[PCA] Grasses--why used for 1997 Megatransect?

Craig Dremann craig at astreet.com
Thu Sep 28 17:22:04 CDT 2006


Dear Wayne and All,

I don't want you, or other readers of my 1997 Western Megatransect data,
to misunderstand that I believe that there were originally solid
grasslands everywhere, or that solid grasslands should be replanted
everywhere.

I used the native perennial grasses for my western Megatransect survey,
for at least for two reasons: 

1.) Within nearly every north American native ecosystem, from deserts to
forests, there were originally species of native grasses that formed a
portion of those ecosystems' understories--native perennial grasses are
a common-denominator for non-riparian ecosystems nation-wide in the
lower 48 States.

Areas that have a high percentage of those original native grasses and a
low percentage of introduced grasses and other weeds, could be
considered by most ecologists, botanists, and ecological restorationists
as high quality ecosystems--you could perhaps even call them "pristine".

These "pristine" areas have great ecological value, in that there's only
a few percentage of the roadsides of each State, where you can still
find these relatively intact examples of original ecosystems.  

"Pristine" areas, if protected and preserved, could be studied as models
for future restoration projects, and also provide the local native seed
sources, for a program like the Iowa DOT roadside native replanting or
"Ecotype Project.".

2.) When conducting any roadside ecosystem-quality survey---and
especially if you are going to attempt a 3,400 mile-by-mile
survey---it's always a really good idea to pick a type of plant that
stands out!  Fortunately, most of the native grasses of North America do
that job very well.  

I'm currently working on the 1997 Megatransect data for Colorado, South
Dakota and Wyoming, and while I reading the notebooks, I'm remembering
the herds of pronghorns I saw in Wyoming and South Dakota, and the
unfenced family of bison along the roadside in South Dakota.

And one afternoon, as I crossed the Wyoming/South Dakota border on the
way to Hot Springs SD (which is the easternmost point of the transect),
I drove through a 3 mile wide swarm of dragonflies and millions of moths
that were flying over the grasslands there.

I hope Wayne and everyone else who travels, and goes and looks at the
native plants along the roadsides, has many fun adventures, like I did
doing the 1997 Western and 2005 Mojave Megatransects.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333




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