Learning From the Prairie

Blog and Photos by Sarah Hamman, PhD, Restoration Ecologist at the Center for Natural Lands Management

We wanted to start this week leading up to the traditional PAD date with a bang.  So who better to do a post than Sarah Hamman, a shining star in the field of prairie restoration science, and a very nice person.

Learning from the Prairie

“The…pairing of purple and gold is lived reciprocity; its wisdom is that the beauty of one is illuminated by the radiance of the other.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass

Dr. Kimmerer was referring to the complementary colors of the late summer flowering Solidago and Erigeron on the prairie, but I think the same harmony can be found in the spring golds and violets, the buttercups and camas.

The rich colors of the early blue violet, Photo by Sarah Hamman

The rich colors of the early blue violet, Photo by Sarah Hamman

These harbingers of spring tell us that the prairie is waking up and ready to support a wide range of plants and animals, also rising from their winter dormancy. The prairie is literally buzzing this time of year with thousands of pollinators zipping from flower to flower, meadowlarks and purple martins gathering nest material and defending their chicks, snakes slithering through the fescue bunches, and butterflies fluttering in the sunshine.

Buttercup with Pollinator, Photo by Sarah Hamman

Buttercup with Pollinator, Photo by Sarah Hamman

Most prairies here in the South Sound also usually have scientists, managers, students, volunteers, and prairie enthusiasts out monitoring and admiring all that is growing. While each season provides its own lessons, spring gives us an exceptional opportunity to learn from the land.

Monitoring seed germination, Photo by Sarah Hamman

Monitoring seed germination, Photo by Sarah Hamman

Prairies require human stewardship in order maintain their open structure and diverse ecology. These cultural ecosystems were maintained for thousands of years with regular fire and harvest by indigenous people. Now, with a suite of invasive weeds, a century or more of fire exclusion, little to no cultural harvesting, and a deeply fragmented landscape, human stewardship generally involves intensive removal of invasive species (hello scotch broom!), re-establishment of a fire regime, and reintroduction (seeding and planting) of native plants and animals onto small prairie preserves and private lands.

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Volunteers Planting Thousands of Forbs-a November Ritual, Photo by Dennis Plank

Each restoration practice involves many years (sometimes decades) of (re)learning and fine-tuning to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. This knowledge gain can come from: 1) a close cultural connection with this habitat (traditional ecological knowledge), 2) repeat monitoring of plant and animal responses to restoration treatments at a particular site (adaptive management), or 3) planned experiments that evaluate effects of specific restoration actions on a targeted organism or ecological metric (scientific research). Traditional ecological knowledge provides invaluable information about the cultural priorities and practices that maintained this unique ecosystem for millennia. Incorporating these priorities and practices into current management through close partnerships with regional Tribes will help to revive and maintain the productivity of first foods and medicines (camas, biscuitroot, rice root, balsamroot, and many others) in this ecosystem.

Blooming Balsamroot, camas, nineleaf biscuitroot and buttercup, Photo by Sarah Hamman

Blooming Balsamroot, camas, nineleaf biscuitroot and buttercup, Photo by Sarah Hamman

Riceroot Bulb, photo by Sarah Hamman

Riceroot Bulb, photo by Sarah Hamman

Adaptive management helps us improve our restoration treatments bit-by-bit each year, learning as we go about the techniques that work and species that get established. Scientific research can provide very specific guidance on the what/when/where/how/why details of various restoration tools (e.g., appropriate season-frequency of herbicide application for tall oatgrass removal or effective mycorrhizal inoculants for improved reproductive capacity of butterfly nectar species). A combination of indigenous knowledge, adaptive management and scientific research will generate holistic knowledge about this unique ecosystem with species- and site-specific guidelines for restoration.

Through years of hard work and learning, we are slowly gaining a better understanding and appreciation of the complex relationships and restoration needs of the prairie. In exchange for maintaining and restoring the diversity and bounty of this ecosystem, we are rewarded with valuable knowledge and brilliant spring beauty in the ultimate expression of reciprocity.

Spring Gold and Camas, Photo by Sarah Hamman

Spring Gold and Camas, Photo by Sarah Hamman