Researchers recently discovered what’s known as a “remnant prairie” at the Iowa State University Horticulture Research Station and they’re working to restore it. Remnant prairies have never been plowed or completely converted into non-native species. Only about zero-point-one percent of this original habitat remains in Iowa, though it once covered nearly 80-percent of the state. Nick Howell is superintendent for the horticulture research station.
He says the 1.5 acre area is beside a lake and was totally overgrown, but three years ago, a researcher recognized seeds pods under snow while working on a fish habitat project. Howell says prairie specialists came out that spring to confirm it was a remnant.
Prairie intern Rachel Sents says it’s taken a significant amount of work to get the prairie back into its original shape.
ISU ecology professor Brian Wilsey (WILL-see) says the remnant prairie at the research station north of Ames is a true gem, filled with all sorts of native plants.
Reconstructed prairies are becoming more common, Wilsey says, and they currently account for one-to-two-percent of the state.
