Puget Sound Prairies Essay

For many tribes of Plains Indians whose bison-hunting culture flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun dance was the major communal religious ceremony . . . the rite celebrates renewal - the spiritual rebirth of participants and their relatives as well as the regeneration of the living earth with all its components . . . The ritual, involving sacrifice and supplication to insure harmony between all living beings, continues to be practiced by many contemporary native Americans. -Elizabeth Atwood LawrenceAs the most important ritual of the nomadic Plains Indians, the Sun Dance in itself presents many ideas, beliefs, and values of these cultures. Through its rich symbolism and complicated rituals we are able to catch a glimpse

     Since the beginning of the human race mankind has depended on the natural resources in their environment for survival. They utilized the available flora to nourish their body, heal their wounds, comfort their ailments and to create products to ease their daily lives. Many of the same plants utilized thousands of years ago by the indigenous people have been integrated into modern day medicines. The scientific interest and knowledge of plants for nourishment, healing, and practical uses is called ethnobotany.

The Maryland ecosystem is being ravaged by several invasive species. These species are introduced into the ecosystem in several ways, with several discoveries of invasive species every year. Whether it be Wavyleaf basketgrass or Purple loosestrife, these plants are capable of outcompeting with native plants and causing devastation to the native ecosystem. These invasive species are damaging to the environment and we should work as a community to halt the spread and limit its impact on the ecosystem of Maryland.

The summers are warm and short. The winters are cold and long. Precipitation ranges from more than 500 mm per year in the north to less than 300 mm in the south of the Prairies. The winter mean temperatures for the coldest months vary from -9.4°C in Lethbridge and -18.3°C in Winnipeg. In contrast, the mean temperature for the warmest month in Winnipeg is 19.7°C. The grasses tend to have long roots which penetrate deep into the soil where they could find moisture. The northern edge of this ecozone marks the beginning of the transition into forest areas. Prior to agricultural settlement in the late 19th century, the Prairie ecozone was the home of millions of bison. Today, mammals of this ecozone include mule and white-tailed deer, coyote, pronghorn (south-central portion), badger, whitetail jackrabbit, Richardson's ground squirrel, northern pocket gopher and the prairie dog. Unique bird species include ferruginous hawk, greater prairie chicken, sharp-tailed grouse, American avocet, burrowing owl, great blue heron, black-billed magpie and Baltimore oriole. Plains grizzlies, swift fox and greater prairie chickens are a few of animals to disappear from the

As long as the weave of grass was stitched to the land, the prairie would flourish in dry years and wet. The grass could look brown and dead, but beneath the surface, the roots held the soil in place; it was alive and dormant. The short grass, buffalo and blue grama, had evolved as the perfect fit for the sandy loam of the arid zone. It could hold moisture a foot or more below ground level even during summer droughts, when hot winds robbed the surface of all water-bearing life. In turn, the grass nurtured pin-tailed grouse, prairie chickens, cranes, jackrabbits, snakes, and other creatures that got their water from foraging on the native turf.Through the driest years, the web of life held. When a farmer tore out the sod and then walked away, leaving the land naked, however, that barren patch posed a threat to neighbors. It could not revert to grass, because the roots were gone. It was empty, dead, and transient.

The first three major eras of the Pacific Northwest show some remarkable changes. What begins with the first people rapidly becomes a barrage of settlers, development and the harvesting of resources. Each period of time in the PNW brings changes in the people, the geography, and the culture.

Currently, the sagebrush ecosystem is rapidly declining across the Western United States, with over 350 associated plant and animal species at risk of being lost and imperiled. The main reason for the sagebrush decline is the steady encroachment of cheatgrass and pinyon-juniper. The invasion of these plants are fueling larger and more frequent fires that are out competing sagebrush as well as the associated grass species that are native components of the ecosystem, taking over much land that sagebrush once occupied. Cheatgrass was introduced to North America through contaminated grain seed, straw packing material, and soil used as ballast in ships sailing from Eurasia in the late 1890’s and is now the main culprit behind sagebrush decline.

The experiment was conducted in Sheboygan County at three locations of varying distance from Lake Michigan, where they were surveyed for the occurrence of the invasive tree species black locust. The first location, Kettle Moraine State Park, is located 20 miles inland west of Lake Michigan. As its name suggests, this location has a combination of kettles and moraines. Kettles are steep side impressions in a landscape while moraines are linear deposits that accumulated at the edge of an ice sheet. This creates a rolling hill landscape that can create quite the diversity of vegetation. This site was dominated by mostly sugar maple with the occasional red oak and birch. There was very little ground coverage, due to the dense shade cast by the

Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (CPAWS) The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society serves to protect at least half of Canada’s public land and water wild forever. They focus on protecting large, connected areas of Canada’s wilderness. CPAWS was founded in 1963 “CPAWS envisages a healthy ecosphere where people experience and respect natural ecosystems.”

Smooth brome is widely planted as a drought-resistant forage and cover crop. A serious problem facing managers of many prairie remnants of the northern Great Plains and true prairie is the invasion and persistence of exotic cool-season grasses, particularly smooth brome (Biederman et al., 2014; Otfinowski, Kenkel, & Catling, 2007). Smooth brome is a deeply rooting, rhizomatous perennial that often excludes other species, thus contributing to the reduction of native species diversity and altering biomass dynamics in natural areas (Biederman et al.,

As the studies cited and discussed below indicate, having more native plants provides a long-term cost savings over traditional lawns. The concerns about native plants are that they cost more than not native plants or turf lawns, however, this does not always hold true when economic efficacy of native landscaping, and the environmental value of native landscaping, which is often unaccounted for when considering the costs of installation and maintenance of native plants. By allowing citizens to convert traditional lawns into native plants the metro area as a whole will benefit our communities by providing a relatively low-maintenance, drought-tolerant and stable perennial vegetative cover with reduced weed growth, while with their deep root systems being able to absorb great amounts of water, all while providing important resources for a number wildlife

Phragmites or common reed is an invasive species that quickly dominates wetland areas. The Phragmites was present in a number of the wetland areas on the 6th and 7th holes and has overrun the pond on the 8th hole. The Phragmites are also growing along the edges of the salt marshes where they will impact to views and could overrun more of those areas. The DEP encourages control programs of the Phragmites. Eliminating this invasive species will allow other wetland plants to grow. The native plant material provides more benefits for wildlife and will provide a more natural appearance.

The devastating effects of rangeland invasive plants have influencedeffect many natural resources, as well as humans lives, without them knowing about it. The impacts of the invasion vary from place to place. “Invasive plant species have numerous effects on the ecosystem goods and services provided by rangelands” (“Basics of Invasive Species”). The resources that are gathered from rangelands are affectedeffected by the invasive plant species, all of those effects become one great issue that humans need to try and solve. Livestock is one of the major factors that are impacted by the introduction of invasive plants. These unwanted plants “impact grazing lands by lowering yield and quality of forage for livestock, impeding access to desirable forage, poisoning animals, increasing costs of managing and producing livestock, and reducing grazing land value” (Techline News). All of these impacts are the part of a larger ecological impact that can kill livestock, and other plants and animals living in that area. All of these ecological issues create a big enough picture to see what is really going on when one plant invades, the invasions hurt the environment and ecosystem.

Those of us who have chosen to live in Northeast Florida share a unique relationship with factors that shape the natural habitats we call home. We settlers join with other ancient peoples in a history of occupation of this native soil. As they did, we share the climate shifts of a temperate Peninsula which includes shifting coastlines, and an ebb and flow of natural resources. We harvest and build on what we find. Like those that preceded us, we make daily choices that affect not only our survival, but also the ability of a rich land to sustain us and those who will follow.

Re-wilding and having less domestic animals also brings about the talk of prairie grasses. It does sadden me a little that most of our prairie grasses have been overgrazed and a lot of the grasses are invasive species. I would love to go back to the time when the prairie grasses were tall and