Prairie Restoration

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A Coastal prairie restoration project in Texas.

Prairie Restoration is an ecologically friendly way to restore some of the prairie land that was lost to industry, farming and commerce. The State of Illinois alone once held over 22 million acres (89,000 km²) of prairie land and now a mere 2,000 acres (8 km²) of original prairie land exist.

1 Purpose
2 Types of plants
3 Care of prairies
4 Prairie contributors
5 Creating your own prairie restoration
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Purpose

Ecologically, prairie restoration aids in conservation of our earth's topsoil, which disappears along with the prairie grasses and plants to make way for new commerce. Conversely, much more of the prairie lands have become the fertile fields on which we grow our cereal crops of corn, barley and wheat on.

The restoration project of prairie lands can be large or small. You can create a backyard prairie restoration that will enrich your soil, help with erosion and take up extra water in excessive rainfalls. Prairie flowers are a big attraction to native butterflies and other pollinators which can further enhance your backyard as a low maintenance showplace. On a larger scale, communities and even corporations are doing their part to create areas of restored prairies which in turn will store organic carbon in the soil and help maintain the biodiversity of 3000 plus species that count on the grasslands for food and shelter.

[edit] Types of plants

Prairie plants consist of grasses and forbs. Grasses, which are monocots (one seed leaf), are similar to what you might picture in your yard, but grasses in the prairie will be of a broader leaf than the blades of grass you have in your lawn. Forbs fall into an unusual category. They are not grasses, trees or shrubs, but are herbaceous and share the field with the less diverse grasses. Forbs are also structurally specialized to resist herbaceous grazers, and their commonly hairy leaves help deter the cold and prevent excessive evaporation. Many of the forbs contain secondary compounds that were discovered by the American Natives and are still used widely today. One particular forb, the purple coneflower, is recognized more readily by its scientific name Echinacea purpurea, or just Echinacea, which is used as an herbal remedy for colds.

[edit] Care of prairies

Fire is a big component to the success of prairie lands, large or small. Controlled burns, with a permit, are recommended every year (after two growth seasons) to burn away dead plants; prevent certain other plants from encroaching (such as trees) and release nutrients into the ground to encourage new growth. The Native Americans may also have used the burns to control pests such as ticks.

[edit] Prairie contributors

Some popular prairie restoration projects have been completed and maintained by conservation departments, such as Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, located in Wilmington, Illinois. This restoration project is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It sits on part of the Joliet Army Ammunitions Plant, specifically on an area once contaminated from TNT manufacturing. Beginning in 1997, the project now has opened some 15,000 acres (61 km²) of restored prairie to the public.

Another large restoration project finds its home on the ample area of Fermilab; a U.S. governmental atomic accelerator laboratory located in Batavia, Illinois. Fermilab's 6,800 acres (28 km²) sit a top fertile farmland and the prairie restoration project consists of approximately 1000 acres (4 km²) of that. This project began in 1971 and continues today with the help of Fermi lab employees and many community teachers, botanists and volunteers.