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Overcoming Guilt

What might be better than overcoming guilt is overcoming ignorance.  

Native thistles are part of the prairie community and generally are a
response to disturbance by herbivores, fire, or other natural events like
burrowing mammals.  They eventually disappear as succession proceeds, and
are replaced by a more stable plant community of grasses and forbs.  Their
importance to certain species should be overlooked simply because you may
not like them.  Yesterday I found a goldfinch nest with 6 eggs in a field
thistle, the nest was lined with thistle down. The parent birds eat seed
then regurgitating them as food for their young.  They are also used
extensively as a food source by a host of butterflies and other insect
species.  

We always notice that native thistles tend to be the most common the 3rd
year of a prairie reconstruction.  After this they are represented by only
scattered individuals.  Most are biennials and flower the second year,
except for the Canadian thistles which are perennial and spread by rhizomes.
We remove them from our plantings by pulling and have very good results.  

Learn your thistles and you will find them to be an important part of the
tallgrass prairie community.  

Carl Kurtz
Central Iowa
----------
>From: "J. A. Raasch" <jaraasch@facstaff.wisc.edu>
>To: prairie list <prairie@mallorn.com>
>Subject: Overcoming Guilt
>Date: Fri, Aug 6, 1999, 11:59 PM
>

> Hello:
>
>This is perhaps more philosophical than my previous questions. As I was
>hacking down a small area of thistle plants I suddenly felt some guilt over
>the destruction  I'm responsible for. On prior days I had noticed that
>red-wing blackbirds nest in thistle patches. I also noticed numerous birds
>(including yellow finches) eating seeds or  insects from the noxious
>plants. Please convince me that  a healthy grassland or savanna habitat --
>even just a few  acres -- will balance the destruction. Is there an
>alternative food source I can establish for the finches?
>
>Sometimes I worry too much.
>
>Thank you for your views!
>J. A. Raasch
>University of Wisconsin - Madison
>Plant Biotechnology Laboratory
>UWBC 425 Henry Mall
>Madison, WI   53706
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