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Ecosystem Research
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North America > Ecosystem Research Restoration Efforts by the International Crane Foundation The International Crane Foundation (ICF) works worldwide to conserve cranes and the wetland, grassland, and other ecosystems on which they depend. The Ecosystem Restoration Program at ICF was initiated in 1979 to restore prairie, savanna, wetland, and woodland communities on ICF's newly acquired property north of Baraboo, Wisconsin—a landscape of rolling sandy meadow and broad kettlehole depressions perched near the terminal moraine of the last glaciation—for research, educational, and aesthetic purposes. The ICF site serves as an outdoor laboratory where we can explore the process of restoration and apply the lessons learned worldwide. Most of our restoration effort at ICF has focused on the process of plant community development through time. Between 1980 and 1986, a variety of restoration experiments were undertaken to test the importance of seeding density, grass:forb ratio, species proportions, species placement, site preparation, and planting techniques on prairie establishment over time. Most of these plantings were undertaken in spring. Based on the results we observed from earlier experiments on our site, we undertook a series of experimental plantings to compare the influence of biotic and abiotic factors affecting the development of similar prairie plantings over time. Five plantings—1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, and 1996—were done on 1-ha sites featuring similar soils, topography, and slope/aspect. We used identical land preparation techniques and seed mixes for each planting. Each planting is sampled intensively (percent cover and rooted frequency) each year. A sixth similar planting (1995) was prepared using an annual rye cover crop to reduce aggressive, non-native vegetation cover during the year prior to planting rather than herbicide treatment, and is therefore not included in the fall planting study. Other restoration areas of note include a wet-mesic prairie planting (1989), describing changes in vegetation in relation to water budgets for wetlands, and a savanna planting (1993) to test the establishment of species along a sun-shade gradient. For pictures and further description of the prairie restorations at ICF, please look at page 10 of ICF Bugle vol 29 |