Farm as Natural Habitat The Hidden Charisma of Grasslands
Prairie BioBlitz Reveals the Power of Observation
the Land Stewardship Project, Clean Up the River Environment ou can’t appreciate what you (CURE), Univerdon’t know, and in the case of sity of Minnesota some natural habitats, one may Extension’s Master need to work a little harder to unearth that Naturalist Program, needed knowledge. Consider the tallgrass and the Minnesota prairie — to the untrained, auto-bound eye Department of Natu- During the BioBlitz, volunteers surveyed vegetation on a calcareous fen, a buzzing by at 65-miles-per-hour, it lacks the ral Resources. type of small wetland that produces habitat for a unique set of plants. charisma of the Big Woods or the Rocky A BioBlitz is an (LSP Photo) Mountains. But by getting out of the car, intense, communityParle Wildlife Management Area, which is wading through the grasses and forbs, and based period of biological surveying that 30,000 acres of natural habitat, including taking a closer look, one can get a sense of attempts to record as many living species prairie, that runs 35 miles along the Minnethis habitat’s “horizontal grandeur,” as writer possible in a designated area. Groups of scisota River, including a 6,000-acre reservoir Bill Holm calls it. entists, naturalists, and volunteers conduct formed in 1939 to control flooding on the During two days in mid-July, some 270 this survey over a specific period of time, Minnesota River. people gathered at Lac qui Parle State Park often uploading their observations on the The BioBlitz surveys focus on the birds, and environs in western Minnesota to do iNaturalist app straight from the field. This plants, mammals, insects, amphibians, and some “bioblitzing” and add a fish that call a region home. But little to the knowledge base this isn’t just about the health of of this critical resource, in the the natural world, said Peg Furprocess providing insights shong, Operations and Program into how it can be protected Director for CURE. and propagated. The conver“From CURE’s perspecsion of the tallgrass prairie to tive, we know that if we have crops over the past centurya healthy, vibrant environment, and-a-half may represent one we have healthy vibrant comof the biggest alternations munities,” she told the crowd of a natural landscape ever. before they headed out to the Minnesota was once covered prairie with binoculars, nets, by 18 million acres of prairie; smart phones, and notebooks today around 1% of that is in-hand to assess just how left, mostly on public lands, healthy the natural community in private natural areas, and was. along railroad rights-of-way. The results were mixed: durHundreds of species of plants ing one insect survey, experts can live in a native prairie, with the Minnesota Dragonfly and their deep root systems Society expressed disappointhave created incredibly rich The Tallgrass Prairie BioBlitz brought together scientists, naturalists, and soil, which provides a myriad volunteers to tabulate as many living species as possible in the area of Lac ment at the lack of dragonflies showing up in nets near the of ecosystem services: carbon qui Parle State Park. (LSP Photo) reservoir and a wetland. Insects sequestration and water manlike dragonflies and mayflies rely on water agement, as well as pollinator and wildlife is the fifth BioBlitz LSP has been involved systems that aren’t full of eroded soil, habitat, among others. with in western Minnesota in recent years. which can disrupt reproduction and make it “You hear the stories about the first EuKuchenreuther and other prairie enthudifficult to access their food supply. In this ropeans to break the prairie with their plows siasts are excited to see events such as this case, although the BioBlitz was taking place and the prairie grasses would almost sing BioBlitz take place since they get the public in natural habitat, the area is surrounded by as they snapped with the plow being pulled out into this incredibly diverse habitat that, corn and soybean fields that drain into the through them,” said Margaret Kuchenfrom the road, can be easily dismissed. Minnesota River, which has long had a probreuther, an associate professor of biology “We take better care of things we know lem with sedimentation and agrichemical at the University of Minnesota-Morris. more about,” said LSP organizer Robin contamination. It was a reminder that threats She was one of the prairie experts who led Moore on the first morning of the BioBlitz. walking tours during the 2021 Tallgrass She was addressing the dozens of people Prairie BioBlitz, which was sponsored by BioBlitz, see page 15… gathered at the headquarters of the Lac qui By Brian DeVore
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No. 2, 2021
The Land Stewardship Letter
