Does Pastoral Land-Use Legacy Influence Topsoil Carbon and Nitrogen Accrual Rates in Tallgrass Prairie Restorations?

Restoration can recover degraded ecosystems and ecosystem services. However, effects of restoration on soil nutrient accrual are difficult to predict, partly because prior land use affects rates of soil nutrient recovery. In tallgrass prairie restorations, land-use legacy effects have not yet been quantified. We investigated topsoil carbon and nitrogen accrual within seven land-use histories: (1) row crop agriculture, (2) pasture, (3) pasture converted from row crops, (4) prairie restored from row crop, (5) prairie restored from old pasture, (6) bison prairie restored from pasture and row crops, and (7) remnant prairie. Soil samples were collected in 2008 and again in 2018 at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Will County, IL. Soil samples were analyzed for bulk density, root chemistry, macro- and micronutrients, and carbon. Restored prairies contained similar soil bulk densities and rates of topsoil carbon accrual compared to each other in 2018. However, restorations from row cropping accrued nitrogen more slowly than restorations from pastures. Additionally, pastures converted from crop fields exhibited fewer legacy effects than restorations converted from crop fields. This research illustrates land-use legacy effects on soil and nutrients during grassland restorations, with implications for potential restoration trajectories and their role in carbon sequestration and ecosystem functioning.

From the Ground Up: Prairies on Reclaimed Mine Land—Impacts on Soil and Vegetation

After strip mining, soils typically suffer from compaction, low nutrient availability, loss of soil organic carbon, and a compromised soil microbial community. Prairie restorations can improve ecosystem services on former agricultural lands, but prairie restorations on mine lands are relatively under-studied. This study investigated the impact of prairie restoration on mine lands, focusing on the plant community and soil properties. In southeast Ohio, 305 ha within a ~2000 ha area of former mine land was converted to native prairie through herbicide and planting between 1999–2016. Soil and vegetation sampling occurred from 2016–2018. Plant community composition shifted with prairie age, with highest native cover in the oldest prairie areas. Prairie plants were more abundant in older prairies. The oldest prairies had significantly more soil fungal biomass and higher soil microbial biomass. However, many soil properties (e.g., soil nutrients, β-glucosoidase activity, and soil organic carbon), as well as plant species diversity and richness trended higher in prairies, but were not significantly different from baseline cool-season grasslands. Overall, restoration with prairie plant communities slowly shifted soil properties, but mining disturbance was still the most significant driver in controlling soil properties. Prairie restoration on reclaimed mine land was effective in establishing a native plant community, with the associated ecosystem benefits.

Observations of American Badgers, Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1777) (Mammalia, Carnivora), in a restored tallgrass prairie in Illinois, USA, with a new county record of successful reproduction

American Badgers, Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1777) are poorly studied relative to other North American carnivores. We report on observations of American Badgers within a restored tallgrass prairie ecosystem owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy in Illinois. We documented badgers at six camera locations, including two prairie restorations restored from row crop agriculture in 2002 and 2015. In addition, we confirmed breeding activity in Ogle County, filling a gap in the known breeding distribution of American Badgers in Illinois. We provide context for these observations and suggestions for future research.

Evolution in novel environments: do restored prairie populations experience strong selection?

When populations colonize new habitats, they are likely to experience novel environmental conditions, and as a consequence may experience strong selection. While selection and the resulting evolutionary responses may have important implications for establishment success in colonizing populations, few studies have estimated selection in such scenarios. Here we examined evidence of selection in recently established plant populations in two prairie restorations in close proximity (< 15 km apart) using two approaches: 1) we tested for evidence of past selection on a suite of traits in two Chamaecrista fasciculata populations by comparing the restored populations to each other and their shared source population in common gardens to quantify evolutionary responses and 2) we measured selection in the field. We found evidence of past selection on flowering time, specific leaf area, and root nodule production in one of the populations, but detected contemporary selection on only one trait (plant height). This demonstrates that while selection can occur in colonizing populations, resulting in significant evolutionary responses in less than 6 generations, rapid evolutionary responses may be weak in even nearby populations sown with the same source population. Because contemporary measures of selection rarely predicted observed evolutionary responses, it also suggests that selection likely differs over the early stages of succession that characterize young prairies.

Underneath it All: Soil Differences May Explain Contrasting Outcomes of Adjacent Prairie Restorations in Madison, Wisconsin

The evaluation of prairie restorations tends to focus on aboveground properties such as changes in plant diversity and the encroachment of non-native species. As a result, knowledge gaps persist concerning belowground controls of restoration success. To address these gaps at a 13-year-old prairie restoration site in Madison, Wisconsin, we spatially compared soil chemical, physical, and hydrological properties in two adjacent parcels that differed markedly in response to a tallgrass prairie restoration. We hypothesized that soil properties and their heterogeneity would differ significantly between the two parcels and that these differences would help explain the divergent response. In support of this hypothesis, soil organic matter, pH, and total nitrogen were significantly lower (p = 0.007, p < 0.001, and p = 0.006, respectively) in the restored parcel compared to the parcel that has yet to respond to any restoration efforts. Moreover, despite no significant difference in soil average bulk density between the two parcels, the restored parcel had significantly lower sand and silt fractions overall (p = 0.039 and p = 0.040, respectively). In contrast, except for total nitrogen, there were no apparent differences in the spatial heterogeneity of the measured soil properties between the restored and unrestored parcels, which did not support the second hypothesis of this study. These results demonstrate the utility of measuring belowground properties when assessing unexpected outcomes of prairie restorations as well as inform future hypothesis-driven experiments to determine which soil properties impede restoration and under what circumstances. KEYWORDS: Prairie Restoration; Bulk Density; Soil Organic Matter; Soil Properties; Soil Texture; Spatial Heterogeneity