5th grade students in the Prairie Science Class monitor meter plots in partners, searching for forb species as part of a research study. - USFWS Photo by Michelle Tice, Student Conservation Association Intern

The Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center received a $1,180 Community Connections grant from Otter Tail Power Corporation Foundation to support a project called, "Effects of Periodic Mowing on Survival and Persistence of Forbs Seeded into a Species-Poor Grassland."

It's a long name, but what it means is an opportunity for students in the Fergus Falls School District and professional in the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District (FFWMD) and Prairie Wetlands Learning Center to learn together using the scientific method to conduct applied research.  The study is part of Prairie Science Class classroom instruction and field work for both 4th and 5th grades, 230 students total.

The project will help determine how monthly mowing affects the survival and persistence of forbs seeded into grassland dominated study plots.  Funds were used to purchase materials such as seed and meter sticks.  In spring, 5th graders sowed seed onto the first study area burned in fall 2007.  The plot was monitored and mowed during the summer to disturb the grass canopy and reduce competition for forb seeds and seedlings.  In November, 4th graders systematically surveyed for forbs on the 20 square meter study site, while 5th graders surveyed a second study site to be burned and seeded in spring and mowed in summer 2009.  It will take several years of student surveys to determine if forb species diversify and become more abundant over time.

In the meantime, interpretive signage (paid for by the grant) will be developed and placed along the hiking trails near the study sites to educate visitors about the research project.  Besides local educational, interpretive, and ecological benefits, results will also be shared within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Should the results indicate that periodic mowing positively effects forb species composition, this strategy would likely be used at other prairie restoration sites in the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District.

As published in the March 2007 issue of the professional journal Restoration Ecology, species-poor prairie plantings composed of warm-season grasses may be diversified with new forb species through burning, over-seeding, and weekly mowing ("Effects of Frequent Mowing on Survival and Persistence of forbs Seeded into a Species-Poor Grassland.")  FFWMD recognize the importance of these results but the implications for local practice with frequent (weekly) mowing are not feasible.  District staff restore and manage grasslands in a five-county area in western Minnesota.  The need for conducting a similar experiment but with less frequent (monthly) mowing will determine if this recommended practice can be modified and still considered effective.