The Soundtrack of Spring on the Platte River
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
3d ago
I want to thank everyone who submitted questions in response to a post from last month requesting them. I think I’ve responded to everyone, though not always with a robust or satisfactory answer. As I frequently tell people, I’m far from an expert on all things prairie (and am absolutely not the insect identification expert people often think I am). In fact, as many of the other ‘more mature in age’ readers will empathize with, my expertise seems to diminish each year as I become increasingly aware of how complex the world truly is. Anyway, if you haven’t already, I encourage you to scan throu ..read more
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Is Prairie Stewardship Hampered By Our History Goggles?
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
1M ago
I often think one of the biggest issues we face in grassland restoration and management is that we’re a little too stuck in the past.  This expresses itself in various ways, but I think it’s a nearly universal issue with everyone involved in prairie ecology and stewardship.  To one degree or another, we’re all looking backward.  Let me explain. We’ve all stood on a hill and stared into the distance, trying to envision what that view would have been a few hundred years ago. An obvious example of what I’m talking about appears in prairie restoration (reconstruction) when someone’s ..read more
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Ask the Prairie Ecologist – Again
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
1M ago
Do you have questions about prairies and don’t know what to do about it? “What are panic grasses so worried about?” or “What did Katy do, anyway?” Or maybe you have questions on more applied topics such as, “What factors should I consider if I want to manage my prairie for a robust pollinator community?” or “What are my options for prairie management if I’m not allowed to use fire?” Well, here’s your chance. I’m bringing back the popular (to me) segment of this blog called, “Ask the Prairie Ecologist.” Katydids always look a little guilty, I think. Some of you will remember this from a few yea ..read more
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Photos of the Year – 2023 (6/6)
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
1M ago
Well, it’s February, 2024 – the perfect time to share the last of my posts containing my favorite photos from 2023. Other blogs share those kinds of photos series at the end of a year, or – at the latest – a few days into the next. I, however, eschew convention, and will share ‘best of’ photos whenever I feel like it. Also, I’ve been really busy. Eastern box turtle. Osage Hills State Park, Oklahoma. Most of my photography takes place in Nebraska. That’s largely due to the fact that I live here. Of course, it’s also a worthwhile place to photograph, with incredible diversity and beauty, though ..read more
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Come work with us! Now Hiring – Niobrara Valley Preserve Stewardship Manager
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
2M ago
The Niobrara Valley Preserve encompasses a wide variety of habitats, including prairie, woodland, streams, and about 25 miles of the Niobrara River. If you’ve followed this blog for very long, you’ve seen lots of photos and stories from the Niobrara Valley Preserve. It’s a spectacular place, located on the northern edge of the Nebraska Sandhills – the largest contiguous prairie landscape in North America. Would you like to work there? Of course you would!  Well… The Nature Conservancy is hiring a stewardship manager at the Niobrara Valley Preserve (NVP) in north-central Nebraska (near the town ..read more
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Photos of the Year – 2023 (5)
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
2M ago
It’s arguably too late for this, but I’ve still got two posts prepared that highlight some of my favorite photos from 2023. I figured I might as well post them before it gets any later. This is the second-to-last one and features images from the Nebraska panhandle. I think this is narrow-leaved musineon (Musineon tenuifolium). It seemed to be thriving without much soil fertility at Courthouse and Jail Rocks near Bridgeport, Nebraska.Cliff swallows gathering mud for nest construction.Prairie buckbean, aka prairie golden-pea, golden banner, yellow pea, prairie bean, and false lupine. And probabl ..read more
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12,000 Years of Bison Behavior in the Central U.S. – Interview with Dr. Chris Widga
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
2M ago
This is a post I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Bison, of course, are one of North America’s most iconic and revered species, and for good reasons. As well-known as they are, however, there are a lot of misconceptions about both their current and historic roles in prairies. After several years of helpful interactions with Dr. Chris Widga, I asked him if he’d be willing to share his research and perspectives with this audience through an interview. Fortunately for all of us, he said yes. Bison are much revered and culturally significant prairie species. They also look really cool when they co ..read more
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New Year, New Quiz
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
2M ago
Well, if you’re reading this, you’ve made it to 2024. Great work, everyone. This is the year all our efforts to convince people that prairies are amazing will finally pay off. Right? Right. Also, a new year is as good an excuse as any to test your ecological knowledge with a serious, no-frills nature quiz. Unfortunately, you’re reading The Prairie Ecologist blog and that’s not the kind of quizzes we have here. Instead, you get this weirdness…  Good luck, and enjoy! What is happening in this photo? A. An insect larva is emerging from a seed pod after consuming all the seeds from within it. B ..read more
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Photos of the Week (Again) – December 29, 2023
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
3M ago
I know I just posted some “photos of the week” a few days ago, but I spent a magical few hours on Thursday morning at Prairie Plains Resource Institute’s Gjerloff Prairie and couldn’t resist sharing some of the images from that trip. Though we’d just gotten a nice snowfall, I hadn’t planned to leave the house that morning because the forecast had called for overcast skies. I was awake well before sunrise, though, reading a book, when I noticed that the sky outside my window seemed a little brighter than seemed right for overcast skies.  I peered out into a foggy morning and tried to decide whe ..read more
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Photos of the Week – December 26, 2023
The Prairie Ecologist
by Chris Helzer
3M ago
Happy Holidays, everyone! We got five or six inches of snow over the weekend, bringing in the winter with style. I’m hoping for a little sunshine later this week, but I couldn’t wait and decided to take an afternoon walk under overcast skies at Lincoln Creek Prairie. It was a really pleasant hour of exploration. Here are a few of my favorite photos from that walk. Stiff sunflower (Helianthus pauciflorus) and snow. Lincoln Creek Prairie, Aurora, Nebraska.Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) seeds scattered on the snow by feeding birds. I wasn’t the only one who’d been in the snow today. Apart from ..read more
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