Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Jones, C. Jeanne

Committee Member

Riffell, K. Samuel

Committee Member

Schauwecker, Timothy

Date of Degree

12-13-2008

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Abstract

One knowledge gap hindering prairie restoration is uncertainty about when a restored prairie communities sufficiently resemble remnant prairie. I surveyed plant communities in remnant prairies, prairies > 5 years post-restoration, and prairies ≤ 5 years post-restoration in Mississippi. Remnants had the greater species richness. Restored prairies had less cover of woody plants and forbs but greatest non-natives. Restored prairies were not similar to remnant prairies (similarity index = 28.9 - 25.9%), primarily because restored prairies had fewer prairie forbs. Thus, restoration may take decades. Transplanting locallyapted prairie forbs into restored prairies may accelerate restoration, but this has not been evaluated adequately. I transplanted a prairie forb (Liatris pycnostachya) into prepared beds, oldields, and restored prairies. Prepared beds had greater growth and seed production, but survival and flowering was high in oldields and restored prairies. Augmenting restored prairies with locallyapted forbs has promise for accelerating prairie restoration.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/15594

Comments

Native Warm Season Grasses||Prairie Blazing Star||Edge Effects||Plant Communities

Download

Share

COinS