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Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and the steppe of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Lands typically referred to as "prairie" tend to be in North America. The term encompasses the area referred to as the Interior Lowlands of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which includes all of the Great Plains as well as the wetter, hillier land to the east.
The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals, were historically agents of periodic disturbance, which regulates tree encroachment, recycles nutrients to the soil, and catalyzes some seed dispersal and germination processes. Prior to widespread use of the steel plow, which enabled large scale conversion to agricultural land use, tallgrass prairies extended throughout the American Midwest and smaller portions of southern central Canada, from the transitional ecotones out of eastern North American forests, west to a climatic threshold based on precipitation and soils, to the southern reaches of the Flint Hills in Oklahoma, to a transition into forest in Manitoba.
An oak savanna is a type of savanna-or lightly forested grassland- where oaks are the dominant trees, the term oakery or woodlands is also used commonly, though the former is more prevalent when referencing the Mediterranean area. These savannas were maintained historically through wildfires set by lightning, humans, grazing, low precipitation, and/or poor soil.
Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interruption and action. Effective restoration requires an explicit goal or policy, preferably an unambiguous one that is articulated, accepted, and codified. Restoration goals reflect societal choices from among competing policy priorities, but extracting such goals is typically contentious and politically challenging.
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (MNTP) is a tallgrass prairie reserve and similarly preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the United States Forest Service. The first national tallgrass prairie ever designated in the U.S. and the largest conservation site in the Chicago Wilderness region, it is located on the site of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant between the towns of Elwood, Manhattan and Wilmington in northeastern Illinois. Since 2015, it has hosted a conservation herd of American bison to study their interaction with prairie restoration and conservation.
The Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, United States, is a public garden, and outdoor museum with a library, herbarium, and program in tree research including the Center for Tree Science. Its grounds, covering 1,700 acres, include cataloged collections of trees and other living plants, gardens, and restored areas, among which is a restored tallgrass prairie. The living collections include more than 4,100 different plant species. There are more than 200,000 cataloged plants.
The Calumet Region is the geographic area drained by the Grand Calumet River and the Little Calumet River of northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana in the United States. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin, which eventually reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It is a sub-region of the greater Northwest Indiana region and the even larger Great Lakes region.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum is a teaching and research facility of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the site of historic research in ecological restoration. In addition to its 1,260 acres (5 km2) in Madison, Wisconsin, the Arboretum also manages 520 acres (210 ha) of remnant forests and prairies throughout Wisconsin. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2021, in recognition for its role as a pioneer in the field of ecological restoration.
Prairie restoration is a conservation effort to restore prairie lands that were destroyed due to industrial, agricultural, commercial, or residential development. For example, the U.S. state of Illinois alone once held over 35,000 square miles (91,000 km2) of prairie land and now just 3 square miles (7.8 km2) of that original prairie land is left.
The Konza Prairie Biological Station is a 8,616-acre (3,487 ha) protected area of native tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. "Konza" is an alternative name for the Kansa or Kaw Indians who inhabited this area until the mid-19th century. The Konza Prairie is owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University.
The Central Great Plains are a semiarid prairie ecoregion of the central United States, part of North American Great Plains. The region runs from west-central Texas through west-central Oklahoma, central Kansas, and south-central Nebraska.
Citizens for Conservation is a nonprofit organization, centered in Barrington, Illinois, established in 1971. CFC's motto is Saving Living Space for Living Things through protection, restoration and stewardship of land, conservation of natural resources and education. It is a member of Chicago Wilderness and the Land Trust Alliance.
Mike MacDonald is an American photographer, photojournalist, speaker, author and conservationist. MacDonald's photos, primarily featuring prairies, savannas and other natural habitats around the Chicago metropolitan area, are internationally published. MacDonald's photographic technique blends concepts from landscape and macro photography to create a three-dimensional, immersive effect in his work. In 2015, MacDonald authored the coffee-table book My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago.
A prairie remnant commonly refers to grassland areas in the Western and Midwestern United States and Canada that remain to some extent undisturbed by European settlement. Prairie remnants range in levels of degradation but nearly all contain at least some semblance of the pre-Columbian local plant assemblage of a particular region. Prairie remnants have become increasingly threatened due to the threats of agricultural, urban and suburban development, pollution, fire suppression, and the incursion of invasive species.
The Wetlands Initiative (TWI) is a non-profit conservation organization headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The Wetlands Initiative works with nonprofit and government partners and local communities to advance wetland restoration and science in the Midwestern United States. The organizational vision of TWI is: "A world with plentiful healthy wetlands improving water quality, climate, biodiversity, and human well-being."
Dr. Floyd Allen Swink (1921-2000) was an American botanist, teacher of natural history, and author of several floras of the Chicago region.
A remnant natural area, also known as remnant habitat, is an ecological community containing native flora and fauna that has not been significantly disturbed by destructive activities such as agriculture, logging, pollution, development, fire suppression, or non-native species invasion. The more disturbed an area has been, the less characteristic it becomes of remnant habitat. Remnant areas are also described as "biologically intact" or "ecologically intact."
James F. Steffen is an American ecologist with expertise in Midwestern United States flora and fauna.
Kankakee Sands is a 10,000-acre (4,000 ha) restored tallgrass prairie in Kankakee County, Illinois and Newton County, Indiana. It is managed by The Nature Conservancy staff and volunteers. The Efroymson Restoration at Kankakee Sands is 8,400 acres (3,400 ha) of prairies and wetlands connecting Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, Beaver Lake Nature Preserve, Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve and Conrad Station Savanna. This creates over 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of dry, mesic and wet sand prairies, sand blows, sedge meadows, wetlands, and black oak savannas.
Russell R. Kirt Prairie is a restored tallgrass prairie and savanna within the College of DuPage Natural Areas. A Trail Guide published by the college provides background information and ecological notes. In addition to the mesic prairie and oak savanna, the site also includes a small hill prairie, swale, marsh and wetland areas.
References
- ↑ "Somme Woods Community". Somme Woods Community. 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- 1 2 Helford, Reid M. (1991). "Rediscovering the Presettlement Landscape: Making the Oak Savanna Ecosystem "Real"". Science, Technology, & Human Values. 24 (1): 55–79. doi:10.1177/016224399902400104. S2CID 146372112.
- ↑ Packard, Stephen; Mutel, Cornelia F., eds. (1997). The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook: For Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands. Island Press.
- 1 2 "Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission: January 23, 2018 - Stephen Packard: "Rare Animals. Rare Plants. Rare People. Adventures in Chicagoland Conservation"". phnrc.com. Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ↑ "Audubon Great Lakes". gl.audubon.org. Aubudon Great Lakes. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
- ↑ "Stephen Packard: Wild Ones Honorary Director Ecologist, Conservationist" (PDF). wildones.org. Wild Ones. Retrieved 2018-09-16.