 | Iowa's Prairies: Managing Natural Prairies
Before white settlers began farming the prairies of Iowa, the natural ecosystems were maintained with frequent fires; today, similar means are used.
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| Iowa's Prairies: The Skipper Butterfly
The skipper, a butterfly native to Iowa's prairies, serves as an indicator of the health of prairie ecosystems.
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| Iowa's Prairies: Science of Prairie Plants
Changes in the height of some prairie grasses and flowers relative to others is sometimes determined by which species of insects pollinate them.
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| Iowa's Prairies: Vanishing Heritage
People share various opinions about how to educate the next generation about the importance of preserving native ecosystems like prairies.
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| Iowa's Prairies: Taking Stock of What Is Left
Concerned by the lack of natural prairie ecosystems remaining in Iowa, a group of academics discuss what can be done.
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| Iowa's Prairies: From Farmland Back to Prairie
An Iowa naturalist has taken land that once was farmed for corn and replanted it with native grasses to return it to its original ecological state.
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| Iowa's Prairies: Restoring Original Prairies
Since so few original prairies remain untouched by agriculture, restoring prairies to their original diversity is a difficult task.
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| Iowa's Prairies: Industry and Conservation
A biologist representing an ecologically-minded industry discusses typical conflicts between business and environmental interests.
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| Iowa's Loess Hills: Sioux City Prairie
Prairie enthusiasts question modern day agricultural practices, arguing that diverse ecosystems regenerate themselves without the need for planting.
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| Iowa's Loess Hills: Managing with Fire
Fire is used to maintain a healthy prairie ecosystem by destroying woody vegetation that would eventually take over.
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| Badlands National Park - Prairie
Buffalo roam and prairie dogs play on the sunny South Dakota prairie in Badlands National Park.
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| Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Prairie
On a wild prairie plain where the buffalo roam and horses and prairie dogs play, coneflowers bloom and black magpies croon and rattlers stay out of the way.
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| White Mountain, New Hampshire - Wet Meadow
A sunny open meadow combined with moist soil creates a perfect habitat for milkweed and the monarch butterflies that feed on it.
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| Badlands National Park - Prairie Slope
At Badlands National Park, a prairie rattlesnake warns potential enemies away, while evidence of a bison shedding its winter coat is found on a nearby tree.
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| Exotic Species - Habitat Restoration
The Nature Conservancy has initiated programs to help restore native ecosystems by removing exotic species and supporting native ones.
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| Shenandoah National Park - Forest and Meadow
Though little remains of the original forest due to logging, a section of old growth deciduous forest can still be seen in Shenandoah National Park.
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| Everglades National Park: Shark Valley
Named for grassy expanses that appear to be without end, the unusual landscape of the Florida Everglades continues to attract visitors.
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| Paynes Prairie State Preserve
Popular with bicyclists and horseback riders, Paynes Prairie State Preserve offers visitors several different ecosystems to observe.
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| BLM Rangeland Management
One of the challenges of the BLM is to manage vast rangelands that have been altered by livestock grazing and the introduction of non-native grasses.
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| Finding a Balance: Katy Prairie
Birds and other wildlife compete with humans for the space provided by fields, pastures and ponds that occupy areas outside of Houston.
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| Prairie Dogs
One of the first inhabitants of North America, the prairie dog still occupies a very important place in the ecosystem.
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| Minnesota Monarch Butterflies
Northern Hills Prairie Park in Minnesota is an important stopping place for migrating monarch butterflies.
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| Willamette Valley Natural History
Native grasslands and oak savannahs in the Willamette Valley are gradually becoming a thing of the past.
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| Rangeland Repair - Part 1
Some Oregon ranchers address environmental concerns as they experiment with new ranching methods that both repair the land and prove beneficial to business.
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| Rangeland Repair - Part 2
Some Oregon ranchers address environmental concerns as they experiment with new ranching methods that both repair the land and prove beneficial to business.
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| Preserving Iowa's Prairie
America's prairies have all but disappeared, sacrificed for agriculture, but the small pieces that remain exhibit an amazing diversity of plant life.
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| Iowa's Little Sioux River Basin - Geology
Thousands of years ago, wind and water carved Iowa's landscape into the features visible today, including alluvial plains and loess hills.
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| Northwest Iowa Plains - Pilot Rock
Pilot Rock in northwestern Iowa was formed by a retreating glacier at the end of the last ice age.
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| Kettle Hole State Preserve
The Kettle Hole, formed as a huge chunk of glacial ice melted, leaving a large depression, is now managed by the Nature Conservancy.
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| The Hill Prairie
Iowa is home to a rare ecosystem, the Hill Prairie, which features hundreds of species of grasses and flowering plants.
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| Sharp-Tailed Grouse
The Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse, once extinct in Oregon, is making a comeback thanks to wildlife officials and private landowners.
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