Prairie Remnants Research Articles

WITHDRAWN: Detection of Amblyomma maculatum and Rickettsia parkeri in prairies of Central Missouri

Prairie habitats are complex ecosystems experiencing destruction and decline due to landscape repurposing, thus resulting in significant changes to plant, animal, and insect wildlife diversity. In the Central United States, the reconstruction of prairie habitats from farmland is a widely applied strategy to raise diversity and recreate a healthy, complex ecosystem. In Central Missouri, we are examining the consequences of reconstruction efforts on the prevalence of zoonotic diseases and their associated pathogens and have observed large populations of Dog ticks, Dermacentor variabilis, and Lone Star ticks, Amblyomma americanum, as well as the first recorded instance of the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum, in Callaway County. The Gulf Coast tick is traditionally found mainly along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions, but has been undergoing geographic expansion in the last decade. Since detection in 2020, the number of Gulf Coast ticks has increased,. Upon screening 193 Gulf Coast ticks in 105 pools, we found that 6.67 % of ticks were positive for the pathogenic Rickettsia parkeri, which causes spotted fever rickettsiosis in animals and humans, with most ticks coming from the reconstructed prairie site. These observations suggest that reconstruction of prairie habitat has the potential to support the sylvatic cycle of Rickettsia parkeri. Collectively, our observations show that the reconstructed prairie are capable of harboring large tick populations as compared to remnant prairies and demonstrates a potential increase in disease risk as a result. This works highlights the importance of proactive surveillance of ticks, especially with land-use change.

Heterogeneity promotes resilience in restored prairie: Implications for the environmental heterogeneity hypothesis.

Enhancing resilience in formerly degraded ecosystems is an important goal of restoration ecology. However, evidence for the recovery of resilience and its underlying mechanisms require long-term experiments and comparison with reference ecosystems. We used data from an experimental prairie restoration that featured long-term soil heterogeneity manipulations and data from two long-term experiments located in a comparable remnant (reference) prairie to (1) quantify the recovery of ecosystem functioning (i.e., productivity) relative to remnant prairie, (2) compare the resilience of restored and remnant prairies to a natural drought, and (3) test whether soil heterogeneity enhances resilience of restored prairie. We compared sensitivity and legacy effects between prairie types (remnant and restored) and among four prairie sites that included two remnant prairie sites and prairie restored under homogeneous and heterogeneous soil conditions. We measured sensitivity and resilience as the proportional change in aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) during and following drought (sensitivity and legacy effects, respectively) relative to average ANPP based on 4 pre-drought years (2014-2017). In nondrought years, total ANPP was similar between remnant and restored prairie, but remnant prairie had higher grass productivity and lower forb productivity compared with restored prairie. These ANPP patterns generally persisted during drought. The sensitivity of total ANPP to drought was similar between restored and remnant prairie, but grasses in the restored prairie were more sensitive to drought. Post-drought legacy effects were more positive in the restored prairie, and we attributed this to the more positive and less variable legacy response of forb ANPP in the restored prairie, especially in the heterogeneous soil treatment. Our results suggest that productivity recovers in restored prairie and exhibits similar sensitivity to drought as in remnant prairie. Furthermore, creating heterogeneity promotes forb productivity and enhances restored prairie resilience to drought.

Using Remotely Sensed Data to Identify Coastal Prairie Remnants in Louisiana

Using Remotely Sensed Data to Identify Coastal Prairie Remnants in Louisiana

Juvenile survival increases with dispersal distance and varies across years: 15 years of evidence in a prairie perennial.

Juvenile survival is critical to population persistence and evolutionary change. However, the survival of juvenile plants from emergence to reproductive maturity is rarely quantified. This is especially true for long-lived perennials with extended pre-reproductive periods. Furthermore, studies rarely have the replication necessary to account for variation among populations and cohorts. We estimated juvenile survival and its relationship to population size, density of conspecifics, distance to the maternal plant, age, year, and cohort for Echinacea angustifolia, a long-lived herbaceous perennial. In 14 remnant prairie populations over seven sampling years, 2007-2013, we identified 886 seedlings. We then monitored these individuals annually until 2021 (8-15 years). Overall, juvenile mortality was very high; for almost all cohorts fewer than 10% of seedlings survived to age 8 or to year 2021. Only two of the seedlings reached reproductive maturity within the study period. Juvenile survival increased with distance from the maternal plant and varied more among the study years than it did by age or cohort. Juvenile survival did not vary with population size or local density of conspecific neighbors. Our results suggest that low juvenile survival could contribute to projected population declines.

Widespread annual occurrence of pesticides within designated critical habitats for endangered prairie butterflies

Insect declines have become pronounced in prairie ecosystems, particularly in areas of agricultural intensification. Non-target pesticide exposure has been raised as a key concern for prairie remnant health. Over seven years, we screened grass and soil samples for the presence and quantities of hundreds of pesticides from five prairies in Minnesota and South Dakota that are designated as Critical Habitat for two globally endangered butterflies: Poweshiek skipperling and Dakota skipper. We documented dozens of pesticides across all sites and years on their larval host grasses. Interiors of prairies were not less likely to have detectable pesticides than along prairie-agriculture edges. Broad-spectrum organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides were common in late season. Chlorpyrifos quantities were higher at sites where both endangered species have been extirpated. Neonicotinoid insecticides, which have been frequently attributed to declines in insect pollinators, did not present a significant exposure signal in these prairie habitats. Few pesticides were detected in soil or early season grass samples. The prevalence and quantities of pesticides we observed are likely underestimates, and additional research is needed on the landscape of risk at small and large scales. Implications for Conservation: Protected prairies are not immune to the risk of pesticide exposure, which may impact efforts to re-establish lost populations of imperiled prairie insects, including endangered butterflies.

Ancient prairies as a reference for soil organic carbon content and microbial community structure

The historic remnant prairies of Missouri display diversity above and below the soil surface and represent the few remaining acres of unconverted grassland habitat in the state. The soil microbiome is foundational to nutrient acquisition, resource partitioning, and ecosystem resilience; therefore, the intact plant-soil interactions of remnant prairies can serve as a reference for microbial community structure and ecosystem services lost due to land conversion. This research was conducted to show the importance of reference soil conditions and the variability that lies therein while contrasting degraded soil ecosystems to provide a standard to which comparable soils should be held. In this study, 35 sites across Missouri representing three prairie management conditions on similar soils and variable climatic conditions were compared to assess differences in the microbial community structure and biomass using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis. Surface (0–7.5 cm) soil organic carbon (SOC) content provided a measure of substrate available to support microbial community health. Total microbial biomass, the biomass of individual microbial groups, selected biomarker ratios, and SOC, were significantly different across treatments and highest in remnant prairies apart from Saprophytic fungi and eukaryotes. This study demonstrated that the soil microbial community in reconstructed and restored prairie systems remained significantly diminished in biomass relative to remnant prairies, even after several decades. This study highlights the need to preserve remnant prairies, where soil is in its native state under native flora and abiotic conditions. These results also illustrate the importance of selecting remnant systems as the ecological reference standard for prairie lands.

Farm management and landscape context shape plant diversity at wetland edges in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada.

Evaluating the impacts of farming systems on biodiversity is increasingly important given the need to stem biodiversity loss, decrease fossil fuel dependency, and maintain ecosystem services benefiting farmers. We recorded woody and herbaceous plant species diversity, composition, and abundance in 43 wetland-adjacent prairie remnants beside crop fields managed using conventional, minimum tillage, organic, or perennial cover (wildlife-friendly) land management in the Prairie Pothole Region. We used a hierarchical framework to estimate diversity at regional and local scales (gamma, alpha), and how these are related through species turnover (beta diversity). We tested the expectation that gamma richness/evenness and beta diversity of all plants would be higher in remnants adjacent to perennial cover and organic fields than in conventional and minimum tillage fields. We expected the same findings for plants providing ecosystem services (bee-pollinated species) and disservices (introduced species). We predicted similar relative effects of land management on alpha diversity, but with the expectation that the benefits of organic farming would decrease with increasing grassland in surrounding landscapes. Gamma richness and evenness of all plants were highest for perennial cover, followed by minimum tillage, organic, and conventional sites. Bee-pollinated species followed a similar pattern for richness, but for evenness organic farming came second, after perennial cover sites, followed by minimum tillage and conventional. For introduced species, organic sites had the highest gamma richness and evenness. Grassland amount moderated the effect of land management type on all plants and bee-pollinated plant richness, but not as expected. The richness of organic sites increased with the amount of grassland in the surrounding landscape. Conversely, for conventional sites, richness increased as the amount of grassland in the landscape declined. Our results are consistent with the expectation that adopting wildlife-friendly land management practices can benefit biodiversity at regional and local scales, in particular the use of perennial cover to benefit plant diversity at regional scales. At more local extents, organic farming increased plant richness, but only when sufficient grassland was available in the surrounding landscape; organic farms also had the highest beta diversity for all plants and bee-pollinated plants. Maintaining native cover in agroecosystems, in addition to low-intensity farming practices, could sustain plant biodiversity and facilitate important ecosystem services.

Lower diversity of forbs in prairie restoration alters pollinator communities but not structural characteristics of plant–pollinator networks

Reestablishment of native plant communities is often the primary focus of ecological restoration. This is especially true for prairie restoration, which often struggles to establish diverse forb communities. An often‐overlooked component in plant reestablishment is pollinators, with 85% of forbs requiring pollination for seed reproduction. A deeper understanding of the relationship between plant and pollinator communities could improve prairie restoration success. Our goal was to determine if prairie restoration is successfully reestablishing forb and pollinator communities and their interactions by measuring plant–pollinator networks. We hypothesized that both forb and pollinator communities would be less diverse and abundant in restoration sites compared to intact prairie remnants, and that as a result, plant–pollinator networks in restoration sites would have higher nestedness and connectance, but lower modularity and network specialization than remnant sites. To test this, we measured plant–pollinator networks and forb communities from June to September 2020 at three restored and three remnant Palouse Prairie sites in eastern Washington, United States. We found that although restored sites had lower species richness of forbs and pollinators and different community composition, forb and pollinator abundance was comparable between treatments. Forb abundance in restored sites was equivalent to prairie remnants due to the presence of invasive forbs. However, these differences in community composition and diversity did not appear to impact network metrics including nestedness, connectance, modularity, and network specialization, which were similar between remnant and restored sites. Our results suggest that the structural characteristics of plant–pollinator networks can be maintained by different plant communities.

Disjunct distribution of Hesperotettixspeciosus (Orthoptera, Acrididae) from the Black Belt Prairie of Alabama, United States.

Inventories of the flora and insect fauna of the Black Belt Prairie of Mississippi and Alabama have documented disjunct populations of species broadly distributed in the Great Plains, including two grasshopper species. During a recent survey of a large privately-owned prairie remnant in Sumter Co., Alabama, we documented a disjunct population of a third grasshopper species - Hesperotettixspeciosus, extending the known distribution of this species significantly eastwards. The discovery of this population is surprising due to the number of previous survey efforts of the Black Belt, Alabama and Mississippi overall and exemplifies the importance of conservation on private lands.

Catastrophic flooding effects on a Wisconsin wet prairie remnant: A shift in the disturbance regime?

Climate change is likely to imperil native biodiversity through the increased frequency of extreme events. Here we address the short-term effects of an extreme flooding event on an unplowed prairie reserve, the Faville Prairie Wisconsin State Natural Area. This 25-ha property is a remnant of the formerly extensive Crawfish Prairie that lay on the east bank of the Crawfish River, Jefferson County, Wisconsin USA. The Faville remnant has historically been subject to late winter to spring flooding in its lower portions. In June of 2008, however, an extreme rainfall event caused flooding unprecedented in the 87-year history of streamflow, inundating the entire site. Data were available from 180 permanently marked plots sampled in 1978-79. We assessed the change by resampling these plots in 2010-2015. At the m2 scale, we found significant losses of species richness, a result of most species having fewer occurrences than in the earlier data. There was near extinction of several important prairie species and a relative increase in wetland tolerant species. Lower elevation plots, subject to the encroachment of woody plants and the invasion of Phalaris arundinacea for decades prior to the flood, had the lowest levels of species richness. However, some prairie species survived the flooding with little change, and recent anecdotal observations show that others are rebuilding their populations. Thus, if extreme floods are infrequent, the prairie should be able to recover to its former state. If, however, the hydrological regime shifts toward more frequent, growing-season floods, we predict further decline in those plant species that were the object of the preservation of this remnant. It is critical that fire management continue along with monitoring to track species' recovery or replacement, so that corrective measures can be identified and tested to sustain the native prairie species diversity.

Biochar improves soil quality prior to prairie restoration

Intensive agriculture has led to widespread losses of native grasslands. Restoration projects are trying to reestablish native communities. However, the poor quality and altered food webs of former agricultural soils act as barriers to establishing diverse plant communities. Soil amendments such as biochar have been used to improve soil quality and increase crop yield, but little research has been on biochar in restoration settings. Eastern Washington University is attempting to restore a former wheat field to native Palouse prairie vegetation. In this study, we compared (1) soil abiotic properties and food webs between Palouse prairie remnants and Eastern Washington University's (EWU) restoration site and (2) tested whether biochar can move soil conditions at EWU's restoration site closer to those of remnant sites. We compared soils from three Palouse prairie remnants and EWU's restoration site, and compared soils at the restoration site that were treated with different levels of biochar. Soil nematodes were extracted and sorted to functional groups as an assay of the structure and functional diversity of the soil food web. The soil at EWU's restoration site had significantly lower nematode abundance, pH, and organic matter compared to prairie remnants. In addition, nematode abundance and pH increased significantly at the EWU site with the addition of biochar, both increasing to conditions similar to what is found at the prairie remnant sites. These results suggest biochar can improve some soil conditions in former agricultural lands even prior to native plant restoration.

Habitat fragmentation decouples fire-stimulated flowering from plant reproductive fitness

Many plant species in historically fire-dependent ecosystems exhibit fire-stimulated flowering. While greater reproductive effort after fire is expected to result in increased reproductive outcomes, seed production often depends on pollination, the spatial distribution of prospective mates, and the timing of their reproductive activity. Fire-stimulated flowering may thus have limited fitness benefits in small, isolated populations where mating opportunities are restricted and pollination rates are low. We conducted a 6-y study of 6,357 Echinacea angustifolia (Asteraceae) individuals across 35 remnant prairies in Minnesota (USA) to experimentally evaluate how fire effects on multiple components of reproduction vary with population size in a common species. Fire increased annual reproductive effort across populations, doubling the proportion of plants in flower and increasing the number of flower heads 65% per plant. In contrast, fire's influence on reproductive outcomes differed between large and small populations, reflecting the density-dependent effects of fire on spatiotemporal mating potential and pollination. In populations with fewer than 20 individuals, fire did not consistently increase pollination or annual seed production. Above this threshold, fire increased mating potential, leading to a 24% increase in seed set and a 71% increase in annual seed production. Our findings suggest that density-dependent effects of fire on pollination largely determine plant reproductive outcomes and could influence population dynamics across fire-dependent systems. Failure to account for the density-dependent effects of fire on seed production may lead us to overestimate the beneficial effects of fire on plant demography and the capacity of fire to maintain plant diversity, especially in fragmented habitats.

Home ranges of Ornate Box Turtles in remnant prairies in north-central Illinois

Habitat loss has been a primary driver of biodiversity declines throughout the United States. Native prairie ecosystems represent some of the most significant losses in land cover, and subsequently, prairie-dependent species are some of the most imperiled. Therefore, understanding the ecology of species remaining in remnant portions of these ecosystems is important to help manage their populations. Using radio-telemetry, we examined minimum convex polygon (MCP) and 95% kernel density (KD) home ranges of 20 (5 females, 15 males) Ornate Box Turtles (Terrapene ornata) inhabiting two remnant prairies in north-central Illinois across two years and six seasons. Results showed that MCP and 95% KD home range estimates were comparable but smaller than other published studies, differed between years, across seasons, and among individual turtles within sites. These results provide valuable data to quantify the ecology of this threatened species in a remnant prairie habitat.

Adaptation of pathogens to their local plant host, Silphium integrifolium, along a precipitation gradient

AbstractEmpirical evidence of the influence of climate on plant–pathogen coevolution is limited but crucial to understand, as anthropogenic pressures including fragmentation and climate change threaten biodiversity. In this study, we tested patterns of plant–pathogen coevolution using Silphium integrifolium Michx., a native tallgrass prairie species that is undergoing domestication, and its foliar pathogens. We collected seeds from four native prairie remnants from each of three regions along an east–west precipitation gradient in central North America and used these to create three common gardens in each region. In common gardens and remnant prairie populations, we measured symptoms of foliar disease (leaf rust and leaf blotch, both caused by fungal pathogens, and Silphium clear vein (SCV), which we have evidence is associated with a virus). While we did not observe greater disease in the East common garden, we did find that on average the East populations had greater resistance to disease than West populations, consistent with an evolutionary legacy of more rapid coevolution with high precipitation. We also found strong interactions between source region and region of planting for all diseases. The Silphium rust, caused by the specialist pathogen Puccinia silphii, was better able to infect plant populations from the same region. These patterns are consistent with local adaptation of specialist pathogens to their local hosts as expected from Red Queen dynamics. For the generalist fungal pathogen driving leaf blotch, we did not observe evidence of local adaptation. However, we observed a positive correlation in the average level of leaf blotch symptoms observed in individual populations in common gardens with the levels of disease in the S. integrifolium individuals in the prairie remnants of origin, consistent with S. integrifolium genetics determining symptoms in the field. Our results are consistent with pathogen ecology being a major driver of coevolutionary dynamics along productivity gradients. As S. integrifolium is being domesticated for oilseed production, our results identify distinct targets for resistance alleles in breeding efforts and can guide pathogen management strategies.

Invasive Species Change Plant Community Composition of Preserved Prairie Pothole Wetlands

Plant communities in North American prairie pothole wetlands vary depending on hydrology, salinity, and anthropogenic disturbance in and around the wetland. We assessed prairie pothole conditions on United States Fish and Wildlife Service fee-title lands in North Dakota and South Dakota to improve our understanding of current conditions and plant community composition. Species-level data were collected at 200 randomly chosen temporary and seasonal wetland sites located on native prairie remnants (n = 48) and previously cultivated lands that were reseeded into perennial grassland (n = 152). The majority of species surveyed appeared infrequently and were low in relative cover. The four most frequently observed species were introduced invasive species common to the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. Our results suggested relative cover of a few invasive species (i.e., Bromus inermis Leyss., Phalaris arundinacea L., and Typha ×glauca Godr. (pro sp.) [angustifolia or domingensis × latifolia]) affect patterns of plant community composition. Wetlands in native and reseeded grasslands possessed distinct plant community composition related to invasive species' relative cover. Invasive species continue to be prevalent throughout the region and pose a major threat to biological diversity, even in protected native prairie remnants. Despite efforts to convert past agricultural land into biologically diverse, productive ecosystems, invasive species continue to dominate these landscapes and are becoming prominent in prairie potholes located in native areas.

Prescribed fire increases the number of ground‐nesting bee nests in tallgrass prairie remnants

Abstract Prescribed burning is a common management technique in tallgrass prairie remnants, but there have been few empirical studies that directly examine burning impacts on the nesting preferences and habitat of ground‐nesting bees. We used emergence traps in remnant tallgrass prairies in western Minnesota, USA to determine whether ground‐nesting bees prefer to nest in burned or unburned prairies. We estimated the total number of nests made by actively nesting bees in burned and unburned patches by assessing each specimen for wing and mandible wear, sex, and sociality. We also measured characteristics that may influence bee nesting preferences including bare ground, thatch depth, vegetative cover, and the floral community. We found more nests of actively nesting ground‐nesting bees in burned patches than unburned patches, but no differences in effective number of species of ground‐nesting bees or community composition. Burned patches had higher amounts of percent bare ground and a thinner thatch layer, but no differences in percent vegetative cover, floral abundance, flowering plant species richness, effective number of species of flowers or community composition. Our results suggest that ground‐nesting bees prefer to nest in burned patches of remnant tallgrass prairies and highlight opportunities for future research to better understand bee nesting ecology in response to prairie management.

Insect Interactions of Spiranthes Magnicamporum (Orchidacea) in the Black Belt Prairie of Mississippi

Understanding interactions between insects and the flora of the Black Belt Prairie is imperative to the conservation of this waning ecosystem. Spiranthes magnicamporum (Great Plains Lady's Tresses) is an imperiled orchid found in the prairies of Mississippi. In the fall of 2020, we examined several clusters of S. magnicamporum at a remnant prairie in Osborn, MS. Over a period of 3 weeks, we observed each cluster for 30 minutes, both during the day and at night, and collected any insects interacting with S. magnicamporum. We found possible evidence of Bombus fraternus (Southern Plains Bumble Bee) pollination and recorded floral visitation by other insects. This information can help land management professionals better understand how to promote healthy populations of S. magnicamporum.

Higher floral richness promotes rarer bee communities across remnant and reconstructed tallgrass prairies, though remnants contain higher abundances of a threatened bumble bee (Bombus Latreille)

Managing and restoring tallgrass prairie ecosystem is an important form of pollinator conservation in the Midwestern United States. Prairie reconstruction has been found to enhance native bee diversity and abundance, but it is less clear if prairie reconstruction conserves species thought to be at-risk. We reanalyze a previously published dataset on the bee communities of reconstructed and remnant prairie in the US state of Minnesota to investigate how the abundance of at-risk species respond to local factors, such as floral diversity and prairie type (reconstructed or remnant), and landscape factors, in the form of surrounding agricultural production. We defined at-risk species in two ways. For bumble bees, we used the IUCN red list of bumble bees for North America. As other species in the bee community have not been systematically evaluated, we used an independent data set to calculate a community-level measure of rarity as a proxy for species risk. We calculated community rarity metrics using a Species Weighted Mean (SWM) approach, with species level rarity (relative abundance and site occurrence) derived from a regional dataset comprised of over 30,000 specimens from across the US state of Minnesota. We found that the declining bumble bee Bombus fervidus had higher abundances in remnant rather than reconstructed prairies. Floral richness was associated with rarer bee communities (lower SWM values) across remnant and reconstructed prairies. We show that planting and managing prairies for floral diversity promotes bee communities with rarer species, but that remnants better support some at-risk species such as Bombus fervidus.

Restoration age and reintroduced bison may shape soil bacterial communities in restored tallgrass prairies.

Knowledge of how habitat restoration shapes soil microbial communities often is limited despite their critical roles in ecosystem function. Soil community diversity and composition change after restoration, but the trajectory of these successional changes may be influenced by disturbances imposed for habitat management. We studied soil bacterial communities in a restored tallgrass prairie chronosequence for >6 years to document how diversity and composition changed with age, management through fire, and grazing by reintroduced bison, and in comparison to pre-restoration agricultural fields and remnant prairies. Soil C:N increased with restoration age and bison, and soil pH first increased and then declined with age, although bison weakened this pattern. Bacterial richness and diversity followed a similar hump-shaped pattern as soil pH, such that the oldest restorations approached the low diversity of remnant prairies. β-diversity patterns indicated that composition in older restorations with bison resembled bison-free sites, but over time they became more distinct. In contrast, younger restorations with bison maintained unique compositions throughout the study, suggesting bison disturbances may cause a different successional trajectory. We used a novel random forest approach to identify taxa that indicate these differences, finding that they were frequently associated with bacteria that respond to grazing in other grasslands.

Exotic species explain plant functional trait differences between seed mixes, restored and reference prairies

AbstractQuestionsAre community‐weighted plant functional traits related to the ‘fast–slow’ growth rate continuum different in seed mixes, restored and reference prairies? If so, then what are the traits that explain differences? Remnant prairies, which serve as reference sites for restorations, often have higher plant species diversity and a lower abundance of exotic (non‐native) species than their restoration counterparts. They may differ in their community‐weighted functional traits as well, although this is poorly studied.LocationTallgrass prairies and abandoned fields in Iowa, United States, North America.MethodsWe compared functional traits between remnant prairies, restoration seed mixes, and established restorations to determine if community‐weighted trait values (∑pi × traits) are comparable. Relative abundance was determined by previous sampling of 93 restorations, 48 seed mixes and five remnant sites. Functional traits, including leaf specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and plant height, were measured for 145 native and 39 non‐native plant species, 663 plants, and 1326 leaves.ResultsSeed mixes had greater community‐weighted LDMC and lower SLA than remnants, perhaps because of human selection for high grass abundance in mixes. Established restorations had lower community‐weighted LDMC and higher SLA than remnants and seed mixes, and restorations had a large exotic species component. The proportional abundance of exotics in restorations explained trait differences between remnants and restorations. After taking into account functional groupings, perennial exotic species, on average, had higher SLA and lower LDMC than perennial native species. Remnants and established restorations had similar plant heights, and height was not significantly different between native and exotic species.ConclusionsOur results indicate that seed mixes differ from remnants in a manner that was the opposite of the difference between seed mixes and established restorations. Although seed mixes favored species with slower growth rate trait compositions, the species that established in restored prairies tended to have traits associated with faster growth rates. We recommend developing prairie restoration seed mixes with a greater proportion of forbs, especially those with lower LDMC and higher SLA.