This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: ?

James C. Trager wrote:
> 
> 1. Your State Geological Survey or Department of Natural Resources
> should have authoritative maps and figures (and their sources) on the
> actual land area of remnant native vegetation. The 0.1% figure sounds
> right. Also, a good estimate of the past extent of prairie might be
> arrived at by getting the figures on corn and soybean acreage, since
> it's mostly original prairie that has ended up with that present
> fate.
> 
> 2. J.E. Weaver's work on uptake of precipitation by prairie in
> Nebraska is thoroughly researched, classic and still valid. It is
> reviewed in his book "The North American Prairie".
> 
> > Date:          Tue, 09 Mar 1999 18:03:19 -0600
> > From:          Mary Jane Hatfield <oneota@ames.net>
> > To:            Prairie L <prairie@mallorn.com>
> > Subject:       ?
> > Reply-to:      prairie@mallorn.com
> 
> > A friend asked me...
> >
> > "I had a message from a woman asking for documentation (a
> > source to site) for the statements :
> > 1- Native prairie soaks up ~12 inches of precipitation/hour ---
> > 2- less than 1% of native prairie is left in Iowa
> > the number I usually hear is "less than .1 of 1% or less than 1/2 od 1%
> > of Iowa's native prairie remains"
> > I think how they define native prairie is important in backing the
> > numbers-"
> >
> > Can anyone be of help?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > MJ Hatfield
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> > message text UNSUBSCRIBE PRAIRIE
> >
> James C. Trager
> Shaw Arboretum
> P.O. Box 38
> Gray Summit MO 63039
> PH# 314-451-3512
> FAX 314-451-5583
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PRAIRIE


The present acreage of corn and soybean acreage would overestimate the
acreage of original prairie.  There is a vast amount of land that is now
devoted to these two crops that formed under forest vegetation.  The
best way to get accurate figures is to consult soil surveys and
determine the acreage of soils classified as "Mollisols"  these soils
formed under prairie vegetation..  Much of our corn and soybean acreage
is grown on "Alfisols" and were formed under forest vegetation.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PRAIRIE
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index