Prairie Plants

The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network has sampled permanent monitoring sites in three vegetation community types (restored prairie, successional forest, and bur oak forest) at Homestead National Historical Park.

Explore the unique prairie plant universe and learn how these carbon based lifeforms thrive in their environment and impacted homesteaders! On Saturday, July 27 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Homestead’s Education Center discover the mysterious world of the plants of the tallgrass prairie. The Carbon Based Lifeforms Detected program will be followed by a take-home craft activity.

Invasive plants harm the fertile prairie and cover up historic artifacts. Park staff use a variety of strategies to keep them at bay.

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Homestead National Historical Park, and Pipestone National Monument all protect tallgrass prairie communities. We monitor the plants in these parks to understand how the prairies may be changing over time. Analyzing data from all three parks together helps managers understand how similar management actions at other parks are affecting prairie maintenance. Pipestone National Monument prairies have some unique geology that makes the plant

Prairies and savannas were common where George Washington Carver spent his childhood in Southwest Missouri but now less than 1% of Missouri's tallgrass prairie remains. George Washington Carver National Monument reconstructed tallgrass prairie on the park in 1985 and uses prescribed burns, mowing, and herbicides to maintain the prairie. The restored prairie is doing well and the diversity of plant species hasn't changed very much over time.

The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Program monitors prairie plant communities at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Managers use prescribed fire and grazing treatments to maintain healthy tallgrass prairie and conserve greater prairie-chickens on the park. Monitoring prairies helps managers evaluate management actions and understand how the prairies may be changing over time.

Restoration of Wilson's Creek National Battlefield prairies began in the 1970s. Prescribed fire, mowing, and herbicide treatments help maintain prairie plant communities at the park. The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network monitors the restored prairies to help park managers understand how the prairies may be changing over time.

Tallgrass prairie once covered over 170 million acres in North America. Today less than 4% remains. With fertile soil and the beneficial interaction of three fundamental forces, climate, fire, and grazing, the tallgrass prairie ecosystem is ideal for the growth of grasses.

In 2007, the Rocky Mountain Inventory and Monitoring Network—a small team of NPS scientists—began monitoring natural resources, called “vital signs,” in Grant-Kohrs Ranch and nearby park units. Vital signs indicate park health and serve as red flags if conditions deteriorate, supporting park managers’ efforts to make science-based management decisions. Learn about the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Division and its work in Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.

There are three prairie types at Pipestone National Monument, including a rare type called Sioux quartzite prairie. We monitor the park prairies to understand how they might be changing over time and to evaluate the effectiveness of park management efforts—like prescribed fire—in maintaining healthy prairies.