"Can We Improve Prairie Reconstruction Methods by Record-Keeping?" and "10 Years of Prairie STRIPS"
Channel: Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers Landscape Conservation Cooperative
Date: 2017-03-09

Diane Larson

Imagine what we could learn if we had a data base of planting methods, seed mixes, and post-planting management for the thousands of acres of prairie that are reconstructed each year! As just such a Sharepoint database is about to come online, collaborators with the Prairie Reconstruction Initiative have surveyed a total of 81 prairies reconstructed over a 10-year period at Neal Smith and Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuges in Iowa and Minnesota, respectively. The goal of these surveys was to use and evaluate the data that will ultimately be archived in the Sharepoint database. In this webinar, we will share our results on how the database can best be used to learn from existing and new reconstructions.

Lisa Schulte-Moore

New results from the STRIPS team on prairie strips in Iowa will be discussed. The discussion will include both new analyses from the team's initial experiment at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge as well as new research on commercial corn and soybean farms across Iowa.