The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 9:40 AM
Assessing Native Prairie Conditions in the Missouri Coteau of South Dakota
Amy Ganguli, Jonathan Haufler, Carolyn Mehl, and Scott Yeats. Ecosystem Management Research Institute, P.O. Box 717, Seeley Lake, MT 59868
South Dakota’s Wildlife Action Plan emphasizes an ecosystem diversity approach for addressing conservation needs of all wildlife occurring in South Dakota including species of greatest conservation need. As part of a pilot project intended to demonstrate how the state-wide plan for ecosystem diversity can be implemented, we have been working with South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks to assess native prairie conditions in the Missouri Coteau, an area in North Central SD encompassing 4,610 square miles. By assessing native prairie conditions and comparing these conditions to a historical reference we can implement goals for ecosystem diversity through management actions to restore needed prairie ecosystems. In 2007, our field efforts involved identifying and sampling native prairie on upland ecological sites occurring within the Missouri Coteau to identify existing plant community composition, diversity, and structure. Prior to randomly selecting field sample points we used GIS layers such as GAP landcover, TNC untilled lands, and NAIP aerial imagery to identify possible native prairie. Prairie ecosystems were estimated to historically occupy 2,564,130 acres in our project area. The GIS screening indicated that only 17.2% of this area could currently be classified as native prairie. Field sampling of this 17.2% found that only 6.9% of the historical native prairie could be classified as native prairie with lower levels of native prairie on more productive ecological sites. Most of the native prairie occurs in isolated patches surrounded by cultivated or introduced pastures and in areas where rocks or elevation precluded cultivation. Introduced species, especially smooth brome and Kentucky bluegrass, were found in high proportions on all ecological sites. Our results indicate that existing prairie ecosystem conditions, even in areas mapped by other efforts as native prairie, are far from representative of historical ecosystem diversity. Restoration of specific prairie ecosystems should be a high priority for conservation.