CRB: Competitive and Demographic Trade-offs: Restoration of Tallgrass Prairie

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The restoration of human altered landscapes to natural ecosystems provides an ideal test bed for ecological theory while yielding practical benefits to public and private sectors. For practitioners of restoration ecology, the establishment of native prairie on former agricultural or commercial land is often hindered by the competitive success of weedy species. Our research entails experiments to compare the performance of native North American prairie plants with the non-native species they compete against in restoration projects. We propose that the overall competitive ability of a population of plants, such as the native grass Big Bluestem, is the end result of a heirarchy of biological processes, from seed germination through death. In our study we will develop computer models of these species' long-term population dynamics under fertile or infertile soil conditions. By comparing model predictions with results from a prairie restoration we will test current theories of differential resource use among plants and the effect these differences have on the final species makeup of restored ecosystems. Ohio State University at Marion, where our field work will take place, is a small regional campus serving a largely agricultural community. We have entered into a science education partnership with an area high school to develop field exercises in which students will gather data in parallel with project scientists.