1.Go over exams (~20 minutes)

2.Discuss guest speaker (5 minutes)

3.Prairie/savanna restoration

4.Wednesday – guest speaker, and we will discuss logistics for next two field trips; next week discuss brief article critique assignments

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Mean = 85%

Sandy, glacial lake plain soils

Eastern prickly pear cactus

Opuntia humifusa

Source: Ohio DNR

Oak Savanna1

4-43 trees ha-1

black/white oak

51% land area

1 Brewer, L.G., and J.L. Vankat. 2001. The vegetation of the Oak Openings of northwestern Ohio at the time of Euro-American settlement. Map and text. Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus, Ohio.

Oak Woodland

>43 trees ha-1

black/white oak

23% land area

Wet prairie

0-1 trees ha-1

27% land area

Ecosystem Changes 1860s-Present

• Fire suppression

• Livestock Grazing

• Logging of oaks

• Drainage alterations

• Conversion to pine plantations

• Agricultural clearing, urban development

Red maple: 600 trees ha-1 Black cherry: 80 trees ha-1

Oaks: 180 trees ha-1

(41o33'00"N, 83o52'00"W)

Red maple: 480 trees ha-1 Black cherry: 80 trees ha-1 Oaks: 0 trees ha-1

(41o33'00"N, 83o51'15"W)

Karner blue butterfly http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/karner.htm

Purple = residential

1984-2003 land cover change

Nuzzo, V.A. 1986. Extent and status of Midwest oak savanna: presettlement and 1985. Natural Areas Journal 6:6-36.

0.02% of original oak savanna remains

RESTORATION OBJECTIVES

Reverse trend of ecosystem decline by reestablishing historical tree structure and reintroducing approximate historical disturbance regime to the contemporary degraded ecosystems

Specifically, to reestablish oak savanna, oak woodland, and wet prairie ecosystems in areas where they historically occurred but do not presently occur

How to do this?

(a) Determine reference conditions – U.S. govt. land surveys, old trees, remnants, fire scars where possible

(b) Choose sites – potential for ER; large oaks, block drainage ditches, soil survey

(c) Prescribe treatments (fire, thinning)

Pre-treatment

September 1998

Post-treatment

July 2002(41o32'45"N, 83o51'15"W)

Pre-treatment

September 1998

Post-treatment

July 2002

(41o32'50"N, 83o51'15"W)

298 total species, 19 Ohio listed

24 restoration plots:

Woodland Flora

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1988 1990 1991 1993 1997 1998 1999 2000 2002

Year

% o

f m

axi

mu

m PTEAQUSPPRICHQUEDENSAPDEN

1192

607

7630 47

19420973

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Restorationsavanna

Restorationwoodland

Restorationmesic prairie

Control oakforest

Control mesicprairie

Treatment and community

Tre

es

/ha

Non-oak

Oak

** *

* *

* Denotes significant difference at P< 0.05 (paired t-test)

Error bars represent 1 standard deviation

Post-treatment (2002)

Restoration increases native species richness

Meadowsweet

Restoration Wet Prairie

Wild lupine

Restoration Savanna

It’s not all rosy,

• Exotic species not always, but often, problems

• Fire timing not consistent with reference

• Unclear if missing certain species

• Small sizes

• Success of Karner blue reintroduction

• Use of land?

Puccoon Columbine Aster

Species richness

(mean 1 SD)

Lawn Native Plant Area

1.3 0.6 9.7 2.1

t = 9.4; P < 0.01