Science

How these state scientists plan to restore some prairie grasslands

SDPB Radio | By SDPB Staff

Published January 14, 2022 at 1:35 PM CST

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Test plots are being prepared in a brome hay meadow at South Dakota State University’s Oak Lake Field Station near Astoria that will help associate professor Lora Perkins and assistant professor Maribeth Latvis of the Department of Natural Resource Management assess how increasing the biodiversity of prairie restoration mixes, specifically species richness, genetic composition and relatedness, may impact soil health and pollinator habitat. Planting will begin in May.

The attached interview above is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment.

Associate professor Lora Perkins of the Department of Natural Resource Management surveys her wildflower plots.

A group of grassland scientists led by associate professor Lora Perkins and assistant professor Maribeth Latvis of SDSU’s Department of Natural Resource Management are looking at how biodiversity of plant restoration can impact soil restoration and pollinator habitat.

The research is part of a three-year $650,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service grant. This summer the researchers will plant 480 plots with various mixtures of grasses and wildflowers and then measure changes in soil health and pollinator habitat.

Learn more by clicking here.

ssistant professor Maribeth Latvis of the Department of Natural Resource Management points out a species of Castilleja, also known as paintbrush, that is endemic to the high elevation plateau in Utah.