. Bison, deer, and prairie dogs still graze in some areas of the tallgrass prairie; however, livestock grazing is a primary use today. Palatable plants are selected first by grazers and are continually pressured.

Improper grazing management techniques alter the plant communities and historical fire patterns; they can be disproportionately harmful to riparian areas. Short-term light grazing increases, and long-term heavy grazing decreases, plant productivity.

Ideally from an ecological view , proper grazing will create heterogeneity by transferring nutrients, reducing litter in grazed areas, and increasing the rate of nutrient cycling. Periodic drought is a natural occurrence in the tallgrass prairie, and historically periodic drought and fire promoted grasslands. Drought is common in Desert Shrublands also. Drought temporarily reduces vegetative productivity but can that quickly recover with onset of precipitation.

However, grass survival is closely related to stocking rate; drought typically does not negatively affect tallgrass prairie, as long as grazing management is adjusted for the current climate.

As one can see with the grazing example, other disturbances are more severe during drought. Furthermore, prolonged drought can cause shifts in species ranges, non-native invasion, and habitat degradation. Mowing did not exist prior to European settlement, but now it is a common practice. It can benefit the prairie by controlling encroachment by woody species and removing litter but it also reduces heterogeneity. The effects of mowing vary depending upon the season; for example summer mowing promotes C3 species while spring mowing promotes C4 species.

Long-term summer mowing lowers vegetative productivity whereas occasional spring mowing will increase productivity. The tallgrass prairie experiences seasonal summer flooding following large thunderstorm events. Currently, these events have become exacerbated by land-use changes that increase flashiness of runoff. The lack of fire in the tallgrass prairie results in some dramatic vegetation changes. It promotes woody encroachment and exotic invasions causing detrimental alterations to habitat for wildlife.

Prescribed fire is a useful management tool for implementing a fire regime on a landscape Figure E It offers a lower cost option to wide variety of land management issues. Benefits of appropriately and wisely used prescribed fires include enhanced biodiversity, suppressed woody encroachment, protection against catastrophic wildfires, improved forage for livestock, increased soil fertility, and improved wildlife habitat.

Fire suppression has allowed encroachment of woody plants and buildup of fuel that increase the intensity and danger of wildfires. Drought increases wildfire prevalence throughout the tallgrass prairie. Particularly worrisome invasive species of the tallgrass prairie include J apanese honeysuckle Lonicera japonica ; glossy privet Ligustrum lucidum ; Chinese privet Ligustrum sinense ; giant reed Arundo donax ; C hinese wisteria Wisteria sinensis ; lilac chaste tree Vitex agnus-castus ; B razilian vervain Verbena brasiliensis ; guineagrass Urochloa maxima ; common periwinkle Vinca minor ; chinaberry tree Melia azerdarach ; C hinese tallow tree Triadica sebifera ; and J ohnson grass Sorghum halepense.

Endangered species, such as the black-footed ferret present their own problems. They are very expensive, and there is a lack of public acceptance in the Great Plains region of the Endangered Species Act and measures to ensure the survival of endangered species. This creates a high potential for conflict among stakeholders. Pollution from agriculture, confined feeding operations, oil development, and other sources impairs water quality.

Reservoirs, channelization, impoundments, and withdrawal threaten flow regimes and riparian habitats. Riparian areas are degraded by grazing livestock. Accelerated rates of erosion result from a variety of current land management practices including cultivation and overgrazing. The tallgrass prairie has been fragmented by cultivation and a myriad of land management practices. Fragmentation reduces habitat quality and quantity, impedes the fire regime, is severely detrimental to biodiversity, and makes implementing the necessary disturbance regimes difficult or impossible.

Seasonal forage sources come from winter cereals, native grass meadows and tame pastures planted to grasses like fescue and brome. Cattle grazing is the dominant use of the remaining tallgrass prairie, but bison still graze in some areas. Stocker operations, seeking rapid weight gains, commonly occupy the gentler terrain and better pastures. Cow-calf operations typically are on rougher, less nutritious pastures.

The tallgrass prairie is grazed with many different strategies. Continuous grazing with a light to moderate stocking rate exhibits the best individual animal performance compared to specialized systems.

It also provides ecological benefits by creating and a moderate level of habitat diversity and the necessary habitat structure and composition for wildlife species. Rotational grazing involves cross-fencing areas and moving cattle from pasture to pasture; this reduces the structural composition of the range.

It is costly in terms of fencing but gives better results than season-long grazing. Intensive early stocking is a variation of season-long grazing that doubles the stocking rate and halves the grazing time.

It gives best results with yearling cattle, commonly involves annual spring burn, is economical, and results in a homogeneous landscape. Patch-burn grazing utilizes fire to manipulate livestock grazing areas and mimics historical grazing pattern.

Benefits of patch-burn management include creation of a mosaic of sites with different burn histories, heterogeneity across the landscape, and increased soil nitrogen. It will be a national wildlife refuge prairie, but a national wildlife refuge that is almost entirely private land.

I guess that means very little public access. Thanks for sending this. Chris when you find out the details share them with us all. A large site like this is something we can all benefit from.

I have the flint hills on my list of photo pilgrimages for next spring and this extra area would be good. Excellent post. I would be interested in knowing whether prescribed burns PB were utilized in any of the prairies included in the study, and if so whether any relationship was found between PB and insect diversity. Although the beneficial effects of PB on floristic diversity are well documented, its effects on insects and other invertebrates seem far less understood.

Perhaps this is because far too often floristic diversity has been the only metric utilized for assessing the impact of various prairie management techniques. If any have a fire history, it would be a couple of the prairies in the broader pilot study, none of which are being looked at now.

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Like this: Like Loading Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. Email required Address never made public. Name required. Follow Following. The Prairie Ecologist Join 5, other followers. Sign me up. Already have a WordPress. Log in now. Loading Comments Another example could be the demolition of a factory, where the site is topped off with soil and prepped for native plants, slated to become a preserve.

In these scenarios, prairie restoration is akin to historical recreation — the equivalent of presenting a reasonable facsimile of the cabin Abe Lincoln grew up in because the original no longer exists. Early restoration projects would typically include big bluestem — the granddaddy of prairie grasses — in their planting schemes.

Today, big bluestem is planted sparingly, if at all, she said. Perhaps one of the biggest constraints facing restoration ecologists, Barak said, is the availability of seeds for prairie plants not cultivars or even nativars. Seeds of spring blooming species are also harder to collect, Barak said, and cost is another factor. As scrappy as prairie plants are, they can also be finicky.

Some have proven downright obstinate, refusing to germinate in greenhouses or at restoration sites. In some cases, hemiparasites can help keep dominant plants under control, Barak said. That and any other benefits they provide — benefits scientists, perhaps, have yet to uncover — are among the missing puzzle pieces in any restoration. Think of the relationship between milkweed and the monarch butterfly — without the former, the latter disappears. Milkweed seed scattering at a Chicago Park District natural area.

Prairie remnants and restoration projects go hand in hand in preserving biodiversity. Progress is measured not in years but over the course of multiple generations of human lifespans. It matters and it does have influences. The great and critical challenge of our time is the preservation of biodiversity in support of a healthy, functioning planet, Mikenas said. The question for humans weigh is whether we can live without prairie. And if we can, do we want to?

Contact Patty Wetli: pattywetli [email protected]. Sign up for our morning newsletter to get all of our stories delivered to your mailbox each weekday. View the discussion thread. Skip to main content. Search WTTW:. But What Exactly Are They? Forest Service Almost as soon as it was dubbed the Prairie State, Illinois began to lose the very features that inspired the nickname. Thanks to our sponsors:. Kelly Mikenas. Becky Barak.