NATIVE ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION
History of the Restoration Site
Role of Buffer Sites in Preserving Biodiversity
Project Goals and Purpose
Restoration Strategy and Methods
--Strategy
--Methods
--Before and After
Photos
Site Biodiversity
Education and Outreach
Project Participants
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Prairie Triangle Stream Corridor Savanna Prairie Garden Stream Corridor Clumps of riverbank sedge (Carex emoryi) native to the site were divided and individual plants were distributed along the banks of the stream corridor. 26 other species were introduced directly into the existing vegetation along the stream bank using standard bulb planters. Brush removal occurred in phases along the uplands including honeysuckle, buckthorn, diseased pine trees and multiflora rose. Other non-native trees were removed to open the corridor area to more sunlight. A prairie sod community was planted on the site of a burned brush pile where the soil was bare. “ . . . 44 artificial prairie sod communities containing about 2200 individual plants were placed on the bare ground site. The communities were produced approximately a year earlier by evenly applying a seed mix containing seven to fourteen species of native prairie plants into trays that were 3/4 filled with sunshine mix or pro mix. The seeds were germinated under greenhouse conditions and the juvenile plants were watered until early fall when the flats were taken to a sand bed for over wintering.”* “At the time the plants were taken to the restoration site, each flat contained approximately 50 individual plants that formed a dense sod. The sod was lifted out of the flat and placed on the surface of previously watered ground. The transplanting of each flat takes about two minutes and covers approximately 10 x 21 inches or 210 square inches.” 
photo by Susan Van Horn The plants shown above are rattlesnake master and golden Alexanders photographed in Spring of 2000 after one year of growth on the uplands of the stream corridor. *Above quotes are from Dr. Darrel Murray |
