Talking Big: Lessons Learned from a 9000 Hectare Restoration in the Northern Tallgrass Prairie

Abstract

Large tracts (>1000 ha) of prairie are essential to the sustainability of grassland ecosystem services, yet in many ecoregions only small fragments remain. Glacial Ridge is among the largest prairie-wetland restorations ever attempted. Started in 2000, the 9000 ha project in northwest Minnesota, USA, was initiated to reconnect 14 small tallgrass prairie remnants. In all, 15,200 ha of contiguous habitat comprise the project's direct accomplishment. We created a partnership of more than 30 organizations, filled 177 km of drainage ditch, restored 1240 ha of wetland, and replanted 8100 ha. Flooding has been mitigated, water quality improved, and native vegetation reestablished. Animals not documented for decades have again occupied the site. Despite these accomplishments, the project would have been unnecessary if the land had been purchased in the 1970s, prior to conversion to agriculture, at one-tenth the restoration cost. Our challenges related to funding, differences in partners' restoration philosophy, community concerns about floods and tax losses, difficulties in obtaining seed, and follow-up management of invasive weeds. We summarize the restoration process and share basic principles that will help others to develop large-scale prairie restoration projects in the future. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2012, 4 3067

Predicting drought tolerance from slope aspect preference in restored plant communities

“…Large‐scale restoration projects in which species are seeded or planted at large scales for mitigation and conservation across varying microclimates are being conducted worldwide (Gerla, Cornett, Ekstein, & Ahlering, ; Hagen & Evju, ; Lengyel et al., ; Thompson, ; Trabucchi, Ntshotsho, O'Farrell, & Comin, ). These landscape‐scale manipulations provide opportunities to study strategies for establishment and growth under varying environmental conditions (Howe & Martinez‐Garza, ), and can be used to replicate plant communities in space, providing information regarding microhabitat preferences (Howe & Martinez‐Garza, ).…”

“…Large-scale restoration projects in which species are seeded or planted at large scales for mitigation and conservation across varying microclimates are being conducted worldwide (Gerla, Cornett, Ekstein, & Ahlering, 2012;Hagen & Evju, 2013;Lengyel et al, 2012;Thompson, 2011;Trabucchi, Ntshotsho, O'Farrell, & Comin, 2012).…”

Seed production areas for the global restoration challenge

“…Appropriately developed SPA will alleviate the potential for overharvesting of wild plant populations and improve the quantity and reliability of seed available (Broadhurst et al., ; Broadhurst, Hopley, et al ). For example, 28,000 ha of remnant North American tall grass prairies are targeted for restoration (Gerla, Cornett, Ekstein, & Ahlering, ); however, these native grasslands currently occupy between 0.01% and 2.5% of their historical range (Packard & Mutel, ). In such situations, harvesting of seeds from wild plants has both ethical and practical constraints on restoration pace and success because so few seed sources remain.…”

Spatiotemporal distribution of soil nutrients within an abandoned cattle feedlot

“…It is currently the largest temperate tallgrass prairie and wetland restoration project in the USA. According to Gerla et al (2012), 12.4 km 2 of wetlands were restored, 177 km of ditches filled, and 81 km 2 of cropland replanted to native vegetation during the course of the project from 2000 to 2012.…”