PRAIRIE STRIP
Cause for Conservation
Prairie strips may look odd or unimportant in the middle of a farm field, but they actually play a key role in the overall health and function of the surrounding land. For decades, prairie strips have been helping farmers manage erosion, runoff, and providing habitat. Generally consisting of a few dozen native prairie species, they have shown to to be an affordable and low-maintenance agricultural conservation practice across plains states.
One of the top goals prairie strips are used to manage is helping mitigate soil erosion. As fields are tilled, the loose, unprotected soil can rapidly erode in spring rains. Prairie strips stabilize soil with their roots, provide a physical filter for moving water to keep soil in place, and slow the movement of water through capture within the strip itself and deep percolation through the undisturbed soil.
Agriculture and horticulture both depend on fertilizer and pesticides to feed our world and make it beautiful. Prairie strips down slope and down stream for areas using these inputs have proven effective at absorbing and storing fertilizers while also filtering out pesticide runoff from storm water. This helps keep pollution from entering surrounding habitat while also protecting our drinking water!
With less than 0.1% of prairie remaining in Iowa, any available habitat is a refuge for wildlife. Prairie strips provide shelter, food, and a place to reproduce for many of our native insects, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Even just contributing a few acres in the vast expanse of fields can create little island of habitat between larger expanses of prairie remnants and restorations.
Partners for Change
The 2015 Prairie Strip project was funded in part by the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program is intended to help restore habitat for the benefit of Federal trust species on private lands. Ultimately, the Iowa Arboretum & Gardens collaborated with the USFWS, Iowa DNR, and Prairie Partners Program.
“The habitat improvements implemented on this site are designed to improve habitat for native pollinators including the monarch butterfly. The work to be accomplished will include the establishment or restoration of native prairie habitats that include a diverse mix of native forbs and grasses that provide critical nectaring sources and shelter for pollinators to survive. Specifically for the monarch butterfly, a diverse array of milkweed plants will be added to the mixes to provide critical habitat necessary for the monarch caterpillars to feed. Habitat work may include conversion of cool season grasslands to diverse prairie habitats, conversion of cropland acres to native prairie habitats, and the interseeding of existing grasslands with diverse prairie forbs and milkweed species. The main objective of this project is to provide high quality, diverse forbs and grasses that will provide blooming plants throughout the growing season to support a diverse population of native pollintors, including the monarch butterfly. In addition, these habitats will provide excellent nesting and stop-over sites for migratory grassland birds.”
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