#ILovePrairieBecause

  #ILOVEPRAIRIEBECAUSE

The prairie stole my heart some 6 years ago, but the process was not sudden, or at least I did not realize how much the prairie meant to me until few month passed. See, I got introduced to the prairie by my passion for wetlands. As people might now, you cannot work with wetlands in Illinois and ignore the prairie. The health of one depends on another, as there are no clear boundaries and just a slow gradient of moisture and soil conditions that determines (and feeds back) into the difference between prairie and wetland. But I digress…

A while ago TNC Illinois asked on twitter why do you (meaning we, you and I) love the prairie and it got me thinking…. And then there was the hashtag created #ILovePrairieBecause and I just had to put my thoughts on paper because there are so many reasons. Almost every day I can think of something else, here are some reasons why I do, indeed, enjoy the prairie so much

-          #ILovePrairieBacause it calms me. I cannot explain it - there is just something in the prairie, the green, the blue and vastness (in places where it is vast) that appeals to my prehistoric sense of beauty. If you think about this – as our species evolved and migrated through Africa we went through a lot of plains, grasslands, etc.  I actually shared this thought with one awesome volunteer once and she texted me afterwards saying there is research supporting that thought (so I probably just heard it on the radio and did not think of it myself). Supposedly children up to a certain age prefer the grassland and/or savanna  landscape and then it shifts when we are older and had time for more cultural “imprints”

-          #ILovePrairieBacause  it is a constant challenge! Can you say so many species so little time?! And I am not only talking about the plants, but birds, insects, fungi you name it! There is always one more plant to learn, one more scientific name to remember (I am SO hopeless at these), one more variation to identify. It challenges my sense of beauty, paying attention to the detail, vocabulary (yes – try to identify a sedge and find yourself using a botanical dictionary), stamina… you name it

-          #ILovePrairieBacause  of the sky (probably connected to the first point). I have seen lightning strike the prairie! It is the mightiest thing ever. More impressive and grand than the same look in the mountains. When I saw lightning hit the Rocky Mountains it was powerful, loud, grand. But somehow, deep inside I felt like the mountains are tough and “can take it”, almost like daring the lightning to strike it. But the prairie has none of that arrogance. It just exists, just takes it while the atmospheric discharge pounds on it. It is not “moved” by it. Quite opposite the prairie says ”bring it on, water my plants, bring a fire and good disturbance to me, let me use you to shape myself.”  But it is not just the might of the thunder and lightning, it is the clouds that are high, or hang low on other days. It is the numerous shades of blue, gray and purple, it is how the sky meets the prairie. There is just something unexplainable about it

-          #ILovePrairieBacause it is resilient. It uses the disturbance to open up possibilities for new plants to come in (yes, those adopted to disturbance). Like a phoenix it grows from the ashes and gets stronger. It can deal with one of the biggest mammals gnawing on it and actually “turn” this situation to its advantage. It has withstand the biggest destruction caused to it by people. It is adopting to climate change as we speak (but is it fast enough?)

-          #ILovePrairieBacause it is unexpected… in so many different ways. We often refer to it as the upside down rainforest, as most of its biomass is underground. It is unexpected in other ways, the diversity in a meter square quadrant, for example… I think the most I ever encountered were just over 40 species but there are accounts of more… As the moisture gradient changes so does its plant community, as the weeks progress so does its color. The prairie is hardly ever the same any one week. And the more we learn about it the more we find out… carbon storage? Sure more efficient than some forests! Denitirification of excess nutrients? Just let those wetlands do their part. Water storage after a big storm? Saving taxpayers millions of dollars every year. The list goes on

-          #ILovePrairieBacause it rejoices and reenergizes my soul and mind. Makes me believe in something bigger. Gives me strength and purpose and makes me believe that indeed, I can leave this world just a little bt better than I found it.

MarshMaiden reserves the right to add more examples to this list but it is getting late and she is also tired (and apparently refers to herself in 3^rd person)