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| Prairie grasses (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Named
for conservation pioneers Charles W. and Elizabeth R. Schwartz, the
Foundation’s Schwartz Prairie in St. Clair County harbors more than 300
plant species and many prairie-dependent
animals within its original, unplowed 240 acres.
“The
Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Prairie BioBlitz is a blend of easy-going
nature discoveries, fellowship with naturalists, and your favorite
biology field trip all wrapped into
one relaxing weekend,” said Jeff Cantrell, education consultant with
the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). “I find folks who’ve
participated in the past talking about the Foundation’s Prairie BioBlitz
experience for the entire year.”
Across
the country, nature lovers and professional biologists team up at
“BioBlitz’s” to identify as many species as possible (the “bio”) in an
area over the course of 24 hours
(the “blitz”). The Foundation’s version will begin June 9 at 2 p.m. and
end the afternoon of June 10. In addition to plant and animal team
activities, there will be a potluck picnic dinner, stargazing, nocturnal
insect observations and free tent camping on
the prairie.
“Today, ecologists consider temperate
grasslands to be the most endangered, least conserved of any major
terrestrial habitat on earth, so Missouri’s tallgrass prairies
have global conservation significance,” said
Carol Davit, the Foundation’s executive director. “Collectively, our
remaining prairies in Missouri support up to 800 plant species, dozens
of vertebrates and thousands of invertebrates,
but there is still much to learn. We want to see how many species we
can find at Schwartz Prairie, and BioBlitz participants will help in
that effort.”
On
the afternoon and evening of June 9 and the morning of June 10,
biologists who study ants, bees, birds, beetles, butterflies, true bugs,
insect mimicry, moths, mammals, amphibians,
reptiles, land snails, vascular plants, mosses and liverworts will lead
groups across the prairie to survey and inventory as many species as
possible.
Several
MDC biologists will be group leaders, including mammalogist Debbie
Fantz, natural history biologist Mike Arduser , wildlife biologist
Rochelle Renken and naturalist Shelly
Cox. Other leaders will include entomologist James Trager, botanists
Justin Thomas, John Atwood, and Nels Holmberg, malacologist Ron Oesch,
lepidopterist Phillip Koenig and naturalist Elizabeth Hamilton.
“We
are thrilled that so many biologists are giving their time to help
uncover the plant and animal treasures of this prairie,” said Davit. “If
you love wildlife, this is a great
opportunity to learn from experts passionate about their given
subjects, and play a role in much-needed data collection as well.”
When
the Missouri Prairie Foundation purchased the 240-acre Schwartz Prairie
in 1991, the tract, though original prairie, was dissected by a woody
draw that fragmented the native
grassland habitat. The Foundation’s thorough removal of trees and brush
from the draw has resulted in an unbroken prairie vista at Schwartz.
Relentless annual control of sericea lespedeza and other invasive plants
conserves and maintains the abundant biodiversity
of the site.
Home
to an impressive 337 plants species, most of them dependent on high
quality prairie, Schwartz also is one of fewer than 50 locations in the
world with a population of
Geocarpon minimum,
a tiny plant that is federally listed. A number of state-listed animal
species occur at the prairie as well. Prairie mole crickets, regal
fritillary butterflies
and northern crawfish frogs can be seen or heard in the warm months,
and short-eared owls use Schwartz Prairie regularly in the winter.
The
BioBlitz is free, but participants must RSVP. For a detailed BioBlitz
schedule, directions to the prairie and to RSVP, visit the Upcoming
Events page at
moprairie.org, email
info@moprairie.com or call 888-843-6739.
The
Missouri Prairie Foundation is a 46-year-old membership organization
that protects and restores prairie and other native grasslands through
acquisition, management, education
and support of prairie research. The organization owns more than 2,600
acres of prairie across the state and helps manage an additional 1,500
acres owned by conservation partners.
