Considerations for Planting Plugs and Other Vegetative Material

by The Prairie Enthusiasts | Nov 17, 2025 | Management Methods

Considerations for Planting Plugs and Other Vegetative Material

Article and Photos by Dan Carter, The Prairie Enthusiasts Ecologist
July 7, 2025

Poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) in September after being planted as a plug in May in a shady area of savanna. Plugs were propagated in this case, because only a very limited amount seed with local genetics was available.

People ask me about plugs¹ from time to time, and I hear a lot of comments about them, so I’ll lay out my considerations related to the use of plugs and other vegetative plant material (roots, rhizomes, bulbs, etc.)² in restoration and reconstruction projects. Seed is the most important means of establishing appropriate species on a site, but I personally supplement seeding with plugs and dormant roots often. Maybe I’m impatient, but I believe they can be worthwhile under the circumstances listed below:

The species is particularly important to establish in the focal ecosystem and seed availability is limited, seed harvest is challenging or reliability of establishment from seed is low. Native violets (Viola spp.) often fit that description. Violets can be established from seed, but using some of that precious seed to produce plugs may result in more violets establishing sooner.
You are trying to rescue genetics from a small, unprotected population or amplify a small population on a site you are restoring. In these cases, you’ll only be harvesting small amounts of seed, so producing plugs may ultimately result in more established plants.
The species is a “matrix³” species that also spreads vegetatively by rhizomes, stolons or adventitious shoots from spreading roots. This is especially true for those matrix species for which seed availability is limited. Some examples are wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana and F. vesca), northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), Mead’s sedge (Carex meadii) and many other long-rhizomatous sedges, sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata) and grove sandwort (Moehringia lateriflora). Other matrix species may be worthwhile to establish from plugs or to augment seeding—even if seed is more available. These include stiff sunflower (Helianthus pauciflorus), western sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis), Plains grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia gymnospermoides), prairie coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata), roses (Rosa arkansana and R. caroliniana), etc. Common matrix grasses like side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) are usually easy to establish from seed, so plugs are unnecessary.
It’s a small-scale, residential project. In such projects, plugs for most species are a better choice than seeds. It’s easier to tell between weeds and desirable plants with plugs, and the planting will establish and look good much sooner.

There are drawbacks. First, plugs often need to be watered after their initial planting. This is especially true for plugs that are available or ready to plant in late spring. Sometimes I feel like the atmosphere knows I’ve planted plugs, so it decides not to send rain for weeks after planting. The best times to plant plugs are early spring and early autumn and when the soil is moist. However, plugs planted in early spring need to be pre-hardened against cool weather. Dormant roots, bulbs, corms or rhizomes from plants grown in propagation beds are easier because they are acclimated to the season and can be planted any time in the dormant season when the soil is workable. If I plant anything between April 1 and October 1, I assume that rain will fail. I mark the plants with flags, and plant only an amount I know I will have time to water as often as twice a week. If there is consistent soil moisture, plants will generally be well-established and need no special care after four to six weeks.

Many animals are adept at finding soil disturbances or added moisture associated with planting plugs and other vegetative material, and they often will uproot transplants to cache nuts/seeds or dig for insects or worms. I’ve even seen a video of a tiger salamander digging up freshly planted plugs on the prairie! Sometimes deer eat the tops off, and if the plugs aren’t yet rooting into the surrounding soil, they get pulled out in the process. In my experience, within a given year there tend to be particular areas where many plugs are dug up and other areas where none are dug up. One could try to fortify plants with small cages, but I’m more inclined to accept the losses and try again another time.

Planting vegetative material generally limits the amount of genetic diversity going into the site. This is especially true when roots/rhizomes of clonal species are planted, which were obtained from only one or a few clones. However, while there is more genetic diversity among seeds broadcast into a site, if seed establishment is low, the result won’t necessarily be the establishment of a population with more genetic diversity. For species that rely largely on clonal spread (e.g., Mead’s sedge), patches that establish can persist almost indefinitely despite limited genetic variation. When we harvest seed from these clonal species on remnant prairies where they’ve woven themselves through almost the entire site, we often don’t know if we are harvesting seed from one, a few or many genetic individuals unless there are conspicuous trait differences between patches or unless we do genetic testing. In such cases it is probably best to obtain material originating from at least a few sites or well dispersed parts of a single site.

Location where a stiff aster (Ionactis linariifolia) plug was planted and the top was eaten off. I was still watering it, because the crown and roots of the plant were still in the ground.

Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata) in September after being planted as a plug in moist, sandy savanna in May. It has already spread out by rhizomes several inches in all directions.

Plugs can be expensive, whether you buy them from a commercial source or produce them yourself. In the latter case, you’ll need a good medium for starting seeds and growing small plants, appropriate pots/flats, good artificial lighting, fertilizer and time. Vegetative material transplanted directly from outdoor propagation beds to sites is probably the easiest and generally less costly. However, it is best to remove soil and rinse roots being moved between sites, given the risk of spreading invasive species like jumping worms (Amynthas spp.) or unwanted plants, and even that won’t completely alleviate that risk. Don’t move plant material grown in soil where jumping worms are already known to occur. Finally, the most critical thing to do when you are in the process of planting plugs is to brush away some of the potting medium at the base of the shoot/top of the roots so that you can replace it with a thin layer of the soil from the site where you are planting the plug. Otherwise, moisture will wick from plug’s potting medium directly to the atmosphere and the plug will dry out very quickly. When the plug is planted in the ground, you should not be able to see the potting medium.

References

1. Plugs are generally small plants grown in flats of between 32 and 72 individual plants.

2. Except under rare circumstances and with permission, it is not ethical to dig and move wild plants. Use plants started from seeds or propagated in nursery beds.

3. Matrix species in this context are either abundant or co-dominant and woven throughout a community. A dry prairie might have a matrix of side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Richardson’s sedge (Carex richardsonii) with a variety of other species embedded within it.

This article appeared in the Fall 2025 edition of The Prairie Promoter, a publication of news, art and writing from The Prairie Enthusiasts community. Explore the full collection and learn how to submit your work here.

About The Prairie Enthusiasts

The Prairie Enthusiasts is an accredited land trust that seeks to ensure the perpetuation and recovery of prairie, oak savanna, and other fire-dependent ecosystems of the Upper Midwest through protection, management, restoration, and education. In doing so, they strive to work openly and cooperatively with private landowners and other private and public conservation groups. Their management and stewardship centers on high-quality remnants, which contain nearly all the components of endangered prairie communities.

Student Researchers and Local Stewards Team Up to Study How Management Shapes Restored Prairies Under Changing Winters

by The Prairie Enthusiasts | Nov 17, 2025 | Management Methods

Student Researchers and Local Stewards Team Up to Study How Management Shapes Restored Prairies Under Changing Winters

Article by Katherine Charton, Empire-Sauk Chapter Member

November 17, 2025

experimental_plots_mounds_view_photo_michelle_homann.

Former undergraduate researchers Sam August and Benji Jackson survey plant community composition in summer within the long-term experimental plots at Mounds View Grassland. Photo by Michelle Homann.

On a winter morning at The Prairie Enthusiasts’ Mounds View Grassland, the prairie is quiet but alive. Beneath the snow, small mammals race through hidden tunnels, their paths winding between dormant stems. Just below the soil surface, the buds of prairie perennials wait patiently for the thaw, storing energy for the first warm day of spring. Overhead, a hawk scans the whitened landscape while the wind combs through last season’s seedheads. And in the distance, the scrape of shovels cuts through the stillness as bundled-up students push snow into neat piles or clear it away entirely from flag-marked plots. Few humans venture into the prairie at this time of year, but these students are maintaining an experiment unlike any other in the region—an effort to understand how a changing winter is reshaping prairies across the Midwest.

The project began in 2016 as a collaboration between university research ecologists and local land stewards to test how winter snow cover interacts with the type and timing of managed disturbance. It’s a question that weighs on the minds of practitioners across the region who are working to restore the prairies that once stretched unbroken across the landscape. “Disturbance through fire, mowing and other means defines prairie management,” explains Ellen Damschen, Professor of Integrative Biology at the UW-Madison and principal investigator of the project. “Those actions are essential to restoring and maintaining prairie ecosystems. But a key question for stewards is whether they might amplify—or help offset—the stresses of a changing winter.”

In the Midwest, climate change is advancing fastest in the cold months, and once-reliable snow cover is becoming less certain. Snow acts as an insulating blanket, buffering roots and buds from the full force of winter cold. Without that protection, soils can freeze more deeply and cycle between freezing and thawing more often, increasing plant exposure to potentially damaging conditions. Restoration must be planned with this future in mind. “The prairies being planted today will grow under a different climate than the one that shaped them over their evolutionary history, especially in winter,” says Damschen. “Given the likelihood that we’ll continue to lose insulation in the form of snow, we wanted to know whether burning or mowing before winter would alter the insulation provided by plant litter.”

The idea to test this interaction at Mounds View Grassland took root through conversations between Damschen, then-postdoctoral research associate Laura Ladwig, then-doctoral student Jon Henn and Rich Henderson, longtime Empire-Sauk Chapter Board Representative and Mounds View Grassland site steward for The Prairie Enthusiasts. Together they envisioned a living experiment that could serve both science and restoration. Henn and Henderson worked closely to map out 32 200-m² plots across two prairie restorations at the site. Henderson coordinated management schedules so that experimental spring burns, fall burns and fall mowing could proceed without disrupting ongoing stewardship, while fire crews from The Prairie Enthusiasts and the local land management company Adaptive Restoration provided the expertise and labor to carry out the treatments.

The research team, initially led by Henn, also manipulated snow in 192 4m² subplots nested within the larger disturbance plots. Using cross-country skis, snowshoes and shovels, student crews trekked to Mounds View Grassland after each snowfall of four inches or more, removing snow from some plots, adding it to others or leaving it untouched. Maintained now for nearly a decade, this experimental design has allowed researchers to explore how management and insulation interact—to see whether, for instance, removing litter before winter exposes plants to deeper frost in low-snow conditions, or whether keeping litter through the winter offers protection and benefits the plant community.

As the project matured, a new generation of researchers stepped in to continue the work. I joined the Damschen Lab as a graduate student in 2019 and inherited the project from Henn, expanding its scope to explore how plant functional traits—characteristics of plants such as stress tolerance and resource acquisition abilities—might predict which species persist or colonize under different combinations of managed disturbance and snow cover. In 2022, Michelle Homann, a current PhD candidate, joined to lead new rounds of data collection and focus on how the treatments influence early spring thaw and seedling emergence. Christopher Warneke, a postdoctoral research associate, took on the role of data manager, ensuring the consistency and quality of thousands of data points gathered each year. Early funding from the Joint Fire Science Program and the National Science Foundation helped launch the work, while continued support from the U.S. Geological Survey Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center has sustained the experiment over time, allowing for a rare, long-term assessment of ecological change. At every stage, the project’s continuity has depended on collaboration between graduate students, faculty mentors, practitioners, stewards, funders and the dozens of undergraduate assistants who have kept the experiment alive.

I recently led the publication of a peer-reviewed manuscript summarizing results from seven years of data and exploring how plant traits influence community outcomes. We found that fall burns and reduced snow both led to colder minimum winter soil temperatures, with the coldest conditions occurring when the two treatments were combined. That’s likely because prescribed fire removes insulation in the form of litter before plants have a chance to regrow and replenish it, while the snow removal prevents accumulation of snow that would otherwise buffer the soil from the coldest temperatures.

winter_experimental_plots_mvg_photo_ellen_damschen

Winter view of the experimental plots at Mounds View Grassland from a nearby hilltop. Photo by Ellen Damschen.

jon_henn_mvg_prescribed_burn_photo_laura_ladwig

Former graduate student Jon Henn, who helped originate the experiment, joins The Prairie Enthusiasts’ prescribed fire crew to apply a burn treatment at Mounds View Grassland. Photo by Laura Ladwig.

Surprisingly, however, only the management treatments—not the snow manipulations—have produced measurable effects on the composition of species that make-up the plant community so far. We found that both spring and fall burns have resulted in greater increases in species richness than in unmanaged plots, with fall mowing falling somewhere in between, a pattern that aligns with what many practitioners already observe. Despite clear shifts in winter soil conditions and measurable effects on individual species performance, including early life stages, we’ve seen no evidence that altered snow depth is changing the overall composition of these prairie communities. This resilience may stem from the evolutionary history of the species themselves. Most prairie plants are long-lived perennials adapted to disturbance. The same deep roots and underground buds that allow them to survive fire may also protect them from freeze stress.

Digging deeper into the data, subtler patterns have emerged in support of this idea. In young restorations like those at Mounds View Grassland, we typically expect colonization by fast-growing, resource-acquisitive plants. But in the coldest plots—those that were burned in the fall and had snow removed—we found more recruitment of stress-tolerant, slower-growing plants. Among those are wholeleaf rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium), wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), white heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides) and prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)—plants with tough, nutrient-poor leaves and high tolerance to cold, the botanical hallmarks of endurance.

For now, these restored prairie plant communities appear to be holding steady through the loss of winter snow, but subtle or delayed effects may yet emerge as small shifts—like those seen in colonization trends—accumulate over time. And because the experiment has unfolded during an era of warming winters, it has, in a sense, been running within its own real-world test of change, complicating what the data can reveal. Moreover, the prairies at Mounds View Grassland are still relatively young restorations and don’t yet have the species richness and ecological complexity of remnant prairies, so results may differ in those long-established systems.

In my view, a conservative approach would be to continue keeping litter down through burns to make space for new seedlings, but where possible, those burns should occur in the spring to help soften the potential impacts of warming winters. At the same time, we can’t take disturbance for granted. Fire is essential for maintaining the diversity and function of prairie plant communities, but climate change is shifting weather windows, and practitioners have to stay flexible to burn safely and effectively. In some years, that may mean more fall burning simply to ensure fire remains on the landscape at all.

The lessons from this research extend beyond its scientific findings. The experiment demonstrates how restored prairies can double as living laboratories—places where research questions meet the realities of management. Such work depends on trust and shared learning, where researchers rely on practitioners for on-the-ground expertise and historical context, and practitioners rely on researchers to interpret patterns that can inform future stewardship. At Mounds View Grassland, that collaboration has been ongoing for nearly a decade, spanning three generations of graduate students. Season after season, it reminds us that resilience grows from persistence—from tending the land through uncertainty and trusting that, like the prairie itself, our efforts will endure.

For more information about this research, please see the associated academic papers published in Ecosphere (2022) and American Journal of Botany (2025). The research team thanks the continued support of their collaborators and funders, including The Prairie Enthusiasts, Adaptive Restoration, The Nature Conservancy, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the National Science Foundation, the Joint Fire Science Program and the U.S. Geological Survey Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center.

Visit Mounds View Grassland!

Click HERE to learn more

This article appeared in the Fall 2025 edition of The Prairie Promoter, a publication of news, art and writing from The Prairie Enthusiasts community. Explore the full collection and learn how to submit your work here.

About The Prairie Enthusiasts

The Prairie Enthusiasts is an accredited land trust that seeks to ensure the perpetuation and recovery of prairie, oak savanna, and other fire-dependent ecosystems of the Upper Midwest through protection, management, restoration, and education. In doing so, they strive to work openly and cooperatively with private landowners and other private and public conservation groups. Their management and stewardship centers on high-quality remnants, which contain nearly all the components of endangered prairie communities.

Assessing Ecological Integrity: An Example from Grazed and Ungrazed Nachusa Old-Growth Prairie

by The Prairie Enthusiasts | Jul 7, 2025 | Management Methods

Assessing Ecological Integrity: An Example from Grazed and Ungrazed Nachusa Old-Growth Prairie

Story and Photos by Ecologist Dan Carter
July 7, 2025

Figure 1. Yellow star grass (Hypoxis hirsuta, Wisconsin C = 8), a relatively conservative native species of old-growth herbaceous vegetation in prairies, oak woods, savannas, and fens.

In recent issues, I contributed a series of articles about how old-growth fire-dependent ecosystems originate from and are perpetuated by stability more than by disturbance in relation to stewardship practices—especially use of fire and grazing.¹

One way we measure the extent to which an ecosystem has the abiotic and biotic elements needed to perpetuate itself—an ecosystems’ ecological integrity—is by assessing floristic quality. In particular, we assign “coefficients” of conservatism to vascular plant species on a scale of zero to ten based on how faithful or “conservative² ” they are to old growth (remnants). Species assigned a value of ten are the most conservative. These numbers have ecological meaning. Relatively conservative species tend to be the most specialized to their abiotic and biotic environments. They often have more or stronger symbioses with other plants, fungi, insects, and other organisms, and they are usually part of communities structured by limiting nutrients or water compared to communities structured by competition for light in the presence of abundant available nutrients and water. For example, conservative species like prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis, Wisconsin coefficient of conservatism 10) are associated with and dependent on mycorrhizal fungi,^3,4 have more co-evolved relationships with consumers (e.g., invertebrates like the red-tailed prairie leafhopper, Aflexia rubranura⁵ ) and are strongly associated with old-growth prairies (or efforts that re-create their conditions). In contrast, weedy or opportunistic native plants like mare’s tail (Conyza canadensis, Wisconsin coefficient of conservatism = 0) are less mycorrhizal,⁶ interact with relatively few consumers and are largely restricted to disturbed environments where nutrients are more available. If you bring me a specimen of mare’s tail, I won’t know if it came from your vegetable garden, a fallow agricultural field or the soil disturbance associated with a mammal burrow out on an old-growth prairie. I will know that it came from a place where competition has been removed or suppressed and where light and nutrients are readily available. Most of our native flora (~84%) is at least moderately conservative, with coefficients of four or higher, and these species also largely comprise our old-growth ecosystems. Plant communities with mean coefficients of conservatism (mean C) among constituent species above 4.5 are typically of natural area quality (Fig. 1). Species with lower coefficients aren’t bad, but when abundant, the land is convalescent.

In plant community ecology, mainstay metrics like species richness,⁷ evenness⁸ and diversity⁹ give us information about how many species are present and how equitable their abundances are, but they do not provide the vital context of what kinds of species they are. Are the species present associated with disturbed and degraded land? Do they indicate that an ecosystem is changing states from one type to another? Are they species associated with old-growth, intact ecosystems with their many biotic and abiotic relationships? The mean C of the flora in a place gives us that context. Despite that, it’s still often omitted from studies of prairie and other old-growth plant communities, and without it, it can be difficult or impossible to judge whether community changes are associated with loss or gain of ecological integrity.

A recent study by Chakravorty et al. reported responses to five years of bison grazing at Nachusa Grasslands.¹⁰ They included areas of old-growth prairie subject to bison grazing and exclosures that kept out bison activity from portions of those prairies. They also included prairie plantings, wetlands and degraded savannas. Given the pre-European paucity of bison on eastern prairies, and effects I observed on more western prairies as a graduate student, I was interested in what this study had to report (see “Stability Part Two: Why I Seldom Recommend Grazing” in the Summer, 2024 The Prairie Promoter).

Chakravorty et al. found little effect of bison on diversity and composition across community types, though there was some evidence of an increase in non-native relative to native plants after five years of grazing. In other words, bison didn’t seem to be hurting things, or at least not much. However, the study did not examine ecological integrity. Were there any changes in mean C in the remnants at Nachusa? The authors provided access to the data used in their analyses online at Dryad,¹¹ so I decided to have a look.

I examined data from the paired grazed and ungrazed (exclosure) plots from the six old-growth prairies included in the study and added coefficients of conservatism developed for Illinois¹² and obtained from Universal FQA¹³ (floristic quality assessment).¹⁴ Six is a small sample, but that’s difficult to avoid in the study of old-growth prairies. I calculated mean coefficients of conservatism that were weighted by the relative abundance of each species for grazed and ungrazed plot pairs in the six remnants. Weighted mean C can be more sensitive to change than simply calculating the mean of all coefficients of species observed, because weighted mean C can change without loss or gain of species—just changes in their abundances. For example, in my graduate work¹⁵ I studied changes in mean C across a series of prairie plantings of different ages. Mean C did not change (increase) with planting age, but mean C weighted by relative abundance did change—it increased with age. That’s because even the more conservative, slower developing species are detectable in young plantings as small, immature plants if you look closely enough! Those then increase in their relative abundance as plantings age and fast-establishing but less conservative species diminish.

I tested the null hypothesis that there was no difference between grazed and ungrazed portions of the old-growth prairies against the one-sided alternative that weighted mean C was lower where bison had access for five years. The data were not normal, so more precisely, I tested median differences (Wilcoxon signed rank test in Program R). The difference was not large, but there is marginal evidence that weighted mean C is lower on the bison-grazed portions of the old-growth prairies at Nachusa. Given the data, there is only a 7.8% chance that the null hypothesis is true (p = 0.078). The data are represented with a line plot to show all the paired points, with brown dots representing average weighted mean C of both grazed and ungrazed areas before bison grazing started for reference.

Figure 2. Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida, Wisconsin C = 0), an opportunistic native species of a wide range of high light, high nutrient settings.

There is no evidence that bison are benefiting old-growth prairie ecological integrity after five years, and there is some evidence that the presence of bison may be starting to reduce it. However, weighted mean C values of grazed and ungrazed areas both remain very high (well above 4.5). When data from the most recent five years become available, it will be interesting to see if differences become more pronounced. Five years is not much time.

There are rare species’ habitat reasons and cultural reasons for bringing bison back on to the landscape. However, it may not be judicious to put bison on our precious few remaining tracts of old-growth prairie, especially if one of the objectives is to sustain ecological integrity. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to do so elsewhere.

When presented with information about how plant communities respond to various practices or treatments, please ask, “how did mean C respond?” Without mean C or other assessments designed around ecological integrity concepts, it is more difficult to assess relevance to our mission—perpetuation of prairie, savanna and other associated ecosystems of the Upper Midwest. Maybe if we keep asking, we’ll start to see mean C more often reported in research, or maybe it will influence more of us to find ways to collect data to inform our work, which Nachusa and those doing research there should be applauded for. I plan to get to work in that regard this field season with the support of the philanthropy of our members.

For those interested in coefficients of conservatism and floristic quality assessment, I recommend reading Spyreas (2019)¹⁶ , and watching a presentation called Ecesis: The Nature of Nature with Justin Thomas on YouTube (most relevant discussion after the 33-minute mark) in addition to some of the other work cited above.

Figure 3. Line plot showing paired points connected by lines representing plots protected from bison within exclosures (green, ungrazed) and accessible to bison (orange, grazed). Gray dots represent mean values prior to grazing inside and outside of exclosures for reference; exclosures did not start with higher weighted mean C. Sampling and initiation of bison grazing were staggered over two years on different prairies, so sampling after five years of grazing occurred in 2019 and 2020.

References

1. Carter, D. (2024). Stability part one: Why I recommend frequent dormant season burning. Prairie Promoter, Spring: 14-19. https://theprairieenthusiasts.org/stability-part-one/

2. Swink and Wilhelm 17.

3. Ebbers, B. C., Anderson, R. C., & Liberta, A. E. (1987). Aspects of the mycorrhizal ecology of prairie dropseed, Sporobolus heterolepis (Poaceae). American Journal of Botany, 74(4), 564-573.

4. Middleton, E. L., Richardson, S., Koziol, L., Palmer, C. E., Yermakov, Z., Henning, J. A., … & Bever, J. D. (2015). Locally adapted arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improve vigor and resistance to herbivory of native prairie plant species. Ecosphere, 6(12), 1-16.

5. https://apps.dnr.wi.gov/biodiversity/Home/detail/animals/7015

6. Řezáčová, V., Řezáč, M., Wilson, G. W., & Michalová, T. (2022). Arbuscular mycorrhiza can be disadvantageous for weedy annuals in competition with paired perennial plants. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 20703.

7. Richness is how many species are in a defined area.

8. Evenness is how equitable the species in a defined area are in terms of their abundance.

9. Diversity is a function of both richness and evenness.

10. Chakravorty, J., Harrington, J. A., & Bach, E. M. (2024). Bison Grazing in Eastern Tallgrass Prairie Does Not Alter Plant Diversity after Five Years. Natural Areas Journal, 44(4), 215-222.

11. https://datadryad.org/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.d7wm37qb2

^{12. Taft, J. B., Wilhelm, G. S., Ladd, D. M., & Masters, L. A. (1997). Floristic quality assessment for vegetation in Illinois, a method for assessing vegetation integrity. Erigenia, 14, 3-95,}

^{13. https://universalfqa.org/}

^{14. Some taxonomic resolution was also necessary, sedges and grasses not identified to species were omitted (they were similar in abundance between grazed and ungrazed exclosures), and two taxa very unlikely to have truly been present in upland Illinois prairie that were recorded in low abundance from single plots were removed from the data (Hippuris vulgaris, an emergent plant of cold, mineral-rich water; Linum flavum, a shrub native to southern Europe and not in North America’s flora.).}

^{15. Carter, D. L., & Blair, J. M. (2012). Recovery of native plant community characteristics on a chronosequence of restored prairies seeded into pastures in West‐Central Iowa. Restoration Ecology, 20(2), 170-179.}

^{16. Spyreas, G. (2019). Floristic Quality Assessment: a critique, a defense, and a primer. Ecosphere, 10(8).}

This article appeared in the Spring 2025 edition of The Prairie Promoter, a publication of news, art and writing from The Prairie Enthusiasts community. Explore the full collection and learn how to submit your work here.

Read the rest of Dan Carter’s Stability Series:

Stability Part One: Why I Recommend Frequent Dormant Season Burning

Stability Part Two: Why I Seldom Recommend Grazing

About The Prairie Enthusiasts

The Prairie Enthusiasts is an accredited land trust that seeks to ensure the perpetuation and recovery of prairie, oak savanna, and other fire-dependent ecosystems of the Upper Midwest through protection, management, restoration, and education. In doing so, they strive to work openly and cooperatively with private landowners and other private and public conservation groups. Their management and stewardship centers on high-quality remnants, which contain nearly all the components of endangered prairie communities.

How It’s Made: Parsnip Predators

by Cassidy Coulson | Apr 17, 2025 | Inspiration, Management Methods

How It’s Made: Parsnip Predators

Summer 2024 Chapter Update by Rebecca Gilman and Charles Harmon. Photos by Rebecca Gilman.

Nick Faessler, Jerry Newman, Den Oostdik, Chris Roberts, Fred Faessler and Tom Mitchell with a crate of finished Predators

What’s a Prairie Enthusiast to do when the skies of February turn gloomy? Members of the Prairie Bluff Chapter spent the short days of winter—as they have for years—producing the tool that tames the nightmare that is wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa).

If you’re lucky enough not to know it, wild parsnip is an aggressive invasive that spreads like wildfire and burns like it too. Handling the plant without proper protection can be dangerous. If an unsuspecting weed-puller gets sap from wild parsnip on their skin and the sap is then exposed to UV light, it causes phytophotodermatitis, or burn-like blisters. That’s the scenario that faced George and Kay Barry, stewards of a prairie planting at Honey Creek Park in Monroe, WI, in the early 1990’s. Presented with a field full of parsnip, Kay turned to The Prairie Enthusiasts for help.

As chapter member Rob Baller recalls, “I contacted Mark Martin, (of the Wisconsin DNR), and asked how the State Natural Area crew treated parsnip. He told me that crew members sharpen spades, and on prairie remnants they jab the plant a couple inches from the base, angling the blade so it intercepts and slices the root an inch or two below-ground. Then, with gloves on, they pull out the severed plant. A parsnip with the root crown so severed will not resprout.”

Rob took Mark Martin’s idea and ran with it, straight back to his workbench. Using scrap metal, the handle from an old snow shovel, and plenty of nuts and bolts, he fashioned the prototype of what we now call the “Parsnip Predator.” After trying it out, “Kay was all smiles,” Rob says. “’Can you make more of these?’ she asked.”

Rob turned to Nick and Fred Faessler and asked the brothers if they thought the tool could be put into mass production. Another chapter member, Julia O’Reilly, saw commercial potential in the tool and volunteered to be the implement’s first dealer. Nick and Fred retired to Nick’s shop and began experimenting. Eventually, they settled on a modified number two shovel with a notched blade as the best design. The tool allows users to cut the parsnip root crown and is strong enough to pry the parsnip out of the ground once severed. (“Everyone wants to pry,” Rob notes.)

Nick Faessler remembers that they made the first batch of 30 Parsnip Predators with no idea of whether or not any of them would sell. The predator was an instant hit, however. Over the years, the Prairie Bluff Chapter saw sales increase yearly and shipped the tool from coast-to-coast. Now sales and shipping are handled by The Prairie Enthusiasts awesome staff in Viroqua, with Prairie Bluff Chapter and the organization as a whole sharing the profits.

Nick Faessler cuts Predator blades

Chris Roberts secures handles

This past February, a visitor to Nick’s shop witnessed what is now a well-oiled, Parsnip Predator assembly line. Nick begins the process by cutting a notched tip in the shovel’s blade with a plasma-cutter. At the next station, the rivets that attach the shovel’s handle to the blade are ground off so that the handle can be turned 90-degrees and carefully aligned. During the next step, a new hole is drilled in the handle and a bolt is inserted, tightened and ground down. Another group of volunteers then polishes the sharp edges on the blade and applies a protective coating of paint. The final step is to brand the handle of each shovel with the registered “Parsnip Predator” trademark. (The “Parsnip Predator” moniker was coined by Rob Baller’s landlord and adopted in lieu of another suggestion, “The Root Canaller.”)

The group of volunteers on hand in Nick’s shop that day made the work look easy. But take it from that visitor who briefly wielded a power tool herself, crafting a Parsnip Predator is not as easy as it looks. Only through years of working together have the volunteers on hand that day—Nick Faessler, Chris Roberts, Billy Eisenhuth, Fred Faessler, Jackson Lancaster, Tom Mitchell, Todd Argall, John Ochsner, Steve Hubner, Den Oostdik and Jerry Newman—created a seamless system that was beautiful to behold.

Over the years, sales of the Parsnip Predator have not only helped to eradicate a noxious invasive, they’ve also helped to preserve and protect the prairies we cherish. If you’re not already a proud owner of a predator, consider purchasing one today. Every Parsnip Predator is handmade in Wisconsin, with love.

John Ochsner applies protective coats of paint

Den Oostdik grinds off the original bolts

This article appeared in the Summer 2024 edition of The Prairie Promoter, a publication of news, art and writing from The Prairie Enthusiasts community. Explore the full collection and learn how to submit your work here.

PURCHASE A PARSNIP PREDATOR

Positive Changes on Pleasant Bluff

by Cassidy Coulson | Apr 15, 2025 | Inspiration, Management Methods

Positive Changes on Pleasant Bluff

Story by Eric Ressel, Minnesota Driftless Chapter volunteer

Drone image of prescribed burn at Pleasant Bluff.

As I approached Pleasant Bluff, just south of Winona, MN, I asked myself if this was the same location I visited a few years earlier, since this hillside was once densely infested with an onslaught of buckthorn and encroaching eastern red cedars. Since then, the Minnesota Driftless Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts has contributed substantially to ecological restoration on this impressive prairie remnant. Over 18 acres along the spine of this formidable bluff, which sits above the banks of the Mississippi River, have been restored due to the diligent, hard work from folks like Gabe Ericksen, who has spent countless hours traversing the steep terrain to cut and remove the cedars, eradicate invasive brush, and implement numerous prescribed burns over the years. Gabe is a restoration practitioner through his contracting business, Land Spirit Design Landscaping, and he has been the tip of the restoration spear on Pleasant Bluff, assisted by the landowners and the Minnesota Driftless Chapter.

At a mid-March occasion in 2023, a diverse crew was assembled to assist Gabe with an 11-acre prescribed burn on this precipitous goat prairie. Thirty people of all ages and backgrounds, from children to seniors, joined together to conduct a safe and successful prescribed burn. Many of the participants were members of the Minnesota Driftless Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts, but many of the participants weren’t. A substantive way in which the Minnesota Driftless Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts contributed to the burn was by loaning the Chapter’s prescribed burn equipment to Gabe for the day’s burn.

The slope of this lofty bluff approaches 60% and is nothing short of intimidating. On this day, thanks to restoration efforts, the fuel-bed consisted primarily of native warm-season grasses and wildflowers, with some scattered pockets of shrubs. The climb up the mowed firebreak was grueling for the whole group. At the top, along the ridge overlooking the Mississippi River, Steve Winter having been designated as the burn boss by Gabe, provided the crew with an overview of why we burn such fire-dependent ecosystems, and he demonstrated fire behavior on steep terrain. He also highlighted numerous safety considerations, such as tumbling rocks and tripping hazards. Steve educated the group on the importance of clear communication, being familiar with the weather and environmental conditions, such as the optimal wind direction and humidity, and being aware of the safety zones and escape routes at this particular site. Once everyone confirmed they were comfortable implementing the burn, we broke into several smaller crews that were positioned along the ridge and others down the steep firebreak on the northwestern side.

From the ridge we patiently waited for the progression of the fire from the ignition point, which was slow-going due to the calm conditions. My crew discussed strategy and stayed in contact with Steve and Gabe over the radio. We kept a careful watch as the gradually growing flames moved diagonally down the hillside. However, with barely a breeze the fire crept ever slowly, so Steve instructed me and fellow member Bill Hovell to ignite a shirt strip fire directly down the slope, which allowed the flames to spread more quickly in both lateral directions in the dense Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). Bill and I worked our way down the steep slope towards the county road on the lower edge of the prairie where we rendezvoused with our other crew members, whom I literally passed the torch to so they could get some ignition experience. It was in that moment that I watched my greener group members become less fearful, and more comfortable and excited to use fire as an ecological tool!

In the meantime, another crew worked the line along the northern edge of the burn unit as the flames continued to consume the fuel down the slope. In the heat of the moment, the landowner, Paul Richards, was able to capture some stunning drone footage. I wondered what the children, who were positioned in a safety zone at the top of the ridge, and upwind from the fire, were thinking as they watched the fire grow from a safe distance. I’m sure this experience proved to be exhilarating, educational, and memorable for them. Along with the children, I hoped our new participants and the students that attended Steve’s burn school would also be inspired to continue with the restoration legacy.

Volunteer Gabe Ericksen burning. Photo by Laurie Arzaga.

Our crew continued to walk along the lower edge. We eventually met up with Gabe and his partner, and we extended the line as far east as possible. As the heat intensified above us and behind us, we ducked down into the refuge of a safety zone represented by a buckthorn thicket, which had little flammable fuel on the ground, as the flames progressed through the portions of the burn unit. I turned around and gave a gleeful smile as the sweltering flames made contact with many stems of the aggressive woody plants that are constantly trying to establish in prairies such as the one we were burning that day. We then moved again to our county road safety zone farther below, which we followed back to meet the main group. Gabe once again targeted the buckthorn as he ignited the strip of vegetation along the roadside edge, allowing the fire to burn up the slope and make contact with many buckthorn stems. We allowed the fire to spread up the slope into a grove of old white oaks that will surely benefit from the fire with more space to stretch their limbs.

We met to start mopping up and to review the outcome of the successful burn. Most of the group members then left, but I was greatly impressed by those devoted enthusiasts who decided to stay well into the evening. Gabe and Josh Lallaman led this late-night effort, which was carefully supervised into the early morning hours, and they were able to effectively burn an additional 3-acre area. The night burn looked equally serene and intensely dramatic. To me, this illuminating scene was the perfect illustration of the power of fire. It showed why prescribed burning promotes creation through destruction, making it an essential tool to encourage natural rejuvenation and regrowth, which helps to maintain prairies and savannas by preventing their conversion to other vegetation communities. Once again, demonstrating that fire is the ultimate management method to set back undesirable invasive vegetation, while stimulating the growth and reproduction of native grasses and wildflowers.

As I drove south to head home along the mighty river, I reflected on the progress of this goat prairie from its previous poor condition, choked by buckthorn, to a thriving, fully functional ecosystem that is driven and dependent on fire. Now this unique ecological community can thrive in the southwestern-facing sunshine, while supporting an array of rare plant and animal species. I contemplated the logistics and timeframe for completing restoration efforts on similar sites, since the majority of the goat prairies in the Driftless Area, along with associated oak savannas and woodlands, have become degraded in part because of altered fire regimes. I thought of the historic photos portraying a landscape where trees weren’t as abundant along the Mississippi River Valley. Those historic conditions were largely due to frequent landscape burning by Indigenous Peoples. As Indigenous Peoples were displaced by European Americans, Indigenous land stewardship practices like prescribed burning were also displaced. Fires were often viewed as harmful by European Americans, and woody vegetation increased greatly in the Driftless Area, including on Pleasant Bluff. With the increasing prevalence of woody vegetation, including invasive species such as buckthorn, we’re witnessing a correlated decline in health of rare plant communities and an overall decrease in plant diversity.

“It made me proud to be a part of such an ambitious chapter of like-minded, well-educated enthusiasts who are passionate about ecological restoration and conservation education.”

The Pleasant Bluff prescribed burn was just one example of how dedicated members of the Minnesota Driftless Chapter are eager to save ecosystems. Their tireless restoration work, outreach efforts and mentorship are also an inspiration for others. It made me proud to be part of such an ambitious chapter of like-minded, well-educated enthusiasts who are passionate about ecological restoration and conservation education.

I want to thank the Pleasant Bluff landowners, Paul and Melissa (Missy) Richards, for their ongoing involvement and enthusiasm for the restoration and management of Pleasant Bluff. Their commitment to conservation and stewardship of the beautiful bluff prairies, woodlands, and oak savannas on their Winona County property is exemplary. Missy summarizes the continual progress of their beloved prairie: “We have deep appreciation for all the collaborative work between The Prairie Enthusiasts volunteers, experts in the field, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Land Spirit Design Landscaping. We recognize and appreciate being a part of something so much bigger than us. It gives us the opportunity to showcase the importance and impact of land restoration to our neighbors, family and friends. The ability to have a community partner with us on this journey makes Pleasant Bluff so much better.”

You, too, can follow their inspirational journey on the Richards’ Instagram page (@pleasantbluff_winonamn). Since the burn last spring, with help from Gabe, the Richards have continued their brush management efforts to lessen the buckthorn pressure across additional areas on the bluff. They have also documented dozens of native wildflowers on the bluff and often find new species. We encourage you to follow the Minnesota Driftless Chapter Facebook page to learn what additional prescribed burns and restoration efforts will take place.

I’ll be thrilled for the opportunity to return to this unique and productive dry bluff prairie to work once again with our devoted chapter members and these dedicated landowners, and to observe the positive and dynamic changes to this ecological gem along the river. On behalf of the Minnesota Driftless Chapter, we hope you can come join us.

Seven people and a dog gathered around a table and smiling at the camera.

Nighttime prescribed burn mop-up. Photo by Joshua Lallaman.

This article appeared in the Spring 2024 edition of The Prairie Promoter, a publication of news, art and writing from The Prairie Enthusiasts community. Explore the full collection and learn how to submit your work here.

Management Toolbox: How to Prioritize Removing Invasive Species

by Cassidy Coulson | Apr 2, 2025 | Management Methods

Management Toolbox: How to Prioritize Removing Invasive Species

Story by Jim Rogala, President

The purpose of this regular section of The Prairie Promoter is to keep proper management methods fresh in your mind. These short articles will sometimes reference past or future articles that contain details on the selected topic. Others will just be some food for thought. I encourage others to provide ideas for articles. You can send those ideas to me at jrogala@theprairieenthusiasts.org.

Prioritizing the sometimes-long list of invasive species to combat 

Oftentimes serving on a committee seems like a burden, albeit necessary. However, those meetings provide an opportunity for committee members to engage in interesting discussions. A recent Land Management Committee meeting found its members talking about strategies for dealing with a long list of invasive species in a management plan. Seldom do we have the resources to control all the invasive species present, so how do we prioritize our management actions?

Let me offer an example of a process that might be used. There are several factors leading to my decision to control a species. The first factor I consider is whether the species has shown up because of a disturbance. Many species take advantage of the lack of competition but can’t compete in the long-term as other more conservative plants establish. Some examples are Queen Anne’s Lace, Mullein, and Canada Thistle. I realize it is difficult to just ignore these and wait them out, but leaving each species can be justified. Both Queen Anne’s Lace and Mullein are biennials and could be controlled by pulling. However, remember why they showed up in the first place, and consider how the additional soil disturbance might perpetuate the problem. Canada Thistle is a deeply rooted perennial that one might suspect could outcompete establishing prairie plants but that is not the case, as it will succumb to solid competition from native plants given enough time.

In contrast to species that respond to disturbance, there are those that can invade remnant sod. These pesky species require attention because once established they can spread and have an impact on prairie species. Some of these heavy hitters include Crown Vetch, Leafy Spurge, and Spotted Knapweed (I won’t list more because it can be depressing!). These usually require herbicide use, although there are some biocontrol methods that can at least keep populations controlled to some degree.

I’ve just scratched the surface of this topic here. Look for an upcoming article by Dan Carter in which he will delve into the factors behind why to prioritize control of some invasive species over others.

What timescale do you plan at?

Keeping with the theme of topics discussed at Land Management Committee meetings, one of the committee’s primary responsibilities is to approve land management plans. These are required for all lands owned by The Prairie Enthusiasts, land with easements and areas with management agreements. These are long-term plans, although we are now planning to update them in a 10-year interval. We have also formally added some goals for a 10-year period in our management plans, a period that might require a substantial amount of work for new sites. Although these plans provide valuable context for conducting management, actions are usually planned at much shorter timescales. I like to develop 1-year plans that focus work for the upcoming year. These plans can be much more detailed and therefore provide the basis for scheduling specific work throughout the year. I’d encourage anyone managing lands to consider having plans at several scales, preferably written plans rather than ones just floating around in our heads.

This article appeared in the Fall 2024 edition of The Prairie Promoter, a publication of news, art and writing from The Prairie Enthusiasts community. Explore the full collection and learn how to submit your work here.

Invasive Queen Anne’s Lace. Unknown photographer.