Upland Prairie Research Articles

Factors impacting bat activity and species richness in protected parks in the oak openings region of Northwest Ohio.

Protected areas are important for wildlife, especially in heavily developed areas. Bats are one group utilizing protected areas, but it is unclear what makes an ideal place for bats to live in parks, especially since preferences vary between open and forest foraging species and at different scales. The main objective of this study was to determine the landscape and vegetation factors at multiple scales most associated with higher bat activity and species richness in protected parks. Total bat activity, species richness, and activity for open and forested foraging species were compared to small-scale data vegetation structure collected in the field and larger-scale landscape data calculated in ArcGIS and FRAGSTATS. Bat activity and species richness increased with higher percentages of dry and open land cover types such as sand barrens, savanna, cropland, and upland prairie and decreased with higher percentages of forest and wet prairies. Patch richness, understory height, and clutter at the 3-6.5 m level were negatively associated with total bat activity. The most important variables for bats differed depending on spatial scale measured and if species were open or forest adapted. When managing for bats in parks, it would be advantageous to restore open land cover types such as savanna and mid-level clutter, and excessive fragmentation. Whether species are open or forest adapted and scale-specific differences should also be considered.

Upland prairie adaptive management staged‐scale restoration practices for native plant and endangered butterfly reintroduction

Abstract The present practice insight derives from land manager requests to document current on‐site activity and provides a management planning reference for restoration on Violet Prairie. Start‐up restoration initiates from trial‐and‐error adaptive management practices in the Puget Sound region of western Washington, USA. Treatments used focus on the implementation of staged‐scale restoration. Preparation intends to meet reintroduction goals of establishing a native plant community that could potentially support the threatened endemic Castilleja levisecta (golden paintbrush). Reintroduction of the associated native plant community provides habitat for endangered Euphydryas editha taylori (Taylor's checkerspot butterfly). Known conventional agricultural use coupled to fire suppression since the 1800s altered regional prairie lands to an unfavourable state for native plant species. Local native prairie soil types were favoured for growing conventional grasses and exotic forb species common to grazing pastures. Land abandonment and degradation has lengthened the time of disturbance and complicated restoring to a generalized reference point prior to settlement. Persistent exotic species, encroaching housing development, coniferous forest and recent wildfire complicate converting back to native prairie. Threatened and endangered species and their habitat are targeted in a trial‐and‐error process of staged‐scale adaptive management within the goal of whole ecosystem and connectivity restoration. Land managers focus on exotics removal and intensive native reseeding while restoring the use of prescribed burning as a maintenance tool. Embedded monitoring and observation advises where future practices need to be adapted by focusing on treatments and outcomes. Past land use practices replaced native soil seed banks with exotic seed banks that further distort reference proxies. Unknowns interrupt the current implementation additionally to soil conversion issues, while short‐term adaptive management methods initiate conversion back to native prairie. Species reintroduction choices to develop community structure are complicated by the fact that historical reference point species may be missing altogether from existing native communities. An unanswered outcome of the restoration process is determining which set of treatments best prepares soil for the desired native plant community.

Interview with Incoming GODORT Chair: Robbie Sittel, Government Information Librarian, University of North Texas

Favorite Spot in Denton, TexasClear Creek Natural Heritage Center (https://www.cityofdenton.com/en-us/all-departments/quality-of-life/parks-recreation-(1)/parks-trails/clear-creek). I love Clear Creek because of the many natural environments it contains and how different it is from season to season. While walking the trails, I’ve seen snakes, deer, herons, all kinds of bugs in and among swamp, forest, and an upland prairie covered in wildflowers. All of this within a stone’s throw of town.Favorite Pastime/HobbyI like to try my hand at sewing. This year I’m attempting to sew Clarice Louisba Scott’s Shopper’s Coat (https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/ipd/apronsandkitchens/exhibits/show/the-bureau-of-home-economics/item/22).I’ve also expanded my efforts in developing a City Home Garden (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc96642/). For anyone with a not-so-green thumb and a square foot of yard, I recommend planting okra. Everyday brings a small harvest, giving one a sense of resounding success as an urban farmer; plus, grilled okra is among the best summer foods.

Environmental and Management Effects on Demographic Processes in the U.S. Threatened Platanthera leucophaea (Nutt.) Lindl. (Orchidaceae).

Populations of the U.S. threatened orchid, Platanthera leucophaea, are restricted to fragmented grassland and wetland habitats. We address the long-term (1998–2020) interactive effects of habitat (upland prairie vs. wetland), fire management (burned vs. unburned) and climatic variation, as well as pollination crossing effects, on population demography in 42 populations. Our analysis revealed the consistent interactive effects of habitat, dormant season burning, and climatic variation on flowering, reproduction, and survival. Burning increased flowering and population size under normal or greater than normal precipitation but may have a negative effect during drought years apparently if soil moisture stress reduces flowering and increases mortality. Trends in the number of flowering plants in populations also correspond to precipitation cycles. As with flowering and fecundity, survival is significantly affected by the interactive effects of habitat, fire, and climate. This study supports previous studies finding that P. leucophaea relies on a facultative outcrossing breeding system. Demographic modeling indicated that fire, normal precipitation, and outcrossing yielded greater population growth, and that greater fire frequency increased population persistence. It also revealed an ecologically driven demographic switch, with wetlands more dependent upon survivorship than fecundity, and uplands more dependent on fecundity than survivorship. Our results facilitate an understanding of environmental and management effects on the population demography of P. leucophaea in the prairie region of its distribution. Parallel studies are needed in the other habitats such as wetlands, especially in the eastern part of the range of the species, to provide a more complete picture.

Stratification and perigynia removal improve total germination and germination speed in 3 upland prairie sedge species

Stratification and perigynia removal improve total germination and germination speed in 3 upland prairie sedge species

Tipping the Native-Exotic Balance: Succession in Restored Upland Prairies in Oregon’s Willamette Valley

Restoration projects are usually assessed using short-term measures, leaving a dearth of detailed long-term successional data from restoration sites. This study examines the effects of microsite variation and restoration treatment on successional trajectories and three-to-eight-year restoration outcomes in upland prairies in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. I sought first to determine whether different upland prairie restoration units show similar successional trajectories, second, to identify which exotic species have persistent effects on restoration outcomes, and finally, to determine how variation in restoration treatment, topography, and aspect affect restoration outcomes. Permanent plots in two replicate units showed very similar trends over five years, and similar outcomes to restoration units at a second upland site. Exotic annuals were short-lived and did not prevent establishment of the primary planted species, the native grass Festuca roemeri (Roemer’s fescue). Festuca roemeri established well mid-slope and in valleys but not on ridges. Where native forbs were seeded, forb abundance was higher in plots with less F. roemeri cover, suggesting that it is not cost-effective to seed forbs along with high rates of native grasses. However, seeding F. roemeri at high rates may be an effective strategy when forb seed is not available. A suite of exotic perennial forbs, including Hypochaeris radicata (false dandelion), contributed to diversity and provided nectar resources for pollinators without becoming dominant, while other exotic forbs such as Cirsium spp. (thistle) and Dipsacus fullonum (Fuller’s teasel) required active management.

Fire increases ant-tending and survival of the Fender’s blue butterfly larvae

Studies of fire as a management tool often focus on how fire alters microclimate and affects plant quality. While these processes are important, they may act on a target species indirectly through species interactions. Fender’s blue [Plebejus (=Icaricia) icarioides fenderi] is an endangered butterfly found in fire dependent upland prairies in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, USA. In this study, we measured oviposition preference and overwinter larval survival and how they responded to an experimental burn. To explore the mechanism underlying differences in these vital rates, we studied gross plant chemistry of Fender’s blue larval host plants Kinkaid’s lupine (Lupinus oreganus = L. sulphureus spp. kincaidii) and spur lupine (L. arbustus) and monitored how temperature and fire history affect the mutualism between Fender’s blue larvae and a variety of tending ants. We used open top chambers to expand the range of observable temperatures, overlaid with the experimental burn to determine how both factors affected ant recruitment and duration of tending bouts. Oviposition rates and overwinter larval survival were higher in previously burned areas. We found no corresponding change in plant chemistry. Ant tending was affected by both temperature and fire history, with larvae able to recruit ants more quickly in warmer temperatures and fire history influencing the length of tending bouts. Differences in ant tending may explain enhanced overwinter survival. This case study highlights the importance of indirect (through species interactions) as well as direct effects in determining the impacts of fire on population dynamics of an at-risk butterfly species.

Mill Creek Chert Hoes and Prairie Soils

Abstract Population growth in the American Bottom after A.D. 1050 may have outstripped agricultural productivity. It has been suggested that farmers expanded agricultural practices into previously unused upland prairies to expand production. Historic accounts describe the difficulty that early settlers had with prairie, making this supposition questionable. However, experiments with replica Mill Creek hoes suggest that these tools were capable of converting prairie into farmland.

Plains Harvest Mice in North-Central Kansas: Abundance, Habitat Association and Individual Attributes

The plains harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys montanus) is an uncommon small mammal that primarily occurs in herbaceous habitats in the Great Plains. To better understand its ecology and natural history in north-central Kansas, we examined observations of this small prairie mouse in a variety of native and anthropogenic habitats over a geographically widespread area (>200 sites) in the Smoky Hills region of Russell and Lincoln counties during 1976–2003 [total trap nights (TN) was ca. 100,000]. Habitats sampled by snap traps or live traps included native upland prairie and limestone breaks prairie, planted grasslands, old fields, crop fields (primarily wheat fields), fallow fields, fencerows, hay fields and roadside ditches. Sampling schemes generally included 4 nights of trapping along standard traplines at specific sites that were sampled only once as well as multipleyear designs that used live traps and standard traplines or a 10.8 ha grid at specific sites for 2–5 year duration. Plains harvest mice (n = 50...

Mill Creek Chert Hoes and Prairie Soils: Implications for Cahokian Production and Expansion

Population growth in the American Bottom after A.D. 1050 may have outstripped agricultural productivity. It has been suggested that farmers expanded agricultural practices into previously unused upland prairies to expand production. Historic accounts describe the difficulty that early settlers had with prairie, making this supposition questionable. However, experiments with replica Mill Creek hoes suggest that these tools were capable of converting prairie into farmland.

Growing Native Seeds for Restoration: Seed Dormancy and Germination ofSidalcea malviflorassp.virgata(Malvaceae)

ABSTRACT: Sidalcea malviflora ssp. virgata (rose checkermallow) is a native forb in the Pacific Northwest, USA; it is a common species in upland prairies of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, and is a state listed endangered species in Washington State. This species provides a high value nectar supply for butterflies in this region, including the endangered Icaricia icarioides fenderi (Fender's blue butterfly), and is therefore targeted for inclusion in habitat restoration projects throughout the region. In past propagation efforts, S. malviflora ssp. virgata has demonstrated poor germination, indicating that there may be some dormancy in seeds of this species. We characterized dormancy and developed germination protocols to support greenhouse propagation of plants for habitat restoration projects. Sidalcea malviflora ssp. virgata has physical dormancy and may have some physiological dormancy as well. Highest germination (55%) was achieved by scarification followed by four weeks or more of cold moist stratifi...

Annual Species in Native Prairies of South Puget Sound, Washington

Although it is well documented that the vast majority of native prairies in western Washington have disappeared, it is less clear to what extent the remaining fragments have been modified by the loss of native taxa. In this study, we focus on one group of plants—native annuals—that are notably lacking in prairies today. Based on current and historical records, we compiled a list of 190 native herbaceous plant taxa (species, subspecies, and varieties) with high or moderate fidelity to prairie and oak habitats that have been recorded in upland prairies in the South Puget Sound region. Eighty (42%) of these are annuals, a proportion that is considerably higher than what occurs in these prairies today (average 18%). In addition, most native annuals (75) are forbs. These data suggest that in the past, native annual forbs may have comprised a significantly greater proportion of the diversity in the prairies. Although it is impossible to determine how widespread these species were historically, several measures suggest significant declines have occurred. Of the 80 total native annuals observed, 39% have not been recorded in recent inventories of the floras in any prairies in the region, and another 21% are known from only one site. Data from recently burned prairies suggest that both cover and species richness of annuals may double after a single fire. To avoid further loss of native annuals, we urge the inclusion of species from this functional group in future prairie restoration in this region.

The Vascular Flora of Clay Prairie State Preserve (Butler County, Iowa): Recommendations to the Iowa State Preserve System

Clay Prairie State Preserve (1.2 ha) is an upland prairie located in Butler County, IA, and represents one of the last remnants of black-soil tallgrass prairie in northeast Iowa. An annotated checklist of the vascular flora of Clay Prairie is presented here, based on a previously published flora of the preserve and recent field work conducted by the authors between 1997 to 2001, and 2008 to 2011. The preserve contains a diverse vascular flora representing 50 families, 145 genera and 214 taxa (174 native to Iowa). In comparison with 26 larger prairies (4 to 121 ha) protected in the Iowa state preserves system, the Clay Prairie flora ranks 10th in total number of native Iowa prairie plant taxa (135 taxa) and 10th in total number of native Iowa prairie plant taxa assigned high (7 to 10) values of the Iowa Conservation Coefficient (55 taxa). As a remnant of formerly much more extensive tallgrass prairie in Iowa, Clay Prairie protects individual plant taxa, plant assemblages, and ecological and evolutionary processes, while providing opportunities for people to experience native prairie. The floristic comparisons presented in this paper suggest that the floras of many other prairies protected in the Iowa State Preserves system are not thoroughly documented. Hence, we recommend that floristic studies of these other prairie preserves be undertaken to include documentation of the entire flora by voucher specimens. We also encourage site managers of prairies in the Iowa State Preserves system to prepare annual reports summarizing management and educational activities that occur in these preserves.

Ecological correlates of fuel dynamics and potential fire behavior in former upland prairie and oak savanna

Fire behavior has changed drastically in North America following Euro-American settlement. We sought to identify potential fire behavior in former prairie and savanna following forest succession, and to predict potential fire behavior from plant community data. We collected data on fuel loads, soils, topography, and plant communities from 239 plots at seven sites in the southern Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. We defined eight plant cover types; an ordination based on tree species basal area by diameter classes and the cover of ground layer functional types supported these community types. Extant prairie and savanna plots had the lowest fuel loads, but there were no consistent differences in fuels among wooded communities. We used a fire behavior model, BehavePlus, to simulate potential fire behavior in our study plots. Because plant community data, standard fuel models and the ordination axes were poor predictors of fuels and potential fire behavior, we explored a new method of incorporating ecological data into predictions of fire behavior. We used classification and regression trees (CARTs) to find groups of plots that differed in their potential fire behavior. Although the best CART explained only 32% of the variance in potential fire behavior, the CARTs suggest ways to more effectively manage fire behavior – for example, indicating the importance of the legacy effects of savanna trees. Our results suggest that the legacies of succession on historic prairie and savanna have led to novel and heterogeneous fuels complexes, making it difficult to predict potential fire behavior from standard fuel models or community types. CARTs could be useful in other regions, both to indicate locations that should be management priorities and specific management techniques to attenuate fire behavior.

Provenance, life span, and phylogeny do not affect grass species' responses to nitrogen and phosphorus

Successful conservation management requires an understanding of how species respond to intervention. Native and exotic species may respond differently to management interventions due to differences arising directly from their origin (i.e., provenance) or indirectly due to biased representations of different life history types (e.g., annual vs. perennial life span) or phylogenetic lineages among provenance (i.e., native or exotic origin) groups. Thus, selection of a successful management regime requires knowledge of the life history and provenance-bias in the local flora and an understanding of the interplay between species characteristics across existing environmental gradients in the landscape. Here we tested whether provenance, phylogeny, and life span interact to determine species distributions along natural gradients of soil chemistry (e.g., soil nitrogen and phosphorus) in 10 upland prairie sites along a 600-km latitudinal transect running from southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, USA. We found that soil nitrate, phosphorus, and pH exerted strong control over community composition. However, species distributions along environmental gradients were unrelated to provenance, life span, or phylogenetic groupings. We then used a greenhouse experiment to more precisely measure the response of common grass species to nitrogen and phosphorus supply. As with the field data, species responses to nutrient additions did not vary as a function of provenance, life span, or phylogeny. Native and exotic species differed strongly in the relationship between greenhouse-measured tolerance of low nutrients and field abundance. Native species with the greatest ability to maintain biomass production at low nutrient supply rates were most abundant in field surveys, as predicted by resource competition theory. In contrast, there was no relationship between exotic-species biomass at low nutrient levels and field abundance. The implications of these findings for management of invasive species are substantial in that they overturn a general belief that reduction of nutrient supplies favors native species. The idiosyncratic nature of species response to nutrients in this study suggests that manipulation of nutrient supplies is unlikely to alter the overall balance between native and exotic species, although it may well be useful to control specific exotic species.

Traits, neighbors, and species performance in prairie restoration

AbstractQuestions: Are traits related to the performance of plant species in restoration? Are the relationships between traits and performance consistent across the functional groups of annual forbs, perennial forbs and grasses? Do the relationships between traits and performance depend on neighboring functional groups?Location: A former agricultural field, being restored to native upland prairie, in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon, USA.Methods: Twenty‐eight native species, representing three functional groups, were sown in seven different combinations. Eleven functional traits were measured from plants in the laboratory and in the field. Correlations between individual traits and performance variables were measured and regression techniques used to determine which sets of traits were most strongly related to performance.Results: Sets of traits explained up to 56% of variation in cover, and up to 48% of variation in establishment frequency. The relationships between traits and performance were influenced by functional group identity; the functional group identity of neighboring species also influenced species' cover and the relationships between traits and cover. Species' establishment rate in monoculture was the trait most strongly correlated to both establishment and cover in mixtures. In multi‐trait models, annual forb functional group identity was strongly related to establishment in mixtures, and height, leaf weight ratio at 7 d and seed mass were strongly related to cover.Conclusions: Multiple‐trait models should be a useful way of predicting the performance of species prior to sowing in restoration. The functional group identity of each species and the other species being sown may need to be taken into account when making predictions.

Vascular Plant Communities of the Green River Lowlands in Northwestern Illinois

A few high-quality prairies still exist in the sand deposits of the Green River Lowlands. The most extensive remnants are in the Green River State Wildlife Area, Lee County, Illinois. Three upland prairie communities were surveyed; a dry sand prairie dominated by Schizachyrium scoparium, Ambrosia psilostachya, and Amorpha canescens; a dry-mesic sand prairie dominated by Sorghastrum nutans, Schizachyrium scoparium, Antennaria plantaginifolia, and Liatris aspera; and a mesic sand prairie where Sorghastrum nutans and Andropogon gerardii were the dominant grasses, and Parthenium integrifolium, Fragaria virginiana, Liatris pycnostachya, and Euthamia gymnospermoides the common forbs. The lowlands, which included approximately 325 ha, were dominated by the exotic Phalaris arundinacea, but high-quality wet sand prairie, sedge meadow, and marsh communities existed. The wet sand prairies were dominated by Spartina pectinata, Helianthus grosseserratus, and Solidago canadensis; the sedge meadows were dominated by Carex haydenii, Calamagrostis canadensis, and Persicaria coccinea; the marsh communities were divided into distinct vegetation zones. These vegetation zones were surveyed in 2002 and subjected to an extensive uncontrolled fire in 2005. Surveys completed in 2006 and 2007 were used to determine successional changes resulting from the fire. These studies suggested that most communities were returning to the species composition found before the 2005 fire.

New and little known earthworm species from the Mt. Nimba, Guinea (Oligochaeta, Acanthodrilidae: Benhamiinae)

A recent survey in the main habitat types of Mt. Nimba, Guinea (upland prairie, Serengbara forest and piedmont savannah) resulted in recording of 13 earthworm species of which 9 are first reported after the original description and three, Dichogaster (Dichogaster) cornuta sp. n., Guineoscolex geminatus sp. n. and Guineoscolex ungulatus sp. n., proved to be new to science. On the basis of the new material collected Benhamia inaequalis f. nimbai Omodeo is redescribed and resurrected from synonymy of Guineoscolex inaequalis (Michaelsen) as an independent species Guineoscolex nimbai (Omodeo). With 17 original figures.

Abiotic constraints on the competitive ability of exotic and native grasses in a Pacific Northwest prairie

In prairie ecosystems, abiotic constraints on competition can structure plant communities; however, the extent to which competition between native and exotic plant species is constrained by environmental factors is still debated. The objective of our study was to use paired field and greenhouse experiments to evaluate the competitive dynamics between two native (Danthonia californica and Deschampsia cespitosa) and two exotic (Schedonorus arundinaceus and Lolium multiflorum) grass species under varying nutrient and moisture conditions in an upland prairie in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. We hypothesized the two invasive, exotic grasses would be more competitive under high-nutrient, moderate-moisture conditions, resulting in the displacement of native grasses from these environments. In the field, the experimental reduction of competition resulted in shorter, wider plants, but only the annual grass, Lolium multiflorum, produced more aboveground biomass when competition was reduced. In the greenhouse, the two exotic grasses produced more total biomass than the two native grasses. Competitive hierarchies were influenced by nutrient and/or moisture treatments for the two exotic grasses, but not for the two native grasses. L. multiflorum dominated competitive interactions with all other grasses across treatments. In general, S. arundinaceus dominated when in competition with native grasses, and D. cespitosa produced the most biomass in monoculture or under interspecific competition with the other native grass, D. californica. D. californica, D. cespitosa, and S. arundinaceus all produced more biomass in high-moisture, high-nutrient environments, and D. cespitosa, L. multiflorum, and S. arundinaceus allocated more biomass belowground in the low nutrient treatment. Taken together, these experiments suggest the competitive superiority of the exotic grasses, especially L. multiflorum, but, contrary to our hypothesis, the native grasses were not preferentially excluded from nutrient-rich, moderately wet environments.

Seasonal and Spatial Controls over Nutrient Cycling in a Pacific Northwest Prairie

West Coast prairies in the US are an endangered ecosystem, and effective conservation will require an understanding of how changing climate will impact nutrient cycling and availability. We examined how seasonal patterns and micro-heterogeneity in edaphic conditions (% moisture, total organic carbon, % clay, pH, and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus) control carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling in an upland prairie in western Oregon, USA. Across the prairie, we collected soils seasonally and measured microbial respiration, net nitrogen mineralization, net nitrification, and phosphorus availability under field conditions and under experimentally varied temperature and moisture treatments. The response variables differed in the degree of temperature and moisture limitation within seasons and how these factors varied across sampling sites. In general, we found that microbial respiration was limited by low soil moisture year-round and by low temperatures in the winter. Net nitrogen mineralization and net nitrification were never limited by temperature, but both were limited by excessive soil moisture in winter, and net nitrification was also inhibited by low soil moisture in the summer. Factors that enhanced microbial respiration tended to decrease soil phosphorus availability. Edaphic factors explained 76% of the seasonal and spatial variation in microbial respiration, 35% of the variation in phosphorus availability, and 29% of the variation in net nitrification. Much of the variation in net nitrogen mineralization remained unexplained (R 2 = 0.19). This study, for the first time, demonstrates the complex seasonal controls over nutrient cycling in a Pacific Northwest prairie.