Iowa
Home of the
Prairie
Two hundred years ago, most of
Iowa was a tall grass prairie.
Prairie grasses and flowers
made up about 85 percent
of Iowa’s countryside.
Plants and animals lived and
thrived in the prairie ecosystem.
Plants are the primary producers
of food in the prairie food chain.
Insects and small mammals like
rabbits and mice ate the flowers
and grasses.
Predators like coyotes, snakes
and hawks ate the plant eaters.
Sitting at the top of the food
chain were cougars, bears and
wolves.
Scavengers and decomposers like
vultures and earthworms broke
down dead plants and animals.
Plants and animals formed a
healthy prairie community for
many years.
During the 1800s, people began
to settle in Iowa. Unfortunately,
this began to upset the stability
of the prairie.
European settlers plowed up
much of the prairie and turned
Iowa’s rich soil into farmland.
Also, there were no restrictions
on hunting at the time so some
animals became scarce and that
also upset nature’s balance.
Iowa’s woodlands and wetlands
also suffered, but the prairies
were the most affected.
Without the plants, other
members of the prairie
food chain had to find
new homes or face extinction.
Herds of buffalo would no longer
roam freely through Iowa’s tall
grass prairie.
Of the 30 million acres in Iowa
that once were covered in
prairie, less than 1/10th of 1%
remains.
Fortunately, there is something
we all can do about it.
Today, many individuals and
groups are working to preserve
and restore prairies in Iowa.
Prairie grasses and flowers are
popping up along Iowa’s
roadsides.
State and county workers are
planting grasses and prairie
flowers in roadside ditches.
They are using the native plants
to stop soil erosion and eliminate
pesky weeds.
By restoring prairie land in Iowa,
we improve the health of our
environment.
These and other remaining
prairie wildlife areas are home to
insects that pollinate the crops
and birds that control other
problem insects.
The roadside prairies offer
beauty as well as more habitat
for wildlife.
Native Iowa plants with their
deep root systems increase soil
fertility and stability.
People are working to preserve
prairies around the state, such
as at Loess Hills in western Iowa.
Other people are starting prairie
plots at schools or in their own
backyards.
You can make a difference.
Illustrations used in this presentation come from
the following sources:
ClipArt.com
Iowa : Portrait of the Land. Des Moines: Iowa
Department of Natural Resources, 2000.
Iowa Department of Transportation Living
Roadway Trust Fund web site.
Iowa Prairies (booklet). Iowa Association of
Naturalists.
As well as …
MacAulay, Kelley and Bobbie Kalman. Prairie Food
Chains. New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2005.
Lumholtz, Carl. Unknown Mexico, Vol. 1. Source:
Project Gutenberg.
Prairie Seedling and Seeding Evaluation Guide.
Iowa Department of Transportation.
Roadside Vegetation Q&A (brochure). Iowa
Department of Transportation.
This is the end of this
story but it can be the
beginning of the solution
if you choose to help!
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