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A Prairie’s Not Scary Paul A. Johnsgard University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook Recommended Citation Johnsgard, Paul A., "A Prairie’s Not Scary" (2012). Zea E-Books. Book 10. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/10

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Johnsgard

Proceeds from this book support conservation and education programs at Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center.

A Prairie’s Not Scary

A Prairie’s Not Scary

Written and Illustrated by

ISBN 978-1-60962-022-6

90000

9 781609 620226

Zea Books

Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska

Paul A. Johnsgard

A Prairie’s Not Scary Written and Illustrated by

Paul A. Johnsgard

Produced for Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center Denton, Nebraska 2012

Copyright © 2012 Paul A. Johnsgard All rights reserved

Dedicated to our children, who will eventually replace us and have to decide if our remaining prairies are to be preserved.

Acknowledgments All proceeds from this booklet will be directed to Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center, which has been a driving force in educating Nebraskans about our native prairies.

Published by Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska Composed in Corbel and Hobo types. isbn 978-1-60962-022-6 paperback isbn 978-1-60962-023-3 e-book

Electronic (pdf) edition available online at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/ Print edition can be ordered from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/unllib

Male greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) 3

A prairie is airy With an all-around view It has hundreds of species Can you name a few?

Spring Creek Prairie is known to support over 350 species of plants, 215 birds, and 30 mammals, plus several amphibians and reptiles. The number of insects and other invertebrates found on the prairie is still unknown, but probably exceeds a thousand. 4

Upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) incubating among prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa)

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Prairies are the pride of the plains They have many rare plants, And thousands of insects; Who knows how many ants !

There are over 160,000 insect species in North America, with the beetle, fly and ant groups especially numerous. About 15,000– 20,000 insects have been estimated to occur in Kansas, which is similar in size and climate to Nebraska. Ants and grasshoppers are among the most abundant insects in prairies. A single prairie might support as many as 30 species of ants and over fifty species of grasshoppers. 6

Haldeman’s grasshoppers (Pardolophora haldemani) courting on prairie sandreed grass (Calamovilfa longifolia), as a two-striped mermiria grasshopper (Mermeria bivittata) watches from below 7

A prairie is colored With a great many hues; Its wildflowers are called forbs To confuse me and you.

Forbs are broad-leaved non-woody plants, and include most prairie wildflowers, such as sunflowers and goldenrods. Families representing the composites (over 80 species) and legumes (over 30 species) are very common in prairies; legumes are especially important in promoting soil fertility. Grasses and sedges are not considered forbs, but the hundred or so species occurring in Nebraska prairies represent a significant percentage of the plant species, and often comprise at least 90 percent of the total weight of the prairie’s above-ground vegetation.

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Missouri milk-vetch (Astragalus missouriensis), a prairie legume 9

A prairie has a few shrubs, Some are taller than you; Birds often nest in them And eat their fruits too.

Common shrubs or small trees in tallgrass prairies include eastern red cedar, American plum, rough-leaved dogwood and smooth sumac. The fruits of junipers, plums and dogwoods are especially valuable as food for birds and other wildlife. Sumac is less useful for food, but its scarlet foliage and seed heads make it the most colorful plant in tallgrass prairies during autumn. Lark sparrows are often found along shrubby prairie edges.

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Lark sparrow (Chondestes grammicus) on eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginianus)

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Prairie plants have long roots To reach moisture below; You must dig really deep If their lengths you would know.

Some prairie plants have root systems that extend to at least fifteen feet below the earth surface, and the total weight of the roots may be three times more than the above-ground parts. The annual death and decay of above-ground parts of grasses and forbs is a major reason for the high fertility of prairie soils.

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Root systems and root lengths of some Sandhills prairie plants (from P. Johnsgard’s This Fragile Land, 1995)

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The tallest grasses on prairies Are higher than you ! There are bluestems and switchgrass And Indiangrass too!

Big bluestem and little bluestem are the most important (“dominant”) species in lowland and upland prairies respectively. Indiangrass and big bluestem may be 6–8 feet tall. Big bluestem may produce up to three tons of hay per acre, and is highly nutritious, making it the best of all prairie grasses for forage.

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Important tallgrass prairie grasses, including (left to right) little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)

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The shorter grasses on prairie Have big roles to play; Among the many is Junegrass Which blossoms in May !

Shorter grasses of the tallgrass prairie, such as hilltops, are selected by greater prairie-chickens for their courtship activities. These prairie grasses mature earlier in summer than do the tallest ones, which often don’t mature until September, and are also used by prairie-chickens for nesting and brood-rearing. Most native prairie plants are “warm-season” perennials, which need the heat of summer to grow and mature. 16

Male greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) fighting for territories in the short grasses of a prairie hilltop 17

Prairie trees are a headache Burning helps hold them in check; Otherwise our fine prairies Would soon be a wreck.

Some tree-nesting birds such as eastern bluebirds do much of their foraging in prairie grasses, but nest in trees near the prairie, or in nest boxes erected along fence lines. Red cedars often “invade” Nebraska prairies, since their fruits are eaten by birds and the undigested seeds become widely distributed through their droppings. Red cedars provide windbreaks and protective cover for many animals, but their invading tendencies are a constant threat to prairies.

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Male eastern bluebird (Sialis sialis) at a tree-hole nest

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Prairie mammals are quiet They mostly sleep through the day; It’s only in darkness That they’ll come out and play.

The only prairie mammals regularly out during the day are the larger ones such as deer, and even these are most active around dawn and dusk. Because opportunities for vision are limited at night, most mammals typically have extremely fine hearing and smelling abilities, but usually lack color vision. White-footed mice have notably large eyes, giving them unusually fine nightime vision, and are very common on prairies.

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White-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) sleeping

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There were great herds of bison Thirty million at least; They were killed for their hides, For their bones and for feasts.

Bison were totally eliminated from Nebraska by the 1890s, as were elk, pronghorns, wolves, mountain lions and bears. Elk and pronghorn have now been re-introduced and are thriving, and bison are being raised in some refuges and ranches. Mountain lions are also now slowly returning to Nebraska. 22

Adult male bison (Bison bison)

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The smallest mammals are shrews With a long, pointy nose For finding their prey; Worms and bugs, I suppose.

Our smallest shrew weighs only about 3-4 grams, or about the weight of a dime! Shrews need to eat nearly constantly, and may eat more than their own weight daily. They primarily eat insects and other invertebrates such as snails. The eyes of shrews are very small, but their remarkable noses make up for this weakness. The short-tailed shrew produces venomous saliva to help subdue its prey, which may be as large as small mice.

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Adult prairie shrew (Sorex haydeni)

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A prairie is noisy With many small birds; The dickcissel calls out its name But stammers the words.

The dickcissel is a sparrow that was named for its song, which sounds like “Dick, dick; siss, siss, siss.” Male dickcissels resemble small meadowlarks, having brown upperparts and a black-bibbed yellow chest. Each year they migrate all the way to and from northern South America, using stars to help guide them! High levels of pesticide use in South America have greatly reduced their populations, and like most prairie birds dickcissels have further suffered as native prairies have disappeared.

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Adult male dickcissel (Spiza americana)

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The birds of the prairies Are often quite plain; There are few places to hide So they match the terrain.

Spring Creek Prairie has reported 218 species of birds. Sparrows are the most abundant prairie birds and are mostly brown. The grasshopper, Henslow’s and clay-colored sparrows all have brown plumages and weak songs that somewhat resemble those of insects. Meadowlarks are also streaked brown above, and are nearly invisible when while crouching in dead grass. Greater prairie-chickens likewise have plumages that are mostly colored and patterned to match dead grass, but during spring display the males raise their long neck feathers and expose orange air-sacs on their necks that help resonate their low-pitched calls. 28

Grassland sparrows, including (left to right) males of grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pallida) and Henslow’s sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) 29

A prairie has bugs, In fact quite a few: Lots of grasshoppers, crickets And dragonflies too.

There are over 1,000 species of grasshoppers, crickets and their relatives in North America, and more than 100 species of grasshoppers are known to occur in Nebraska. There are over 500 dragonflies and damselfies, and more than 80 occur in Nebraska. Many birds feed mainly on insects. Nebraska’s insect-eating (“insectivorous”) birds range in size from half-ounce wrens and kinglets to six-ounce burrowing owls and American kestrels.

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Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) and common green darner dragonfly (Anax junius) 31

Prairies have butterflies, Sulfurs, coppers and blues; Plus monarchs and snouts And small skippers too.

Over 52 species of butterflies have been reported from Spring Creek Prairie. The monarch is a large orange and black species that migrates up to 1,000 miles to winter in the mountains of central Mexico. Their caterpillars eat milkweed leaves containing toxic chemicals, protecting both the caterpillars and adults from being eaten by predators. The snout butterfly is named for its very long mouthparts that resemble a long nose. Skippers are small butterflies that rapidly “skip” from one flower to another. The white cabbage and yellow sulfur butterflies are among the most common Nebraska species, and the great spangled fritillary is one of our rarest. 32

Monarch butterfly (Daneus plexippus), adult and pupa, or chrysalis 33

There are dragons on prairies: Insects called odonates. They have enormous long jaws And eyes like deep plates.

Spring Creek Prairie has reported 35 species of dragonflies and damselflies. Dragonflies are larger and stronger than damselflies, and are more powerful fliers. These insects are active predators, both during their long aquatic larval periods and as adults. Adults prey on other insects that they catch in flight with their powerful jaws, aided by their large eyes, acute vision and speeds of up to 20 mph. They can also hover, and at times even fly backwards! The largest dragonflies have wingspreads of about seven inches, but some fossil dragonflies had wingspreads of more than 20 inches, making them the largest of all known flying insects. 34

Adult twelve-spotted skipper (Libellula forensis) 35

During summer the prairie Comes alive with the noise Of cicadas and crickets, And smart girls and boys.

Annual cicadas produce one of the loudest prairie sounds of late summer. Cicadas make their continuous droning sounds by rapidly oscillating thin drum-like structures on the sides of their bodies, while crickets and locusts scrape (stridulate) one part of the exoskeleton over another at various speeds. Their “song” rates increase in warmer conditions, and in one cricket species it is possible to calculate the temperature by counting the number of songs per minute! 36

Dog days cicada (Tibicen prunosa), adult and nymph 37

Look for prairie bugs hiding Under stones and cow pies, If the stones aren’t too heavy And the cow pies are dry!

The undersides of stones and cow pies provide shady and safe places for some insects to hide, and the larvae (grubs) of scarab beetles also eat the fresh dung of mammals. Adult scarabs make balls of soft dung and lay eggs in them. When each egg hatches, the larva eats its way out. Burrowing owls often eat dung beetles, and spread dung around their burrow entrances, perhaps to attract them. The owls also will snatch and eat any grasshoppers that stray too close to their burrows.

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Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) and obscure bird grasshopper (Shistocerca obscura)

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As you study our prairies Know they are vanishing fast; All that is left now are relicts Of our now vanished past.

Probably only 1-3 percent of Nebraska’s original tallgrass prairie still exits. There are very few remaining tallgrass prairies in Nebraska as large as Spring Creek Prairie. They represent important repositories for our natural heritage of native plants and animals. It is not uncommon for tallgrass prairies to have 250-300 species of plants present and several hundred species of insects. Many of the insects are important pollinators of the plants and may also depend on them for food, the two groups forming a complicated and interdependent natural community.

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Adult male greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido)

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Remember these simple facts: Prairies still hold many a mystery. They also stop erosion, clean streams And reveal our pioneer history.

Prairies also generate oxygen, and their soils are among the most productive of any in the world. Nebraska’s agricultural economy depends on the fertility of its prairie soils, and most of our early settlers came as homesteaders, converting the fertile prairies to pastures and grainfields. Some prairies still show the tracks of pioneer wagons, or other evidence of the first settlers, such as the remains of old buildings. A few prairie birds, such as meadowlarks, still survive in present-day pastures, and their spring songs are still as welcome as those that gave pleasure to our pioneer ancestors.

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Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)

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Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center 3 miles south of Denton, Nebraska

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References for Teachers Books Allen. D. 1967. The Life of Prairies and Plains. McGraw Hill, New York, NY. (Out of print) Barth, R, and N. Ratzlaff. 2004. Field Guide to Wildflowers: Fontenelle Forest and Neal Woods Nature Centers. Fontenelle Forest Nature Assoc, Bellevue, NE. (Describes and illustrates 281 species, many of which are prairie-adapted forms.) Brock, J., & K. Kaufman. 2003. Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA (Illustrates all Nebraska species) Brown, L. 1985. Grasslands. Audubon Society Nature Guides. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY, Christiansen, P, and M. Muller. 1999. An Illustrated Guide to Iowa Prairie Plants. Univ. of Iowa Press, Iowa City, IA. Describes and illustrates (line drawings) nearly 300 species, including about 30 grasses. Organized by plant families, with distribution maps. Dunkle, S. W. 2000. Dragonflies Through Binoculars. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, NY. (IIlustrates all Nebraska species) Haddock, M. J. 2005. Wildflowers and Grasses of Kansas. Univ. Press of Kansas, Lawrence. Describes and illustrates 323 species. Includes many Nebraska species, and probably the most useful in-print field guide to Nebraska’s prairie wildflowers. Helzer, C. 2010. The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States. Univ. of Iowa Press, Iowa City. Johnsgard, P. A. 1979. Birds of the Great Plains: Breeding Species and their Distribution. Univ. of Nebr. Press, Lincoln, NE. Johnsgard, P. A. 1995. This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills. Univ. of Nebr. Press, Lincoln, NE. 45

Johnsgard, P. A. 2001a. The Nature of Nebraska. Univ. of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. Johnsgard, P. A. 2001b. Prairie Birds: Fragile Splendor in the Great Plains. Univ. Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS. Johnsgard, P. A. 2003. Great Wildlife of the Great Plains. Univ. Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS. Johnsgard, P. A. 2004. Prairie Dog Empire: A Saga of the Shortgrass Prairie. Univ. of Nebr. Press, Lincoln, NE. Johnsgard, P. A. 2008. Guide to the Tallgrass Prairies of Eastern Nebraska and Adjacent States. Printed by the author, Lincoln, NE; online at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/biosciornithology/39/ Mutel, C. F. 1989. Fragile Giants: A Natural History of the Loess Hills. Univ. of Iowa Press, Iowa City. Reichman, O. J. 1987, Konza Prairie: A Tallgrass Natural History. Univ. Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS. Salisbury, G., & S. C. White. 2000. Insects in Kansas. Kansas Dept. of Agriculture, Topeka, KS. 521 pp, (Includes information on 850 insects, spiders and other arthropods in Kansas, most of which also occur in Nebraska) Savage, C. 2004. Prairie: A Natural History. Douglas & McIntyre Pub. Group, Ontario, Canada. Weaver, J. E. 1954. North American Prairie. Johnsen Publ. Co, Lincoln, NE. (out of print); online at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agronweaver/15/ Whitney, W. S., & J. Whitney. 1987. Microcosm of the Platte: A Guide to Bader Memorial Park Natural Area. Prairie/Plains Resource Inst, Aurora, NE. (A highly informative local nature guide; out of print).

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Useful Websites Ants of tallgrass prairies: http://www.pnwrc.usgs.gov/resource/insects/ants/index.htm Grasslands of North America: http://www.pnwrc.usgs.gov/resource/habitat/grlands/index.htm Guide to Nebraska’s tallgrass prairies (see book reference to Johnsgard, 2008): http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/biosciornithology/39 Insects: http://www.bugwise.net NatureServe: http://www.naturserve.com National plant database: http://www.plants.usda.gov/index.html Nebraska Florasearch—pictures and brief descriptions of Nebraska wildflowers (Nebraska Statewide Arboretum): http://www.arboretum.unl.edu/florasearch Prairie preservation and restoration (Prairie Plains Resource Institute): http://www.praireplains.org Prairie restoration and management: http://www.prairienebraska.org Prairie wildflower identification (Kansas species, see book reference to Haddock, 2005): http://www.kswildflowers.org

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Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center is located three miles south of the west edge of Denton; follow 98th St. south out of Denton; entrance gate on east side of road. Some small wetlands are present, including a spring, riparian wooded habitats, and hilly tallgrass prairie uplands, totaling over 800 acres. There is also a modern interpretive center, constructed with green technology. Monday– Friday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Call for weekend hours and special events. Ph. 402 797-2301. http://www.springcreekprairie.org

Paul A. Johnsgard is a Foundation Professor of Biological Sciences Emeritus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the author of more than 55 books, mostly dealing with birds, nature, ecology and conservation. A book list (complete through 2004) is available at http://pauljohnsgardbooks.tripod.com, and most of his other published titles can be found at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/johnsgard/

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln does not discriminate based on gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran’s status, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

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Johnsgard

Proceeds from this book support conservation and education programs at Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center.

A Prairie’s Not Scary

A Prairie’s Not Scary

Written and Illustrated by

ISBN 978-1-60962-022-6

90000

9 781609 620226

Zea Books

Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska

Paul A. Johnsgard