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Prairie Ecosystems

Past:

- the original prairie in Illinois covered ~ 60 % of the state and

was a stable climax community due to little!no human

disturbance- early settlers thought prairies were infertile since no trees grew

there" so they actually settled along the rivers" and where there

were groves of trees- prairie offered: #$ no building materials

#& no protection from winter storms

#' no fire protection - was always the threat of

fires- with the development of the steel plow in Illinois #~$(') the

prairies were plowed for corn and other crops* +ost of the

prairie plants are perennials #come up each year from long

buried roots - $,-&0 inches deep in times of draught and foodshortage so they were especially vulnerable to the plow*

ventually" most of Illinois was plowed*

Present

- if plowing were stopped there could be a very slow re-establishment of the original plant community but very

unli.ely to happen today*

- under /1 conditions" prairie may ta.e '0 years to reach

stability" so probably today would ta.e $002 years

- human3s plowing" mowing" spraying" and building does notusually leave the land alone that long

- agriculture" industry" roads" and housing have gobbled up allbut isolated pieces of the original prairie

- few virgin prairies remain most of what is left shows signs of

having been disturbed- best remaining prairies are along railroads trac.s and in old

abandoned cemeteries

- along with present remnants of original prairie" we need to

recreate new prairies #ex: our campus prairie these naturalprairies are need for research" teaching" and living museums*

Importance of fire

- as previously mentioned:

#$ destroys and controls woody plants#& destroys urasian weeds and therefore decreases

competition

#' returns nutrients to soil

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4rass types

- +ost prairies found in the +idwest region of the 5

#$ 1all grass prairie Illinois and part of Iowa

7 get &,-', inches of rainfall annually

#& +ixed grass prairie Iowa to 8olorado

7 get $,-&, inches of rainfall annually

#' hort grass prairie 8olorado west

7 get $0-$, inches of rainfall annually

9 more rainfall taller the prairie;;