Prairie Restoration Project

I. Introduction

Together we will visit the Fermilab Prairie at http://www-ed.fnal.gov/data/life_sci/ppvideo/ on a virtual tour. If this were summer, we’d be able to visit the site with our school group.

II. Read all sections in the introduction to the Fermi Lab prairie http://www.fnal.gov/pub/about/campus/ecology/index.html and answer the questions below for class discussion (or homework):

a. List three reasons for restoring the prairie at Fermilab.

b. List three reasons for developing the prairie at Fermilab in another way, for example for residential, commercial or industrial use.

c. Do you think we should do restroation to preserve the prairie at Fermilab? Be prepared to back up your argument.

III. Go to the site below and analyze the data according to the instructions:

(http://www-ed.fnal.gov/data/life_sci/data/stud-bkgrd.shtml)

1. Read the text.

2. In order to understand the characteristics of the Prairie plant population, you need to understand the following concepts and how they can be calculated.

· Plant dominance

· Relative plant dominance

· Relative plant frequency

· Relative plant density

· Importance value

· Plant (biological) diversity.

Note: We calculate the relative dominance, relative frequency, and relative density separately for prairie plants and for weeds. For example, we calculate the sum of the dominance of all prairie plant species to calculate the relative dominance of a prairie plant species. To calculate the relative dominance of a weed, we calculate the sum of the dominance of all weeds. This means that you cannot compare the relative dominance of a prairie plant to the relative dominance of a weed. Similarly for the importance value, you cannot compare the relative importance value of a prairie plant with the relative importance value of a weed.

3. Using the Graphed data from past studies:

a. Choose two prairie plots. Print out the graphs for any two plots and describe how the relationship between prairie plant and plot weed diversity has changed over the study period. How can this relationship be used to measure success of the prairie restoration project?

b. Choose one of the prairie plots used in part 3a. Print out a graph of changes in dominance for one prairie plant and one weed, in that plot. Describe how dominance changes over the years, focusing only on key trends.

4. The easiest way to see if the diversity of the student prairie has changed since it was planted is to compare the data tables for 1992 and the most recent year. To see if there is an increase in plant diversity, count the number of prairie plant species for the two years. Look at the data for Ongoing Studies and Studies from Previous Years (starting in 1992). Also look at the graphs to see how diversity and dominance change through the years for different prairies and plants.

Increased diversity of plants also increases the habitat for insects and other animals. Habitat is the place where particular plants and animals live. In the habitat, different living things have different niches. A niche is how a living thing earns its living. Some animals have very exact niches. The Monarch Butterfly caterpillar for example, must live on milkweed plants. The niche of the Monarch caterpillar is living on and eating milkweed. With many niches in a prairie, many kinds of living things can live closely together. This is because they don't compete for exactly the same living space or exactly the same food.

Some scientists think that more than 50 percent of existing species will be lost in the next 100 years. Laws have been made to protect certain animals, but the best way to preserve a species is to make sure that their habitat is protected. This not only helps the endangered species, but the diversity of life in that habitat is preserved as well.

a. Briefly (one or two paragraphs) discuss what types of changes in plant diversity (decreasing, increasing) are occurring over this period, and the significance or importance of these trends.

Additional web sites of interest with more links

http://www-ed.fnal.gov/entry_exhibits/main_title.html

http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lasso/slides/show-slides.html

http://www-ed.fnal.gov/ntep/f98/projects/fnal/student/bkgrd.shtml

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