Free State Prairie
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Lawrence Free State High School
Mammalian soil disturbance, plant cover, and soil nitrogen in a prairie restoration.
Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Sciences 123: 179-190.
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The abstract is shown below, along with comments by one of the authors, Courtney Barnes. Courtney was an undergraduate at University of Kansas and she took two years of data on small mammal burrowing at Free State Prairie. She also collected and analyzed soil samples. Courtney combined these data with vegetation data from the permanent 1 m x 1 m plots. Courtney did many analyses and initial writing but then moved to Arizona, so Helen Alexander, Ben Sikes, and Bob Timm (all University of Kansas faculty) wrote the final paper.
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Abstract. Small mammal disturbances in tallgrass prairies are known to influence a variety of ecosystem properties, including plant establishment, plant diversity, and soil nutrient dynamics. We explored direct and indirect effects of mammalian soil disturbance on a newly established grassland restoration site. In 2016–2017, we measured variation in small mammal soil disturbance, plant cover, and total inorganic nitrogen, all within the same plots. Within our site, interior plots had greater disturbance than plots located near site edges. On average, plots with high soil disturbance in 2016 had high disturbance in 2017, and disturbance in the first year was greater than in the second year. Soil disturbance was associated with an overall decline in grass cover and an increase in forb cover (especially Asteraceae). However, there were no associations between soil disturbance and either inorganic nitrogen or plant species richness/diversity on the new restoration site. Our study supports the important link between prairie plant communities and small mammal soil disturbance, potentially creating heterogeneity that is important for tallgrass prairie restoration and conservation.
Researcher highlight: Courtney Barnes
My name is Courtney Barnes and I graduated from the University of Kansas in 2018 with degrees in Ecology Evolutionary Biology as well as Environmental studies. I worked at the Free State Prairie site for a few years while at KU and studied how small burrowing mammal disturbance had affected the soils. I loved getting to involve myself with research through this site. I think it was the perfect reflection of how science really works, and I loved getting a taste of doing my own research while pursuing my undergraduate studies. I also loved working in the high school classrooms to help share some of this science- I think it sparked the education path that I am on today.
After graduating from KU, I went to pursue a graduate degree in Science Education at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. My current research interests are no longer in biology, but in the education that surrounds teaching science. I am currently working on my thesis and studying how educators can use culturally relevant teaching in STEM classrooms.