| The tallgrass prairie has decreased to an estimated 4% of its original area in North America, mainly as a result of agriculture. Today, only small remnants exist, with many associated wildlife and plant species showing alarming declines. To preserve the tallgrass prairie ecosystems of Michigan, it is necessary to develop prairie creation techniques to assist in the creation and restoration of prairie patches. The primary goal of this project was to determine which of 4 prairie creation techniques (burning, mowing, plowing, planting of winter wheat) resulted in the highest quality native tallgrass prairie. During the first field season, from May to August 1998, baseline data on the structure and composition of vegetation, and the abundance of small mammals, birds, and insects was gathered. From May to August 1999, after the implementation of the prairie creation techniques, the species inventory was repeated to evaluate any changes that may have occurred as a result of the management activities. An increase in native prairie plant and wildlife species and a decrease in invading non-prairie species was used as an indicator of the quality of a prairie patch. A secondary goal was to determine the economic feasibility of each treatment to encourage private landowners to create prairie patches. My results indicate that the burn and winter wheat treatments were the most successful in establishing planted prairie plant species and controlling invading non-prairie annuals. Avian abundance decreased between 1998 and 1999 on the manipulated areas. The changes in the wildlife species composition are the results of the removal of most above-ground vegetation, and did not assist in determining the quality of the prairie patches. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
