 Tall Grass Prairie |
 Sunflower/Butterfly |
 Tall Sunflower |
 Purple Phlox |
 Purple Prairieflower |
 Browneyed Susan |
 Butterfly |
 Browneyed Susan |
"Though many people think they know what a tallgrass prairie looks
like, very few actually do."
Because we have so little prairie left in Illinois not many people have had the
privilege to see a true tallgrass prairie. Even fewer have had the chance to
see a tallgrass prairie in its prime seasons, summer and early fall. This is
mostly because the prairies are constantly vanishing. In 1995 only 2300 acres
of prairie were left of what used to be 22 million acres (22,000,000) in Illinois
alone. That's less than one hundredth of one percent.
I find that troubling. I say
that because in Illinois most people take pride in the nickname "The Prairie State"
and yet every year we have less and less prairie left. What I think is very strange
is that much of the "vanishing prairie" was turned into farmland and from there
turned into a place to put an oil pump for underground oil wells. Now when you
think about it, that is kind of stupid (no offense to farmers) but oil pumps only
take up an area of around 24 square feet. My question is "why aren't we using that
space more eficiently and effectively? Think about it, we could be using that space
to save the tallgrass prairies.
One way of doing that could be using fire to burn away all the remnants of the
foilage and other hazardous plants.(corn, thistles, soybeans,etc).
This may sound strange to you, but actually it helps the prairie a lot. It
helps them because the fire burns away all the remnants of the invasive and
non-native shrubs and trees (not to mention the rest of the prairie) without
harming the grass's fifteen foot deep root system, giving the grasses a chance
to become the dominant plant species in the prairie. The fire also helps burn away
the dead foliage giving the younger grasses a chance to regrow and mature. Though
the grasses are sometimes killed, they can always grow back because their roots
go unharmed by the fire since they are buried so far under the ground. Finally,
the fire also kills hazardous plants like Bull Thistles, Multifloral Roses,
and the Locust Trees. By doing that the fire returns the prairie to its normal
climate.
Speaking of climates, you might want to know
that you can only have a tallgrass prairie under very specific conditions.
Basically what I'm saying is that rain (precipitation) determines whether
an area will become a prairie or a deciduous forest. For example, the prairie
gets an average of 10-14 inches of annual rainfall to keep it sustained. If it gets
less than that amount it will turn into a desert. More than that
will turn it in to a forest. Another thing is that if you study prairies you
know that there is no possible way a prairie could survive in the northernmost part
of Alaska without turning into a tundra. But if you look in places like Illinois,
Missouri, and Indiana you might be very lucky and find one, if we preserved them.
Now before you leave you might want to see some pictures,
so if you do scroll down! Otherwise THANK YOU for reading and I hope you enjoy our
site!
Tall Grass Prairie |
Sunflower/Butterfly |
Tall Sunflower |
Purple Phlox |
Purple Prairieflower |
Browneyed Susan |
Butterfly |
Browneyed Susan |
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