This week, I've found two different brief opportunities to poke around some local prairies with my camera. Both prairies were nice remnant (unplowed) grasslands with a good diversity of early season wildflowers, native sedges, and other little treasures. My first stop was at Gjerloff Prairie, a terrific loess hills prairie owned and managed by Prairie…

The Prairie Ecologist

14.05.2025

The Post-Grazing Party – Part 2 | The Prairie Ecologist

Earlier this month, I wrote about a project I'm undertaking this year to illustrate what we see happening in prairies that enter their first year of growth following a long period of intense grazing. The ways prairie plants and animals respond after that kind of grazing are some of the most fun and fascinating interactions…

The Prairie Ecologist

15.05.2025

The Penstemon Lumberjack Mystery | The Prairie Ecologist

Shell-leaf penstemon in a restored grassland at the Platte River Prairies back in 2021. One of my favorite wildflowers is the spectacular shell-leaf penstemon (Penstemon grandiflorus). It's one of the showiest of the opportunistic wildflowers in our prairies. Shell-leaf penstemon thrives under heavy grazing, in sandy and/or low-productivity soils, or other places where most other…

The Prairie Ecologist

22.05.2025

Photos of the Week – May 21, 2025 | The Prairie Ecologist

I'm already missing my square meter plot and that whole project, but I'm soldiering on and finding other fun photographic opportunities. It's been fun to watch the growing season jump into full speed, despite really dry conditions. We've gotten some good rain across much of the state this last week or so, but most of…

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Photos of the Week – May 8, 2025 | The Prairie Ecologist

The Post-Grazing Party – Part 2 | The Prairie Ecologist

The Penstemon Lumberjack Mystery | The Prairie Ecologist

Photos of the Week – May 21, 2025 | The Prairie Ecologist

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