Site History

Prairie History

Prairie Facts

References

Plant Species
 

A Prairie Is:

· Composed of 60-80% grasses or sedges and 20-40% of flowering plants called forbs, which are adapted to dry, windy, and hot climates. 

· Has rains in the spring and fall and drought in the summer. 

· About every 20 years a long drought occurs and grasshoppers eat most of the vegetation. 

· Fires are necessary to kill trees; trees are bad for a prairie because they block sunlight and favor the growth of broadleaf plants instead of prairie plants. 

· Fires recycle nutrients back into the soil. 

· The black ashes from a fire warm the prairie up in the spring and give warm ? season grasses an early start after the fire.

Why preserve prairies:

· They can serve as living models for reconstructing prairies. 

· They can serve as active areas of scientific study. 

· They are a natural ecological teaching tool. 

· They have the potential to rebuild the soils, since they made the most fertile soils in North America. 

· They can store twice as much carbon per acre as forests, so they can hold excess carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. 

· They are a link to our past and to the history of the land. 

Where to look for prairies:

· Areas that have been ignored. 

· Railroad right of ways, because many rail lines were built before the land was farmed so the areas near them were preserved. Also, burning from maintenance and train sparks enhanced the prairie growth. 

· Pioneer cemeteries that haven't been kept up. 

· Large wetland areas may have wet to dry prairies in their centers isolated from access by cattle and machinery. 

· Large areas with irregular topography, such as steep hills or low lands. 

· Areas of poor soils for agriculture.