We recently took you all on a journey through the Natural Prairie Communities of Wisconsin via our social media. Through definitions and pictures, we tried to grasp and explain exactly what makes a community a community. We covered dry prairie, dry-mesic prairie, sand prairie, wet prairie, and wet-mesic prairie, and of course we couldn’t resist covering the Oak savanna.
Highlights:
Sand prairie is a dry grassland in sandy soils that lacks canopy cover
Dry prairie is a dry, steep sloped grassland with stunted plant heights
Dry-mesic prairie is a dry, gently sloped grassland
Mesic prairie is a moderate or medium-moisture prairie, aka tallgrass prairie
Wet-mesic prairie is a lowland grassland in rich soils
Wet prairie is a wetland grassland in saturated soils
Oak savanna is open-grown oak trees scattered in a prairie plant community
What makes a certain community group a group isn’t exactly black and white, but a fluidity of components from species to canopy coverage to soil conditions to moisture content to fire tolerance to landscape settings. Something that makes Wisconsin a special place is how many of these communities intertwine with each other across the state, and keeping that blend continues to be a goal with ecological restoration. Vegetation found in a prairie community can also be found in the middle of an oak woodland enjoying some dappled sunlight. We tend to believe as long as the community is supporting a diversity of birds, mammals, insects, and plants it is fulfilling its role within the landscape.
As a whole, ecological restoration can seem like a daunting task, but when you get out to where hardly any other people go and see how much hope there truly is, it makes the goal seem more achievable. It boils down to, as the owner of Quercus would say, “giving natives a chance”. Fighting the changing elements, invasive species, and human intervention to the landscape, is a lot for these plants to go through. If we can give them a helping hand against these battles, we feel that we are fulfilling our part within the landscape, and being stewards of the land. If you’re someone working on your own land, or maybe someone else’s land, hiring a company like us to help, volunteering, or donating to the cause, you can take pride that you are also being a good land steward.
