Soil is more than dirt

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Soil is more than dirt

• We covered the biotic part
• food web of a healthy soil
• But what about the abiotic part?
• Mineral, rock, clay, sand, loam, loess, humus
• mollisols prairie soil
• C deep grass roots
• Black and rich
• in warm moist
• tall grass prairies

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Midwest rich in mollisols
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Nielsen and Hole, 1963
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Soil Layers

• Shaped by history and the weather
• Glacial loess, river wash
• Microbial activity temperature
• Microbial activity water
• Microbial activity biomass from grass
• Microbial activity releases minerals
• Sandy soil, low microbes,
• Water available but no holding power

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Home on the Range

• Chapter 5

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Tablelands
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Grassland Savannah Birds

• Migration patterns
• Reproductive cycles
• Habitat preferences
• Food requirements
• Wait for Aarons lecture
• but have a look and a listen locally

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http//www.chicagowilderness.org/pubprod/atlaspdf/
chap3.pdf
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Extinct Species

• Passenger Pigeon
• at one time the population was thought to be in
  the billions
• flew in enormous flocks
• John Audubon estimated on flock he saw at over
  one billion

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Passenger Pigeon

• large flocks would strip all the foliage
• leaving the area bare
• people declared war on the birds
• killing all they could find

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Passenger Pigeon

• captured the young and killed them, shipped them
  to cities as food
• flocks soon disappeared
• NY, PA and MA passed laws to protect them

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Passenger Pigeon

• laws were too late
• birds held in captivity would not breed
• last known passenger pigeon died in the
  Cincinnati Zoo in 1914

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Passenger Pigeon

• body of last passenger pigeon is on display at
  the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC

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Endangered Birds

• there are 124 birds on the endangered species
  list.
• The most common are the whooping crane, bald
  eagle, ivory-billed woodpecker, and prairie
  chicken.

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Prairie Chickens

• is a type of grouse
• Indian dances imitated their mating dances
• oil drilling and drought dwindled the population
• in 1959 the Prairie Chicken Foundation was formed
  to protect them

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Endangered Mammals

• 133 on the endangered list distributed by the US
  Dept. of the Interior

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Common endangered

• big horn sheep, polar bears,
• key deer, wolves
• mountain lions
• most hunted extensively without considering
  extinction

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Endanger Fish

• there are 25 fish on endangered species list
• 2 species are located in Mammoth Caves and Death
  Valley (pupfish and blind fish)

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Buffalo or Bison? What would each side say?
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Scientific Classification

• Buffalo, several species
• African buffalo, Syncerus caffer is distinctive
  for its helmet-like horns and ferocity

• Bison, often called American bison there is
  also a European bison
• Binomial, scientific name Bison bison
• B. bison is distinctive for its horns, humped
  back and head fur
• Asian water buffalo, Bubalus bubalus bubalis

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Hierarchical classification of species B. bison

• Kingdom Animalia
•   Phylum Chordata spinal chord
•     Class Mammalia suckle young on milk
•       Order Artiodactyla
•         Family Bovidae
•           Subfamily Bovinae related to cows
•             Genus Bison

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American bison
European bison
http//www.ultimateungulate.com/Cetartiodactyla/Bo
vinae.html
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Jordan Creek Bison Farm
Quynn Kapfer
Marta McCormick
Matt Stefani
Lisa Schooley
Jeff White
Jordon Creek Bison Farm, 1837 Jordan Creek Road,
Solon, IA 52333
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Strengths, Opportunities, and Threats

• STRENGTHS
• Buffalo meat has a large nutritional value.
• Buffalo meat is a specialty meat that is now
  beginning to break into the market.
• Low fat, low cholesterol, high protein red meat
• Can be cooked in various ways and available
• in different cuts
• Extreme health benefits compared to common meats
• Richer flavor compared to common meats.

situational analysis
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THE
INTERAGENCY BISON MANAGEMENT PLAN

FOR YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK AND MONTANA
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The Interagency Bison Management Plan . . .
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IBMP
PURPOSE
Maintain a wild, free-ranging population of bison.
Address the risk of brucellosis transmission ...
to protect the economic interest and viability of
the livestock industry in the state of Montana.
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INTERIOR IN WINTER
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NORTHERN RANGE IN WINTER
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Winter movements of bison on the northern range
are most likely to be in a northerly direction
(towards lower elevations) in large numbers.
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Benefits of prairie grazing

• Promotes species diversity
• Increases light availability to plants, promoting
  photosynthesis and growth
• Can change species composition
• Decreases woody plant
• growth while promoting
• grazing-tolerant plants.

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Disadvantages of large grazers in the Arboretum

• Interferes with human usage
• Difficult to rotate grazing areas
• Maintenance cost of large grazers
• Cattle are not as effective grazers as bison
• Mowing is an easier alternative