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

primal prairie records


About prairie rainfall uptake:  there are two references which I recall
clearly, but for which I have lost the citations:

1.  Up to the first two inches in the first hour of a heavy rainfall, on a
prairie later in the season, did not reach the ground;  it was adsorbed onto
the leaf surfaces and into the cylinders that ensheath the culms (by running
down the blades and through the ligules).

2.  The root mass above the soil surface was up to 2ins thick.  It was so
tenacious of water that it remained soggy through August, and foot
travellers had to wear boots to prevent water soaking into their shoes.


And here is another request:

3.  Do you know of any listings of papers that were written by contemporary,
original, observers of the prairies; those could be published reports, or
unpublished theses.  And, if not

4.  Do you know of any such papers.  Here, for example is one:
  BENTLEY H L   1898?
 Cattle Ranges of the Southwest
  USDA, Farmers’ Bull. No 72
Under the subtitle  ‘a history of the exhaustion of the pasturage and
suggestions for its restoration’ he describes the condition and flora of the
prairie when it was first invaded in 1860.  He was Special Agent in Charge
of the Grass Station at Abilene, TX.  He records, and bemoans, its rapid
destruction by overgrazing.  Gripping stuff, with species descriptions.

Geoff


---------------------------------------------------------------------
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