Endangered Species

Abstract

ditions range from flooding to very dry. The development of a prairie also satisfied our need for an easily maintained, attractive natural area in a location marked by rapid urban development. The site has recently been designated as a nature preserve. A range of edaphic conditions exist throughout the borrow pit area. While the site is generally well-drained, a number of clay lenses form seeps that persist except in the driest times. The more active of these supply an ephemeral pond in the basin. This variety of habitats allows for a great variety of plants, representing species from both wet and dry prairies (Conover and Geiger, 1989). Given the steep slopes, rough terrain, and the large area to be seeded, we hired a f’n’in to hydroseed eight prairie grass species. For the initial planting, seeds for the grasses and three prairie forbs were purchased from a source in Missouri. For subsequent plantings, grass and forb seeds were collected locally. Prairie forb seeds that were available in quantity were broadcast and raked into the soil. Forb seeds in small supply, or from rare or difficult to establish species, were planted in a nursery and the plants later transplanted to the prairie. Forbs were raised either in plastic containers (Rootmaster, Hummert Co., St. Louis, MO), or in 5-cm diameter clear polyethylene film tubing, 30 cm in length. In some cases seeds were stratified in flats and transplanted to the tubes or containers after germination. In other cases seeds were stratified outdoors in the containers and transplanted to the prairie in the spring when the roots just reached the bottom of the containers. Dormant plants, collected locally from habitats about to be destroyed, were transplanted in the spring. Differential success in germination and survival is producing a number of distinct associations of grasses and forbs. Established plants are serving as a source of seeds, and now, after three seasons, new plants are becoming established in wellsuited microhabitats. To date, approximately 36 species of Ohio prairie indicator plant species have become established on the site despite the severe drought of 1988. Current efforts are focused on ridding the site of introduced weeds such as western ragweed, Ambrosia psilostachya, increasing the diversity of species present, and planting rare and endangered species that we have raised from seed.