Download Home on the Range - Prairie Ecosystems

Soil is more than dirt
• We covered the biotic part
– food web of a healthy soil
• But what about the abiotic part?
– Mineral, rock, clay, sand, loam, loess, humus
“mollisols” prairie soil
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C deep grass roots
Black and rich
in warm moist
tall grass prairies
Midwest rich in mollisols
Nielsen and Hole, 1963
Soil Layers
• Shaped by history and the weather
– Glacial loess, river wash
– Microbial activity ~ temperature
– Microbial activity ~ water
– Microbial activity ~ biomass from grass
– Microbial activity ~ releases minerals
• Sandy soil, low microbes,
– Water available but no holding power
Home on the Range
Chapter 5
Tablelands
Grassland & Savannah Birds
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Migration patterns
Reproductive cycles
Habitat preferences
Food requirements
• Wait for Aaron’s lecture
– but have a look and a listen locally
http://www.chicagowilderness.org/pubprod/atlaspdf/chap3.pdf
Extinct Species
• Passenger Pigeon
• at one time the population was
thought to be in the billions
• flew in enormous flocks
• John Audubon estimated on
flock he saw at over one billion
Passenger Pigeon
• large flocks would strip all the
foliage
• leaving the area bare
• people declared war on the
birds
• killing all they could find
Passenger Pigeon
• captured the young and killed
them, shipped them to cities
as food
• flocks soon disappeared
• NY, PA and MA passed laws to
protect them
Passenger Pigeon
• laws were too late
• birds held in captivity would
not breed
• last known passenger pigeon
died in the Cincinnati Zoo in
1914
Passenger Pigeon
• body of last passenger pigeon
is on display at the
Smithsonian Institute in
Washington, DC
Endangered Birds
• there are 124 birds on the
endangered species list.
• The most common are the
whooping crane, bald eagle,
ivory-billed woodpecker, and
prairie chicken.
Prairie Chickens
• is a type of grouse
• Indian dances imitated their mating
dances
• oil drilling and drought dwindled the
population
• in 1959 the Prairie Chicken
Foundation was formed to protect
Endangered Mammals
• 133 on the endangered list
distributed by the US Dept. of
the Interior
Common endangered
• big horn sheep, polar bears,
• key deer, wolves
• mountain lions
• most hunted extensively
without considering extinction
Endanger Fish
• there are 25 fish on
endangered species list
• 2 species are located in
Mammoth Caves and Death
Valley (pupfish and blind fish)
Buffalo or Bison?
What would each side say?
Scientific Classification
• Buffalo, several species
• Bison, often called
‘American bison’; there is • African buffalo, Syncerus
also a European bison;
caffer is distinctive for its
helmet-like horns and
• Binomial, scientific name:
ferocity
Bison bison
• B. bison is distinctive for
its horns, humped back
and head fur
• Asian water buffalo,
Bubalus bubalus bubalis
Hierarchical classification
of species B. bison
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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata [spinal chord]
Class: Mammalia [suckle young on milk]
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae [related to cows]
Genus: Bison
American
bison
European bison
http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Cetartiodactyla/Bovinae.html
Jordan Creek Bison Farm
Marta
McCormick
Matt
Stefani
Lisa
Schooley
Jeff
White
Quynn
Kapfer
Jordon Creek Bison Farm, 1837 Jordan Creek Road, Solon, IA 52333
Strengths, Opportunities, and
Threats
• STRENGTHS
– Buffalo meat has a large nutritional value.
– Buffalo meat is a specialty meat that is now beginning
to break into the market.
• Low fat, low cholesterol, high protein red meat
• Can be cooked in various ways and available
in different cuts
• Extreme health benefits compared to common meats
• Richer flavor compared to common meats.
situational analysis
THE
INTERAGENCY BISON MANAGEMENT PLAN
FOR YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK AND
MONTANA
The Interagency Bison
Management Plan . . .
IBMP
PURPOSE
Maintain a wild, free-ranging population
of bison.
Address the risk of brucellosis transmission
... to protect the economic interest and
viability of the livestock industry in the
state of Montana.
INTERIOR IN WINTER
NORTHERN RANGE IN WINTER
Winter
movements of
bison on the
northern range
are most likely
to be in a
northerly
direction
(towards lower
elevations) in
large numbers.
Benefits of prairie grazing
• Promotes species diversity
• Increases light availability to plants, promoting
photosynthesis and growth
• Can change species composition
• Decreases woody plant
growth while promoting
grazing-tolerant plants.
Disadvantages of large
grazers in the Arboretum
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Interferes with human usage
Difficult to rotate grazing areas
Maintenance cost of large grazers
Cattle are not as effective grazers as bison
Mowing is an easier alternative