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Grassland
Management
| Cool
Season Grasses | Warm
Season Grasses Prairie
Restoration | Old
Fields | Grass
Planting | Prescribed
Burning Meadows |
Grassland Birds | Upland
Grasslands
Grassland Management
The
nearly 7,000 kinds of grasses make up the most widespread plant
family in the world. Grasslands range from mowed lawns to idle fields
to grainfields. Before settlement, grasslands of
several types were scattered throughout the US and
Canada, such as wet meadows, oak and pine barrens, dry sand prairies, and tall grass
prairies. One grassland that most people think of is the tallgrass
prairie, which was primarily a Midwest ecosystem that extended into southwest
Lower Michigan. These prairies were unlike anything the settlers had
ever seen, and they supported more than 300 species of wildflowers and grasses, some of which grew
to a height of nine feet.
Many experts consider North American grasslands to be a
fairly recent development in geologic time. Thousands of years ago,
huge glaciers covered much of the northern US and Canada. About
14,000 years ago, the climate became warmer and the glaciers began
to melt and retreat. Prairies, barrens, and wet meadows began
to establish themselves on landscapes that were level or gently rolling on
sandy or loamy soils. After the glaciers were gone,
the climate cooled and the conifer forests appeared. Vegetation
changed over the next several thousand years with warmer,
drier periods favoring grasslands in sandy and loamy channels, rolling
hills, and flat lakeplains, and the spread of oak and
hickory.
Perhaps as important as climate is the element of fire
to establish and maintain grasslands. Whether caused by
lightning or set purposely by Native Americans, fire helped prairies
to grow by stimulating grass and wildflowers to reproduce, reducing
competition from weeds, and discouraging
the encroachment of shrubs and trees. No one knows exactly how many
prairies existed in Michigan before settlement, but researchers have
identified 39 known prairie areas, mostly in the southern Lower
Peninsula. These prairies ranged in size from less than 100 acres to
25 square miles and may have totaled approximately 2.3 million
acres.
Value to
Wildlife
Grasslands support a variety of wildlife species. In fact, some
kinds of birds cannot live in any other ecosystem. Northern
harriers, sharp-tailed grouse, upland sandpipers, bobolinks, and
savannah and Henslow's sparrows thrive best in grassland habitats of at
least 100 acres. Grasslands smaller than 50 acres will attract bobwhite quail, bluebirds, red-winged blackbirds, American
goldfinches, dickcissels, common yellowthroats, and vesper, field,
and song sparrows. Other species, such as the Eastern meadowlark,
grasshopper sparrow, and sedge wren, can prosper in grasslands from
10 to 20 acres. Mammals also find grasslands valuable, such as the
meadow and prairie vole, 13-lined ground squirrel, and badger.
Because grasslands provide nesting, brood rearing, and roosting cover, they are important to
quail, pheasants, and wild turkeys. Pheasants in particular also
find native grasses such as switchgrass, Indiangrass, and the
bluestems suitable for winter shelter because the grasses stand up
to snow. Deer use grasslands for food at birth to
their fawns there. Rabbits raise their young and find food and
security in grassland edges. They are also home to mice, shrews,
voles, some kinds of snakes, and a host of avian and ground
predators including hawks, owls, raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes,
and coyotes.
Taking
Inventory
When you evaluated your land, as explained in the Habitat
Planning section of this
manual, what grasslands, if any, did you find? If you own a native grassland, consider yourself lucky.
You may be able to restore the grassland to full productivity by
eliminating as much competition as possible and then interseeding
desirable plant species. Or you may own an old field that was once
in crop production and is now left idle. Field borders, old fencerows, farm lanes and other corridors, and odd areas that can not be
plowed or disked offer further opportunities for
grassland establishment. Your active hayfields are a type of
grassland, too. They can be managed for livestock forage and
wildlife. The current quality of your grasslands will depend on soil
and water conditions, and plant composition. Each combination may
attract different wildlife species.
This Grassland Management section has
chapters on warm season and cool season grasses, grass planting,
converting old fields to grasslands, restoring a prairie, and prescribed burning. What follows is an
overview of each.
Warm Season
Grasses
There are two
basic kinds of grasses--warm season and cool season. Wildlife thrive in both. Warm season grasses are
usually referred to as prairie grasses and include Indiangrass,
big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, and prairie cordgrass.
They grow best under the heat of a summer sun followed by warm
nights. You can see them mixed with colorful native wildflowers at
public and private prairie areas and sometimes along roadsides and
railroad rights-of-way. Besides their value to wildlife, warm season
grasses can provide foragefor livestock and add beauty to the
landscape.
They are four reasons why wildlife biologists usually
prefer warm season grasses for wildlife cover: (1) they hold up to
the elements, (2) they are native, (3) they can be planted along with
wildflowers, and (4) they live a long time. Often called bunch
grasses because they grow in clumps, these plants do not break down
easily under heavy winds or deep snow. Their disadvantages are that
they are initially more costly to plant than other types of grass
and typically take up to three years to establish. Patie-nce is the
key to success. Once native grasses take hold, however, they need
little attention and will live many years through proper
maintenance. Maintaining them through prescribed burning every few
years will keep them healthy and productive for wildlife. Other
management options include light grazing by livestock, periodic
mowing, or the spot application of a selective herbicide .
Cool Season
Grasses
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Most of the grasses you see are cool season grasses not native to the
state. These include brome grass, timothy, and orchardgrass.
Native cool season species include Canada wildrye, redtop, and
June grass. Alfalfa and clover are cool season legumes that
are planted with cool season grasses because the legumes fix nitrogen for themselves
and other plants, provide food for many kinds of insects, and
offer habitat diversity for wildlife. Cool season
grasses and legumes grow best when the daytime temperatures on
spring and fall days reach 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit
followed by cool nights.
Cool season stands are valuable to wildlife because they
provide nesting and cover in spring and summer and sometimes
roosting cover in summer and fall. Most landowners are
familiar with these grasses. Advice on planting and equipment
are easy to come by, and the stands are easy and more
affordable than warm season grasses to establish. Annual
mowing will keep them productive although the stands lose
vigor over time and may need to be replanted. They also tend
to break down under wind and
snow. |
What to Plant and
Where
What should you plant, and where should you plant it? Consult
your overall Management Plan before deciding to plant cool season or
warm season grasses. Many landowners whose goal is to provide
year-round habitat for pheasants, quail, and grassland songbirds
plant both types side by side, along with a nearby food plot
containing corn, buckwheat, millet, and sunflowers or a similar
mixture of preferred wildlife foods. However, warm season grasses
should be planted before cool season grasses to ensure full stand
development. If your property is small and you are able to provide
only one component of habitat, consider working with neighbors who might be willing
to furnish other needs.
Planting more than one kind of grass
will provide the variety of grass heights and density for good
nesting habitat, especially for waterfowl, pheasants, and songbirds.
Mixing in legumes in cool season plantings and wildflowers in warm
season stands will encourage insects, which in turn provide food for
wildlife. Stiff-stemmed legumes and wildflowers provide perching
sites for meadowlarks, sparrows, and other birds. The wildflowers
offer a source of nectar for hummingbirds and bee species.
What species of grasses, legumes, and wildflowers you establish
depend on soil type, depth, texture, and fertility. Certain grasses
and legumes grow better on dry sites, and other types thrive on wet
sites. Warm season grasses, for example, tend to grow well on sandy,
droughty, or excessively drained sites. Most cool season grasses
perform better on well-drained soils of sandy loam.
Besides soil considerations, other site conditions include
drainage and erosion concerns and potential weed
problems. Check with your Conservation District office for a Soil
Survey map, which will identify erosion potential as well as soil
types on your property. Identify plants already growing on the site
you are considering for grass planting. Also learn what you can
about the history of cropping or other land use. This information
will help you to know what to plant and how much effort will be
needed to maintain the grassland once it is established.
To increase the value of grasslands to wildlife, especially
smaller sites of five to 20 acres place them next to or near other
suitable grassland habitat. Examples are hayfields, pastures, and wetlands. Your grassland will help wildlife
the most if the landscape around your property is also in grasslands
or associated habitats. The best defense against predation is to
plant a large grassland area rather than a small one. Ten acres is
better than five acres, and 20 acres is better than 10 acres. If a
larger planting is not possible or practical, you can help protect
nesting birds from predation by edge-loving raccoons, hawks, opossums, and
skunks, and parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds by placing the
grassland at least 50 yards from hedgerows, woodlots, and dead trees. The buffer between these habitat types can be
planted to shrubs. The shape of the grassland planting
is also important, especially small grasslands. To reduce predation,
plant in circles or squares rather than in linear strips.
Old Fields
Idled farm fields, borders and
corridors can often be converted to
grasslands if the site and soil conditions are favorable. After
those determinations are made, you will need to identify what stage
of natural succession the field is in. What is
currently growing there? Are the plants annuals or perennials? Have shrubby plants like
dogwood, blackberry, and sumac already begun to invade? Are there
any trees? If so, what kind? Before converting an old farm field to
a grassland, you must eliminate the existing vegetation. Burning,
mowing, disking and the application of selective herbicides are all
methods used to return an old field to bare-soil conditions. Old
fields may not be as beneficial to some grassland species as planted
prairies; however, they, too, provide food, shelter, and security
for many species.
Prairie
Restorations
Pure prairies are ecosystems that are relatively free from the
invasion of shrubs and trees. They occur where sites are too wet or
too dry for woody vegetation to grow, or where plant succession has
been checked through fire. If you have a prairie on your property,
chances are it will be a prairie remnant that is degraded, but that
might be restored. Doing some detective work at the local library
and the county Conservation District office may turn up clues such
as historical photos. Talking to neighbors and former owners may
yield more information. Armed with a good identification guide of
native grasses and wildflowers, you might be able to identify
remnant prairie plants. Or perhaps a local expert will walk your
property with you and help with identification.
If you have a former prairie and want to restore it, you may need
to remove shrubs and trees, by mowing, burning or herbicide use. In
some cases you may be able to interseed the site, preferably with
seed from native plants from the immediate area or begin a new
planting altogether.
Excessive weed growth is the biggest hurdle to establishing a lush grassland
that has maximum benefit to wildlife. Native grass plantings in
particular may take three to five years to dominate the site, especially
if weeds were not controlled during the first year after planting.
During that first year of life, native grasses grow mostly below
the ground as their root systems develop. Because little growth
appears above ground where weeds are likely rampant, many landowners
become needlessly discouraged. Once the stand is established, though,
periodic burning will keep it healthy. Other methods to
maintaining grasslands include strip mowing in alternating years,
light grazing by livestock, and spot treatment of problem weeds
or invading shrubs with a selective herbicide when
necessary.
Prescribed
Burning
A prescribed burn is a fire purposely set to achieve a
predetermined objective. Prescribed burns are often used today to
kill or set back the growth of undesirable vegetation such as woody
plants or noxious weeds and to promote the regrowth of warm season
plants such as switchgrass. Most burns take place in the spring,
however depending on what you hope to accomplish a fall burn may be
in order.
These fires need to be conducted by individuals who are trained
and experienced in fire management. Before prescribed burns take
place a burn plan has to be developed and burning permits secured
from the local fire authorities. Safety from personal injury and
damage to property is always the first concern when planning a
fire.
In summary, grasslands are important ecosystems for
many species of birds and mammals. Whether you restore former
grasslands, convert old fields, or create new grasslands, patience
is one key to success. Another key is regular maintenance, to
control natural succession. The benefits, however, include providing
valuable wildlife habitat, livestock forage, and landscape diversity
that is pleasing to behold.
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