Describes steps for landowners to convert to native prairie and discuss monitoring techniques.

1. Prairie Restoration
Blake Alldredge
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

2. Pick These Up!!!

3. What Is Native Prairie?
 Mixture of native grasses and forbs
(aka weeds)
 Prairie specific
wildlife, soil, geology, and fire are
important
 Texas was 75% prairie and savanna
 Less than 1% of 20 million acres
remains!

4. Ecoregions

5. What Are Native Grasses?
 Little Bluestem
 Big Bluestem
 Indiangrass
 Switchgrass
 Eastern Gamagrass
 Side-Oats Grama

6. What Are Native Forbs?
 Engelman Daisy
 Illinois Bundleflower
 Maximilian Sunflower
 Coneflowers
 Partridge Pea
 Prairie Clover
 Western Ragweed

7. Why Is Native Prairie Important?
 Wildlife habitat
 Livestock forage
 Watershed protection

8. Wildlife Habitat
 Quail, Turkey, Deer
 Bunchgrasses
provide cover
 Forbs provide food
and cover
 Bare ground for
travel
 40% of NA bird
species dependent
on prairie

9. Livestock Forage
 Excellent forage
 Drought tolerant
 Deep root system
 Microbes cycle
nutrients
 Don’t graze
tallgrasses below
10 inches

10. Watershed Protection
 Surface runoff = 24%
 Infiltration = 75%
 Wildlife habitat!
Bunchgrasses Sodgrasses
 Surface runoff = 45%
 Infiltration = 54%
 Fertilizers?

11. Restoration Steps
Establish Goals
Site Selection
Site Preparation
Establishment of Natives
MONITOR!!!

12. Establish Goals
 Purpose
◦ Increase wildlife
habitat
◦ Less input forage
type
◦ Watershed
protection
 Guides Restoration
Plan
 Measureable
indicators
 Budget
◦ $100-$200/acre

13. Site Selection
 Inventory of
property
 Connect to existing
habitat
 Easements, riparia
n areas, fencelines
 Examine soils
(Web Soil Survey)
 10% of land per
year or every other
year

15. Trinity River Information Management
System
 Accessible
 Interactive
 Watershed
scale (local to
regional)
 Soils, vegetation
, elevation, strea
m data
 Restoration
potential
trims.tamu.edu

17. Site Preparation
 For introduced grasses
◦ Stop fertilizing to allow growth 10-12 in
◦ Spray 4-5 quarts of Glyphosate per acre
◦ For bahiagrass, spray 3/8 oz of Metsulfuron
methyl per acre
◦ Best time to spray is June - August

18. Establishment of Natives
 Soil test prior to
establishment
 Establishment
Methods
◦ Passive restoration
◦ No-Till
◦ Broadcast Seed and
Hay
 Minimum 2 years
for establishment

19. Passive Restoration
 Relying on seed
bank
 Minimum 10%
native coverage
 Factors such as
grazing need to be
accounted for

20. Active Restoration
 No-Till seed drill
◦ Better success
◦ Good for highly
erodible, flat sites
◦ Expensive
◦ Mowing first 2 years
to knock back forbs
or other grasses

21. Active Restoration
 Broadcasting
◦ Places seed on top
of ground
◦ More economical?
◦ Best suited for rough
terrain
◦ Can use different
spreaders
◦ Hoof
action, harrowing, ch
aining, cultipacking

22. Seed Selection
 Match with soil properties in your area
◦ Ecological Site Descriptions
 Within 100 miles E/W, 200 miles N/S
 Pure Live Seed (PLS) - % of bulk seed
material that is live, viable seed
 Recommended seeding rates are 20
live seed per ft2
 Most seed mix seeding rates vary
from 3-5 pounds PLS per acre

23. Seeding
 Depth critical because seed
germination requires good seed to soil
contact, with sufficient moisture and
light
 Plant ¼ to ½ inch deep
 Best time to plant is late fall to early
spring
 Need 30 days of adequate soil
moisture to germinate
 Don’t plant during drought conditions!

25. Considerations
 Post-restoration
Plan
 Drought impacts on
seeding and prices
 Equipment costs
 Cooperatives -
WNBRI seed drill

26. Monitoring
 Photo Points
◦ Landscape and
ground level photos
◦ Mark with T post
◦ Same day every
year if possible
 Grazing Exclosures
◦ Evaluates grazing
pressure
◦ Take photos every
year

27. Monitoring
 Nest Clump
Surveys
◦ Quail habitat
◦ Count # of nest
clumps along
transect
◦ Measure 0.1 acre
 Cover Surveys
◦ Land area that
plants occupy or
“cover”
◦ Evaluate

28. Monitoring
 Grass Stubble
Height
◦ Plant
vigor, watershed
protection
◦ 10-12 inches for
tallgrasses
 Forage Clipping
◦ Measures forage
production
◦ Minimum 1,200 –
1,500 lbs/acre in
tallgrass prairies

29. Management

30. Questions?