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Oak Savanna Restoration

The predominant plant community at Whiterock is oak-dominated forest, covering about 1,200 acres of the total landscape. Oak savanna, an ecosystem that was once widely distributed in the state of Iowa, is currently one of the most endangered in the region, with less than 0.1% of the original tract remaining.

Oak savanna is characterized by two layers: an overstory of scattered, widespread oaks (mostly bur and black oaks here at Whiterock) with an understory of wildflowers, sedges and grasses. The open spaces created by oak savannas have high aesthetic and economic value. Oak savannas contribute to vital ecosystem services such as water quality protection, flood control, air quality improvement and creation of wildlife habitat.

Whiterock Conservancy is actively restoring oak savanna habitat through the reintroduction of fire, periodic grazing, and mechanical removal of invasive shrubs and trees. In 2009, WRC restored 100 acres of degraded oak savanna, with the help of an AmeriCorps/NCCC team, a grant from USFWS Landowners Incentive Program, and support from our 300+ donors.

  

  

Help Us Save the Oaks. Make a Donation Today!

 

Learn more on our Natural History page. 

Native Prairies

Much like the state of Iowa, the vast majority of the Whiterock Conservancy landscape was historically covered in tall and mid-grass prairies. Today, very little remains. Currently, a total of 26 acres of native prairie remnants and 600 acres of reconstructed prairie are present on the property, 240-acres of which were recently planted in the fall of 2008, and 110 acres in 2009.

While highly intact as a land base, much of Whiterock is in need of intense restoration efforts to protect and conserve rare habitats and restore key ecosystem functions and services. Like oak savannas, prairies on Whiterock Conservancy lands are also managed with prescribed fire and mechanical removal of invasive species. In addition, some of our prairie acreages are being integrated into the rotational grazing program.

Innovative Land Restoration: Brome-to-Prairie Transition

Whiterock Conservancy's goal of expanding biodiversity on the landscape and promoting multi-use land management decisions has prompted a Brome-to-Prairie transition program. In order to increase diversity of our current cool-season pastures that are dominated by non-native smooth brome, WRC is beginning to interseed native prairie species on the same piece of ground. In the end, we hope to significantly reduce levels of off-farm inputs in the form of herbicides and fertilizers. These are the steps we've taken: 

1. Leased land to a local rancher to "graze down" all of the standing vegetation to prepare a no-till seedbed for conventional soybean production.
2. Worked with a local farmer to plant soybeans. Herbicides were used to reduce weed pressure on the crop and to prepare the seedbed for prairie reconstruction after soybean harvest. Soybean income helped to fund the purchase of prairie seeds.
3. Obtained cost-share funding to purchase a diverse seed mix by enrolling the land in CRP's new State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) initiative.
4. Worked with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Private Lands Biologist to obtain support to purchase rare wildflower seeds for the prairie planting.
5. Developed a management plan for the CRP prairie acres, including prescribed fire and grazing as tools to maintain diversity and reduce invasive species.

Planting the Prairie Pasture

Smooth brome is a cool season perennial mostly used for pastures and grazing. Unfortunately, as a single-species stand, it is much less resilient than a diverse native prairie, which allows for the formation of niche habitats for an array of bird and mammal species. Unlike bromegrass, which is wind-pollinated, native prairies provide nectar opportunities for a variety of birds and insects. This habitat and food source are an important aspect which augments our status as an DNR-designated Bird Conservation Area. As our CRP lands came out of contract, we began to transition the landscape into a mixed grass prairie. Sixty species were planted in the fall of 2008, seeding a total of 240 acres. The land will continue to serve as a pasture for tenant cattle, but in addition, serve many other plant and animal communities.

 

Help Us Plant more Prairie. Make a Donation Today!

Prescribed Fire 

The Land Stewardship Program Area at Whiterock Conservancy focuses on using a variety of tools to foster a healthy and resilient environment. 

Historically, fire was an important part of Iowa's landscape. It helped to create and maintain habitat, recycle nutrients and maintain a level of ecosystem functional balance on the land that helped minimize the impact of other disturbances, like flooding. Fire, an ecosystem disturbance, has been dramatically curbed on the Iowa landscape over the last 100 years, resulting in a highly degraded and poorly functioning Iowa ecosystem.

By re-introducing fire to the landscape Whiterock Conservancy is able to restore the land's native plant communities, which remain more resilient to change and help us to better achieve additional economic, conservation and recreation goals. With careful planning and under managed conditions, fire can be one of the single most effective land management tools available to a rural Iowa landowner and/or manager. 

Most prescribed burns are conducted when humidity is low, winds are light and fuel dryness is just right.

 

Help Us Expand our Prescribed Fire Program. Make a Donation  Today!

 

Volunteer to help burn at WRC

Rotational Grazing

Agricultural production is an important part of the Iowa landscape. Although economic production is a primary for many landowners, interestingly, some production systems, such as grazing beef cattle, are also an important part of the land's native disturbance regime.

WRC uses cattle grazing to model a system that helps rural landowners derive income from the land while also achieving restoration and conservation goals. In 2009, WRC implemented a sustainable pasture management system to create more effective cattle rotations to protect ground cover. Interior fences were constructed to exclude cattle from riparian areas.

In 2010, WRC plans to diversify forage stands by interseeding native species into grasslands and perform critical research to identify how to maximize the health of both native plant communities and the cattle that graze them.

We believe that under sound management, cattle grazing, in combination with other restoration tools, can act as a natural ecosystem disturbance that can help restore the land and earn income at the same time.