America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert.
America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert. The eastern portion of these grasslands receives the most rain and is known as the prairie pothole region. Each year, almost half of America’s breeding waterfowl raise their broods across flooded potholes, and millions of migrating songbirds stop here to rest and refuel. The grasslands from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky Mountains known as the Great Plains historically supported not only millions of bison, pronghorn, and elk but smaller unique grassland mammals (e.g., swift fox, Great Plains wolf, black footed ferret, Franklin’s ground squirrel), songbirds (e.g., Henslow’s sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, bobolink, short-eared owl), and reptiles (Eastern Massasauga, ornate box turtle).
Since European settlement, approximately half of all grasslands have been converted to cultivated cropland or other uses leading to extinctions of several sub-species (Badlands Bighorn sheep, Great Plains wolf) and the imperilment of many species (birds, Swift fox, Eastern Massasauga, Black-foot ferret).
Grasslands Research
Grasslands Research
Filter Total Items: 24
Climate Adaptation Strategies for Arid Grasslands
Helping National Parks in the 4-Corners region manage grasslands in a changing climate.
Climate-driven state shifts in the Prairie Pothole Region: assessing future impacts relevant to the management of wetland habitats critical to waterfowl
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) covers parts of five states and three Canadian provinces. The region contains millions of wetlands that annually produce 50-80% of the continent’s duck population. Previous modeling efforts indicated that climate change would result in a shift of waterfowl habitat from the central PPR to the southeast PPR where the majority of wetlands have been drained. However...
Sourcing plants for conservation and restoration: developing a risk assessment framework
Tallgrass prairie species are planted in a variety of settings for a variety of reasons. Much of the seed used for these plantings is produced commercially in agricultural-like conditions and can be contaminated by “weed seeds.” In this study, we are creating an analytical tool to assess the risk of inadvertently introducing weed seeds into a prairie planting. We purpose that increasing the...
Grazing resources for integrated conservation of bison and native prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Badlands National Park (BADL) contains one of the largest protected expanses of mixed-grass prairie in the United States, much of which supports a herd of nearly wild bison. The park nevertheless is too small to accommodate bison’s natural nomadic behavior, which in the past resulted in their ephemeral but intense influence on Great Plains grasslands. This research is assessing the spatial...
An adaptive management framework to control invasive annual brome grasses in Northern Great Plains parks (ABAM)
Invasion by annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome) and other exotic annual grasses into National Park Service units (parks) in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) impacts park ecological and historical landscape integrity. The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) decision support tool (DST) was built to support vegetation management decision making, particularly regarding these...
Decision support for restoration and management of Service-owned native prairies: Implications for grassland bird communities
More than 100,000 ha of native tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the northern Great Plains. Although prairies in this region evolved with grazing, fire, and climatic variability, management of FWS grasslands often has been passive and involved extended periods of rest. In 2008, the USGS and the FWS initiated a collaborative effort, the...
Improving wildlife habitat through management and restoration of native prairies on lands under Fish and Wildlife Service ownership
The extent of native prairie throughout the north-central United States has sharply declined since European settlement, and much that remains has been invaded by introduced cool-season grasses, reducing floristic diversity and quality. On lands under its ownership, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to restore native prairie integrity by reducing occurrence of introduced species under...
Evaluation of tallgrass prairie restoration methods to improve resistance to invasive species and maintenance of plant species diversity over time
When reconstructing native tallgrass prairie from abandoned farmland, patience can pay off. In this research effort, we observed that as reconstructions matured, Canada thistle cover declined even though herbicides were not applied. There is no single best planting method for all situations. Ten years after planting, cover of planted, native non-planted, and exotic species varied little among...
Developing evaluation and monitoring frameworks for tallgrass prairie reconstruction
Thousands of hectares of retired farmland are planted with tallgrass prairie species each year. If the methods used and resulting characteristics of these prairies are recorded, compiled, and analyzed, they can provide a valuable resource for evaluating seed mixes, planting methods, and post-planting management. Toward this end, collaborators in the Prairie Reconstruction Initiative, funded by the...
Quantifying ecosystem services provided by depressional wetlands in the Upper Mississippi
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center has conducted multiple research efforts related to developing methodology for quantifying the environmental and societal services provided by prairie-pothole wetland ecosystems. In this effort, we are exploring the feasibility of applying methodologies similar to those developed wetland ecosystems within the Prairie Pothole Region to other landscapes where...
Quantify the multiple services performed by wetland ecosystems in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States
This research effort is focused on incorporating land-use and land-cover change into forecasting models that accounted for variations in agricultural and conservation practices and programs. The primary tool being used is the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) modeling suite. We have parameterized this modeling tool for the prairie-pothole region, and developed new...
Assessment of pattern tile drainage on wetland hydrology and ecosystem services in the Prairie Pothole Region
Prairie Pothole Region wetlands provide numerous ecological services to society such as wildlife habitat, water storage, and carbon sequestration. Agricultural production in the region has been enhanced through the expanded installation and use of subsurface drainage systems, but these systems may have a negative impact on the region’s wetlands, including those protected by conservation easements...
- Overview
America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert.
America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert. The eastern portion of these grasslands receives the most rain and is known as the prairie pothole region. Each year, almost half of America’s breeding waterfowl raise their broods across flooded potholes, and millions of migrating songbirds stop here to rest and refuel. The grasslands from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky Mountains known as the Great Plains historically supported not only millions of bison, pronghorn, and elk but smaller unique grassland mammals (e.g., swift fox, Great Plains wolf, black footed ferret, Franklin’s ground squirrel), songbirds (e.g., Henslow’s sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, bobolink, short-eared owl), and reptiles (Eastern Massasauga, ornate box turtle).
Since European settlement, approximately half of all grasslands have been converted to cultivated cropland or other uses leading to extinctions of several sub-species (Badlands Bighorn sheep, Great Plains wolf) and the imperilment of many species (birds, Swift fox, Eastern Massasauga, Black-foot ferret).
Grasslands ResearchFilter Total Items: 24Climate Adaptation Strategies for Arid Grasslands
Helping National Parks in the 4-Corners region manage grasslands in a changing climate.Climate-driven state shifts in the Prairie Pothole Region: assessing future impacts relevant to the management of wetland habitats critical to waterfowl
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) covers parts of five states and three Canadian provinces. The region contains millions of wetlands that annually produce 50-80% of the continent’s duck population. Previous modeling efforts indicated that climate change would result in a shift of waterfowl habitat from the central PPR to the southeast PPR where the majority of wetlands have been drained. However...Sourcing plants for conservation and restoration: developing a risk assessment framework
Tallgrass prairie species are planted in a variety of settings for a variety of reasons. Much of the seed used for these plantings is produced commercially in agricultural-like conditions and can be contaminated by “weed seeds.” In this study, we are creating an analytical tool to assess the risk of inadvertently introducing weed seeds into a prairie planting. We purpose that increasing the...Grazing resources for integrated conservation of bison and native prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Badlands National Park (BADL) contains one of the largest protected expanses of mixed-grass prairie in the United States, much of which supports a herd of nearly wild bison. The park nevertheless is too small to accommodate bison’s natural nomadic behavior, which in the past resulted in their ephemeral but intense influence on Great Plains grasslands. This research is assessing the spatial...An adaptive management framework to control invasive annual brome grasses in Northern Great Plains parks (ABAM)
Invasion by annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome) and other exotic annual grasses into National Park Service units (parks) in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) impacts park ecological and historical landscape integrity. The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) decision support tool (DST) was built to support vegetation management decision making, particularly regarding these...Decision support for restoration and management of Service-owned native prairies: Implications for grassland bird communities
More than 100,000 ha of native tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the northern Great Plains. Although prairies in this region evolved with grazing, fire, and climatic variability, management of FWS grasslands often has been passive and involved extended periods of rest. In 2008, the USGS and the FWS initiated a collaborative effort, the...Improving wildlife habitat through management and restoration of native prairies on lands under Fish and Wildlife Service ownership
The extent of native prairie throughout the north-central United States has sharply declined since European settlement, and much that remains has been invaded by introduced cool-season grasses, reducing floristic diversity and quality. On lands under its ownership, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to restore native prairie integrity by reducing occurrence of introduced species under...Evaluation of tallgrass prairie restoration methods to improve resistance to invasive species and maintenance of plant species diversity over time
When reconstructing native tallgrass prairie from abandoned farmland, patience can pay off. In this research effort, we observed that as reconstructions matured, Canada thistle cover declined even though herbicides were not applied. There is no single best planting method for all situations. Ten years after planting, cover of planted, native non-planted, and exotic species varied little among...Developing evaluation and monitoring frameworks for tallgrass prairie reconstruction
Thousands of hectares of retired farmland are planted with tallgrass prairie species each year. If the methods used and resulting characteristics of these prairies are recorded, compiled, and analyzed, they can provide a valuable resource for evaluating seed mixes, planting methods, and post-planting management. Toward this end, collaborators in the Prairie Reconstruction Initiative, funded by the...Quantifying ecosystem services provided by depressional wetlands in the Upper Mississippi
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center has conducted multiple research efforts related to developing methodology for quantifying the environmental and societal services provided by prairie-pothole wetland ecosystems. In this effort, we are exploring the feasibility of applying methodologies similar to those developed wetland ecosystems within the Prairie Pothole Region to other landscapes where...Quantify the multiple services performed by wetland ecosystems in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States
This research effort is focused on incorporating land-use and land-cover change into forecasting models that accounted for variations in agricultural and conservation practices and programs. The primary tool being used is the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) modeling suite. We have parameterized this modeling tool for the prairie-pothole region, and developed new...Assessment of pattern tile drainage on wetland hydrology and ecosystem services in the Prairie Pothole Region
Prairie Pothole Region wetlands provide numerous ecological services to society such as wildlife habitat, water storage, and carbon sequestration. Agricultural production in the region has been enhanced through the expanded installation and use of subsurface drainage systems, but these systems may have a negative impact on the region’s wetlands, including those protected by conservation easements... - Data
- Publications