Management of Prairie

Preserving the Prairie Community
ANTHROPGENIC ABUSE	LIVING SPECIES (Non-native)	LIVING SPECIES (Native)	PROCESSES
Woodworth Prairie's mission is to maintain populations of native prairie plant and animal species as close as possible to the abundances of Illinois prairies before agriculture. I call the processes involved in doing that REVITALIZATION. Revitalization focuses on reversing past and present anthropogenic abuse, on the complete removal of non-native species, regulating over-abundant native species and manipulating processes to mimic the patterns of those processes before the landscape was dominated by human economic activity.
ANTHROPGENIC ABUSE Leftover Abuse Natural areas are often used as dumping grounds. JWP was not an exception. Many years old debris continues to emerge from the soil. Most everything in the pile shown was more than five years old. Continuing abuse Plastic bags blow into the prairie regularly. The fence along Milwaukee Avenue catches debris which falls to the base of the fence and then works its way under the fence. Utility crews have abused the prairie. Edges The quality of the prairie is lower near the fences.	Trash picked up after a burn, including branches from neighboring trees (in cart).	Tire tracks in prairie made by Commonwealth Edison crew when it entered the prairie to work on neighbor's utility poles.	Picking up debris comes naturally to many people. Hardly anyone would speak against it as an activity, but does it help native species? I believe the answer is YES. I have observed that plants growing next to debris are often bigger than the same species elsewhere and often the species are weedy biennials. Debris deprives the ground of light (which plants need) and debris proves extra water to the ground adjacent to the debris. This encourages coarse or rank vegetation, such as ragweed, rather than prairie plants. JWP continues to remove debris and has secured the bottom of the Milwaukee Avenue fence to reduce that route of entry.
LIVING SPECIES (Non-native) Goal: Complete Elimination of non-native species. Woodworth Prairie wants only native prairie species on our site. Techniques of plant species removal While not philosophically opposed to the use of herbicides, management of JWP tries to find ways to eliminate exotic species without using these powerful chemicals. The techniques include: Pulling Cutting Digging Girdling and PROCESSES	Digging as management tool JWP has small buckthorns in scattered locations. Individuals persist even after many burns. I (DN) decided to dig them out. The picture to the right illustrates a buckthorn that was dug from the prairie. The roots were completely severed, i.e., the plant was lifted out of the hole (photo). The plant is then returned to the hole, so that the soil (and the stuff it contains) remain in place. Over time (1 year) the buckthorn dies and the soil falls off the root. I have been very satisfied with the results.	Rhamnus cathartica, buckthorn, that has been dug from the prairie.	Herbicides For some species herbicide is our preferred method. At JWP Phalaris arundinacea, Reed canary grass, is the most abundant exotic species. Small patches have been dug out, but treatment with glyphosate, a systemic, non-selective herbicide is the best way to attack patches bigger than a shovel width. Other species where glyphosate is the only effective treatment are: Lily-of-the-Valley Smooth brome Soapwort Daylily is controlled by glyphosate followed by digging of survivors.
Silphium laciniatum, compass plant, at JWP an over-abundant species	LIVING SPECIES (Native) Over Abundance regulation Environmental circumstances favor some species and hurt others. Humans have altered the environment and actions by stewards counteract those effects. Among the native plants that are over-abundant at JWP are Silphium and Solidago. Cottontail abundance is high. Low population sizes Some prairie species have very low population sizes. Supplementation of such populations by growing individuals in the IC garden increases the probability that the species will persist in the prairie.	INTERPRETATION CENTER (IC) GARDEN The garden surrounding the IC has long served as a place where many of the species characteristic of black-soil prairie could be observed. Another purpose has been added. At least some of the prairie species that are rare in the prairie have been grown in the garden. Included are Geum triflorum, Krigia biflora, Sphenopholis obtusata, Viola pedatifida and others. Seeds from these garden plants will hopefully supplement the small JWP population of these species. White tubes marked seedlings planted in garden. Planted Phlox pilosa is blooming in the IC garden.	Prairie phlox in the IC garden.
PROCESSES FIRE Fire is a natural phenomenon which undoubtedly became more frequent after humans first occupied our area, but today humans put them out. WATER People drain land for many reasons. Illinois was a wet place before ditching and tiling. GRAZING Large grazers are gone, but cottontails and voles are abundant. MATERIAL INPUTS Humans use many elements. Our use has increased amounts of metals and other elements in our environment and may be called eutrophication.	Fire in the prairie north of the Interpretation Center. (photographer unknown).		EUTROPHICATION Traditionally, eutrophication has been used to describe algal blooms in lakes resulting from increased inputs of phosphorous or nitrogen. Humans have increased the concentration of many other elements as well. Iron, Fe, is an example. The amounts in soil have increased because of the widespread use of iron and its quick oxidation. Many other metals are much more available to plants and animals than they were hundreds of years ago. Metals are an essential part of many enzymes. We know little about which species are affected by increased metals.