Upland gazette : North Carolina small game notes

              Spring 2002 / Volume 7, Issue 1 Published by the N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission

What’sInside…

u Piedmont Prairies . . . . . . . 3

u   The Forgotten Ones. . . . . . 4

u   Small Game Awards . . Back Page

u   Grant for the CURE. . . Back Page

University of Tennessee have been working

with the N. C. Wildlife Resources Commis-sion

on a study to answer questions about the

ecology and management of ruffed grouse.

Besides learning about nesting ecology, sur-vival,

and use of different forest types and

age classes, we also have learned quite a bit

about how and why grouse use openings.

Grouse poults, like young turkeys and

quail, feed upon insects and other inverte-brates

( such as spiders and snails) during

the first few weeks of life to fill their protein

and calcium requirements for bone and

tissue growth. Thus, habitats that provide

plenty of “ bugs,” along with suitable cover,

are very important. Generally, forest types

with an herbaceous understory are used for

brooding. In the southern Appalachians,

these stands are usually limited to north-and

east- facing slopes where it is relatively

cool and moist. The herbaceous layer is

important because it allows poults to feed

upon bugs within their reach and provides

cover from predators. In many areas, the

overstory in these stands blocks out sun-light,

which reduces available light in the

herbaceous layer. Therefore, in these undis-turbed

areas, a lack of brooding habitat may

be a limiting factor for grouse. In such sit-uations,

managing openings for additional

brood range could reduce daily move-ments

and exposure to predators, and in

turn increase brood survival.

C REATING AND MANAGING OPENINGS IS

a popular practice among land man-agers

and landowners interested in

wildlife. Openings can provide both food

and cover for many wildlife species. Use of

openings varies among species, time of year

and type of opening. For example, deer,

turkeys, groundhogs and rabbits relish

clovers in a food plot during spring. Male

woodcocks perform their sky dance in old

fields in winter. Quail nest in native warm-season

grasses during summer. Turkey and

quail broods search for insects and other

invertebrates in ragweed and brambles

during late spring and summer and con-sume

soft mast in summer and fall. And

deer and rabbits browse the woody stems

and twigs available in old fields through

fall and winter.

But what about grouse?

The ruffed grouse is primarily a bird of the

disturbed forest, and little is known about its

specific use of and requirements for openings.

Over the past three years, researchers at the

Managing Openings for Ruffed Grouse

Use of openings in fall and winter

All openings are not created equal. Some

are overgrown thickets; some are nothing

more than hayfields. Grouse use these open-ings

in different ways, depending on the

season, much like wild turkeys. In winter,

grouse in the southern Appalachians feed

on what little is available. Adiet analysis

from 110 birds collected along logging roads

in North Carolina and Virginia during March

of 1999 and 2000 showed grouse were feed-ing

on buds, catkins and twigs from birch,

azalea and serviceberry; leaves of Galax,

Christmas fern and mountain laurel; seed

from soft mast ( such as greenbriar, grape

and Viburnum); a few invertebrates; and

acorns and beechnuts. Herbaceous material

included several forbs ( broad- leaved herba-ceous

plants), such as clover, cinquefoil,

wild strawberry, ragwort and avens.

It is important to note that these birds were

collected along seeded logging roads, many

of which were dominated by orchardgrass.

Perennial cool- season grasses ( most notably

orchardgrass and fescue) present problems

when planted in openings created for grouse

and allowed to dominate. One or both of

these grasses are commonly sown with

clover. Unless mowed or grazed regularly,

the grass overtakes the clover. By the second

growing season, one is left with an opening

of cool- season grass— good for cows or

horses, but not grouse. Only regular

The Upland Gazette u   Sring 2002

Division of Wildlife Management

N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission

1722 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699- 1722

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$ 75,000 Grant for the

Program

The N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission

received a boost to its CURE ( Cooperative

Upland- habitat Restoration and Enhance-ment)

Program recently through the efforts

of the N. C. Chapter of Quail Unlimited. The

chapter applied for and received a $ 75,000

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant.

The grant requires matching funds, which

the Wildlife Commission was able to pro-vide.

Quail Unlimited then donated the

$ 75,000 in grant money to the Wildlife

Commission for work on private land to

benefit bobwhite quail and nongame early

successional birds through the CURE

program. The money will be used in 2001

and 2002 for management activities such as

burning and thinning timber land, removing

undesirable vegetation, promoting volun-teer

native warm- season grasses and

creating early successional habitat areas.

Continued on page 2

Small Game Awards

THE N. C. WILDLIFE RESOURCES COMMISSION PRESENTED ITS ANNUAL SMALLGAMEAWARDS TO

an individual award recipient and an organization award recipient during the August

Wildlife Commission meeting. These Small Game Awards recognize the outstanding

efforts by the public to enhance small game species and habitats. This year’s individual

award actually went to two people, William G. Clark III and William G. Clark IV of

Edgecombe County. The organization award winner this year was the Hunting Creek

Chapter of Quail Unlimited in Iredell County.

THE CLARKS MANAGE 4,000 ACRES IN EDGECOMBE COUNTY. ON THEIR CROPLAND, THE CLARKS

have created small game habitat by establishing hedgerows; removing trees from the

hedgerows; converting odd areas to brushy, early successional habitat; and using the no-till

planting method. The Clarks manage their timberland for small game, too, by thinning,

burning and creating a transition zone between forest and cropland. According to William

G. Clark IV, both father and son are avid quail hunters and have enjoyed working with

Wildlife Commission biologists to create habitat on their land.

THEHUNTING CREEK CHAPTER OF QUAILUNLIMITED WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN ESTABLISHING THE

Turnersburg Cooperative in Iredell County, the first cooperative of the Commission’s new

CURE ( Cooperative Upland- habitat Restoration and Enhancement) Program. The

Hunting Creek chapter worked with local landowners to maximize small game habitat

opportunities on private property. The chapter also raised funds for habitat creation

through U. S. Department of Agriculture programs and other grant opportunities.

3rd Eastern Native Grass Symposium

October 1- 3, 2002, at the North Carolina Botanical Garden and Friday Center, Chapel Hill,

N. C. For more information, phone ( 919) 962- 0522.

u

The Upland Gazette u   Spring 2002 5

u

perennial cool- season grasses, then your first

step should be spraying with a multi- purpose

herbicide such as Roundup ® . Burn the dead

material off the field in late winter, just before

spring green- up. That alone will stimulate

an opening full of naturally occurring forbs

that will provide excellent brood habitat.

Disking is another way to stimulate the seed

bank— just as it is done to improve quail

habitat. One way to take advantage of this is

by disking firebreaks around your openings.

Some sections of the firebreak may be

planted, and some can be left alone to

revegetate naturally.

Often openings have to be planted to

avoid erosion and runoff. An excellent mix

to use in these situations is ladino clover and

annual ryegrass or winter wheat ( there are

several other possibilities, including annual

clovers, oats and birdsfoot trefoil). Because

the ryegrass and wheat are annuals, they die

and leave a stand of clover after the first grow-ing

season. Although some of the annual rye-grass

may reseed naturally the following

year, it’s not a problem. Ryegrass does not

form a dense sod, especially at the following

rate: 8 lbs. ladino clover, 5 lbs. annual

ryegrass. Most of the soils in the

mountains of North Carolina are

low in pH, so liming ( usually two

to three tons per acre) is necessary

to grow a nice stand of clover.

After a few years, the pH is

going to go back down and

the clover is going to thin

out. For grouse, this is not

a problem because naturally

occurring forbs will pioneer

into the opening and offer good brood

habitat. Clovers can be maintained for a

longer period by topdressing with lime

and fertilizer in the fall and mowing after

flowering in late summer or fall.

Because grouse eat clover in fall and

winter and naturally occurring forbs provide

excellent brood habitat during spring and

summer, the best- case scenario is to manage

for both. You can do this by planting half of

the opening in clover and managing the

other half for “ naturals.” Another way is to

plant your firebreak in clovers and leave the

interior of the field to natural growth. The

openings left in natural growth should be

bush- hogged or burned every two or three

Established 1996

Published two times per year by the North Carolina

Wildlife Resources Commission, Division of Wildlife

Management. Designed by the Division of Conservation

Education. To become a subscriber, please send your

name and address to the following address: The Upland

Gazette, Division of Wildlife Management, N. C. Wildlife

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welcome. Send to the above address.

2 The Upland Gazette u   Spring 2002

mowing and maintenance will keep cool-season

grasses in check.

Use of openings in

spring and summer

Grouse use openings for brood range,

primarily because of invertebrate availabil-ity.

Invertebrate sampling within openings,

however, has shown that more invertebrates

are found within openings dominated by

forbs, not grasses. Openings dominated by

orchardgrass or fescue, or both, harbored

far fewer invertebrates than those openings

dominated by forbs. Further, orchardgrass

and fescue form a dense sod at ground level.

This, coupled with thatch build- up, consid-erably

limits movement by 2- to 5- inch tall

grouse poults . As a result, we have found

that grouse broods use the perimeter of

openings dominated by orchardgrass— that

is, along the edge of the opening underneath

the bramble growth where movement is not

impeded and invertebrates are available.

Grouse broods also have been observed

within the openings dominated by forbs. In

these openings, forbs form a “ canopy,” allow-ing

movement underneath while concealing

the broods overhead. Some of the best open-ings

for grouse are planted logging roads

with brambles and slash along the sides,

which provide escape cover nearby. As with

fields, mobility along roads is limited when

planted to perennial cool- season grasses.

What do you plant, and

how do you manage?

Given the detrimental effects of perennial

cool- season grasses, it is best to leave them

out of the mix when planting openings. In

fact, on many sites, it may not be necessary

to plant anything at all— just allow the seed

bank in the top few inches of soil to germi-nate.

If your opening presently consists of

years. If woody growth begins to be a prob-lem,

burn two or three years in a row. Burn-ing

is highly recommended. It consumes

litter buildup and clears the ground, which

makes invertebrates and seeds more avail-able

and stimulates herbaceous growth.

Patchiness and irregular

edge are good!

Grouse are edge creatures. They tend

to like it where two or more habitats come

together— much like quail. Thus, openings

shouldn’t be too large ( less than two acres),

and it’s best if the edge is irregular in shape.

If your opening is more than two acres,

consider breaking up the opening using

hedgerows of soft- mast- bearing species

( such as apple, crabapple, wild plum,

hawthorn, serviceberry, elderberry and

dogwood) and pines ( for additional cover

along the hedgerow). This will create addi-tional

cover and edge across the opening

and also allow you to manage the two or

more sections differently ( such as burning

on a different rotation or planting some

sections and leaving others). Another way

to reduce field size and enhance adjacent

cover for grouse is to allow succession to

advance two to three tractor widths

around the field. Over time, woody

sprouts and saplings will create

a soft edge around the opening

with a dense stem density, which

is preferred

by grouse. Smaller open-ings

can be

enhanced by thin-ning

undesirable

stems 15 to 20 feet

into the woods

surrounding the opening. Either way,

continued thinning over time around your

opening is recommended to keep the soft

edge effect.

Creating and managing openings for

grouse can be very rewarding. Just remember

— keep the perennial cool- season grasses

out, promote forb growth, burn if possible,

and increase edge and cover by using hedge-rows

and thinning around your opening.

This will help you see more broods in the

summer and flushes in the fall!

— Dr. Craig Harper, University of Tennessee

Virginia Wild Rye Elymus virginicus. This cool- season grass occurs throughout the state in low woods, ditches and waste

places with moist soils. Although it is considered a bunch grass, it tends to grow with the leaves spaced along the stem rather than

from the base of the plant. It makes most of its growth in the spring and is dormant during the hot summer. The seedhead resembles

cereal rye, and at maturity may be stiff and upright or slightly recurved. Virginia wild rye provides both forage for deer and livestock

and seed for upland game birds. It also serves as a quick cover for erosion control. Seed can be purchased through mail- order

nurseries that specialize in native plants and wildlife seed mixes.

Silver Plumegrass Saccharum alopecuroidum ( syn. Erianthus alopecuroides). This warm- season grass grows in

scattered locations across the state. It occurs in the mountains at low elevations on roadsides or in open pine forests. It is much more

abundant in the Piedmont, where it often occurs with the related sugarcane plumegrass, S. giganteum. Silver plumegrass is a tall,

slender bunchgrass that could be mistaken for indiangrass at first glance. But unlike the golden- colored indiangrass, the plumegrass

has silky- looking flower heads that arise from stout stems and have a silvery cast when they catch the light. The seeds may be eaten by

some songbirds, but overall wildlife value is said to be low. Both plumegrasses are attractive grasses that could be featured in native

wildflower plantings and landscaping situations as an alternative to the invasive exotic Miscanthus sinensis or maiden grass, which

has taken over the roadsides and right- of- ways of our mountain counties.

Deertongue Dichanthelium clandestinum ( syn. Panicum clandestinum). This warm- season grass occurs primarily in

the mountains and Piedmont, but also in scattered coastal counties. It grows in low woods and ditches and on streambanks, but it can

adapt to dry, infertile sites as well. It is a panic grass, in the same family as switchgrass, Panicum virgatum, but shorter, with wide

leaves that stick out at right angles to the hairy stems. Game birds and many songbirds use the seed. Deer may graze on new leafy

growth. ‘ Tioga’ deertongue was developed by the NRCS Plant Materials Center for erosion control on poor sites such as highway

slopes, gravel pits, and strip- mine waste areas. Several seed companies offer the seed. Adaptable and wildlife- friendly, deertongue

may be a good native substitute on critical area sites where tall fescue is traditionally used.

Nodding Indian Grass Sorghastrum elliottii. Arelative of the more common indiangrass, Sorghastrum nutans, this grass

also occurs across the state, but it is much less abundant. It occurs primarily in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain in open oak- hickory

and pine- oak forests, in river scour areas, and on roadsides and right- of- ways that mimic the open to partially open habitats it prefers.

Atall- growing, warm- season bunchgrass with rough, ribbon- like leaves, it is erect but relaxed in form and somewhat smaller than

indiangrass. The flowers of both species exhibit a beautiful golden sheen at peak bloom. Songbirds consume the seeds. Indiangrass

has a high forage value for livestock, so perhaps this species does too.

Purpletop Tridens flavus. This warm- season bunchgrass can be found throughout the state along roadsides, in old fields and in

open woods. Somewhat coarse in appearance, it can spread through short rhizomes to form dense stands. Seedheads of loose panicles

turn a maroon color in late summer. This grass is grazed by all livestock, but is said to become unpalatable after frost. The seeds may

be used by songbirds and upland game birds. This quite common species shows promise for use in roadside meadow mixes. It is being

promoted by the NRCS Plant Materials Program. Tests are being done from Maryland to Florida for this broad- ranging species.

Although seldom noticed, these and other native grasses occur in a variety of open habitats across our state. They can be difficult to

recognize until they begin to flower. Once I learned how to identify them by their seedheads, I was surprised at their abundance— on

our highways and byways, along power lines and wooded edges, in old fields and odd areas. Remnant populations of “ prairie” grasses

remind us of our state’s ecological history, when there were more open grasslands with fewer trees and an abundance of early succes-sional

native vegetation. Faced with today’s ongoing loss of small game habitat, it seems to me that we should encourage these taller

bunchgrasses on both public and private lands throughout our state. Unfortunately, current public perception seems to select against

these beneficial grasses and select more for close- clipped lawns. Last fall, after having “ discovered” all these different grasses along

the roadways and in fields, I was dismayed to find that many of them were mowed off when they began to send up their seedheads.

If these native grasses were allowed to develop throughout the summer and remain in place through fall and winter, they would

provide vital spring nesting and brood rearing habitat for grassland birds. So spread the word: “ Don’t mow— Let ‘ em grow!”

— Kelly Hughes, Forest Stewardship Biologist

References: • www. plant- materials. nrcs. usda. gov

• Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses by James and Karl Miller,

Southern Weed Society, Champaign, Ill.

The Forgotten OnesContinued .

u

4 The Upland Gazette u   Spring 2002

Two species of rare plants have been

transplanted into the site: Georgia aster and

Schweinitz’s sunflower. The plants were

rescued from areas slated for development.

The Latta Plantation prairie also contains

several planting plots and transects where

various species of seeds have been sown.

All the planting has been done with native

plants and seed collected within a 30- mile

radius. Many additional native prairie

species have emerged. One native that

responded to the initial conversion is sumac.

Sumac is thought to be part of the Piedmont

prairie, but fire and the sudden abundance

of light caused a population explosion of

the fast- growing woody plant. Although

the sumac appeared to dominate the first

year, repeated fire appears to be controlling

it. Grasses and forbs are much more visible,

and the restoration process appears to be

well underway.

Another Mecklenburg County restoration

site is the 30- acre McDowell Prairie, where

restoration started in 1995. The site contained

three small agricultural fields separated by

hardwoods. Approximately five acres were

planted with a no- till drill, one acre was

broadcast and one acre was hydro- seeded.

Over 1,200 Schweinitz’s sunflower roots

rescued from road construction areas have

been planted throughout the site. Undesirable

woody growth is being eliminated, increas-ing

the acreage of continuous grassland.

Other grassland habitats are being main-tained

under power- line right- of- ways using

fire, herbicides and mechanical means. These

undisturbed areas are often a great source

for native seed collection as well as places

to study grassland communities.

As grassland restoration efforts expand

to new areas, techniques are being adapted

to local conditions. Landowners and conser-vationists

are cooperating to learn about

Piedmont Prairies and the best manage-ment

methods to use when re- creating or

restoring them.

— Ken Knight, Technical Guidance Biologist,

and Gary Marshall, Mecklenburg County

Parks and Recreation

1 Barden, L. S. 1997. Historic Prairies in the Piedmont of North and

South Carolina, USA. Natural Areas Journal 17: 149- 152.

( Also at http:// www. bioweb. uncc. edu/ faculty/ barden/

zImages/ prairiePaper. htm).

The Forgotten Ones

W hen you think about grasses, you might have the impression that they are all

pretty much alike. Agrass is a grass is a grass. They grow in your lawn or on

the roadside. They don’t really do anything much; they’re just there, right?

Up until a few years ago, that’s just what I’d have said. Recently though, I’ve gained an

appreciation of how many different grasses grow in our fields and forests, and how these

“ wild” grasses vary significantly from the grass we tend around our homes. Four or five

native warm- season grasses have gotten mention lately; their benefits to wildlife, and small

game in particular, are now being recognized by wildlife managers, sportsmen and native

plant enthusiasts. But most of the native grass clan still remains shrouded in obscurity. The

following is just a small sample of “ the forgotten ones.” ( Many thanks to Nora Murdock,

National Park Service, and Gary Kauffman, U. S. Forest Service, for their valuable comments

and insights, and Chris Ulrey, National Park Service, for his help with identification.)

Splitbeard Bluestem Andropogon ternarius. Arelative of broomsedge ( Andropogon

virginicus), this native, “ warm- season” grass ( it grows best during the summer months)

occurs in dry fields, roadsides and open woods throughout most of the state. It is often

found in mixed stands with broomsedge and little bluestem ( Schizachyrium scoparium). An

erect bunchgrass, several feet in height, with flowering stems ( culms) arising from basal

clumps of both flattened and curly leaf blades, it is indistinguishable from broomsedge

until it blooms. The flowering stems are lined with pairs of white tufts that look like rabbit

ears. The seeds may be consumed sparingly by bobwhite quail and songbirds such as the

field sparrow. It probably does not provide forage for deer, although it is said to be readily

grazed by cattle in the spring. Its main benefit to wildlife is the nesting cover it provides.

River Oats Chasmanthium latifolium ( syn. Uniola latifolia). This cool- season

grass can be found in low woods, roadsides and ditches, and along streams and bluffs, in

scattered localities throughout the state. In the mountains, it is found more extensively in

moist forest sites along large river systems such as the French Broad, Little Tennessee and

Tuckasegee. It grows in loose clumps, spreads by rhizomes ( pointed underground shoots)

and has a somewhat broad leaf blade. In late summer, river oats can be recognized by the

clusters of flattened seedheads that dangle from arching stems. It looks very much like the

protected sea oats ( Uniola paniculata) on the coast, with which it previously shared the same

genus name. The seeds provide food for quail and many songbirds, and the plants are

grazed by deer and cattle. It is often used in naturalistic plantings.

Poverty Grass Danthonia spicata. This grass inhabits roadsides and open woods

across the state, with the exception of the lower Coastal Plain. Usually found in dry soil, it

may move into sites that have been overgrazed or eroded. It is a low- growing grass with

blue- green foliage and curly leaves at the base of the clump. The flower stem is thin, and

the seedheads somewhat delicate. As the name implies, poverty grass makes poor forage.

In the high mountains, a close relative, D. compressa or bald grass, provides seed for song-birds

such as the vesper sparrow and wintering snow bunting. These two Danthonias are

the most common grass species on the Blue Ridge Parkway: D. spicata at low elevations

and D. compressa at mid to high elevations. They respond positively to fire, which may

occur from lightning during the summer. Athird species, D. sericea or silky oatgrass, is

quite striking with its leaf blades covered in a bristly, white down. It has a much longer

flowering head and is proba- bly more drought tolerant than either D. spicata or D.

compressa. It occurs infrequently at lower elevations in the Mountains, is scattered across

the Piedmont and is most abundant in the sandy soils of the Coastal Plain. Although not

readily available, poverty grass might be a low- maintenance native alternative to tall

fescue for road shoulders and medians.

u

The Upland Gazette u   Spring 2002 3

A popular legend says a squirrel

could travel from Murphy to

Manteo on the treetops when the

first explorers reached North Carolina’s

shores. But the Piedmont of the south-eastern

states was much more open than is

popularly thought. Dr. Larry Barden, pro-fessor

of biology at the University of North

Carolina – Charlotte, has compiled historical

references and descriptions of grassland

prairies in central North and South Carolina. 1

The journals of such early adventurers as

Hernando de Soto ( 1540), Juan Pardo ( 1567),

John Lederer ( 1670), John Lawson ( 1701),

Mark Catesby ( 1720s) and William Bartram

( 1770s) are fascinating reading for anyone

interested in the history and natural history

of the Tarheel state.

Historical Occurrence

Unlike the vast prairies of the Midwest,

Piedmont prairies were smaller in size and

fragmented, and their existence depended

upon the frequent fires set by Native

Americans. But by the late 1700s, diseases

such as smallpox and syphilis brought in by

European settlers had decimated popula-tions

of Native Americans to the extent that

fire was not being applied on the land as

it had been for hundreds or thousands of

years. The prairies began to give way to

pines, and then hardwood trees. Now our

collective memory for the past 200 years or

so tells us that the Piedmont was always

timberland.

The existence of these Piedmont prairies

or “ savannahs” has been known to ecolo-gists

for years, yet little is known about them.

What we do know is based on the remaining

fragments that have been discovered in

recent years— generally areas that have

never been plowed— in powerline right-of-

ways, roadsides and old pastures.

Historically, these open grasslands were

very productive wildlife habitat; early

accounts tell of elk, bison and deer. Natural

resource managers, as well as hunters who

have had the opportunity to experience

grasslands like these, know that these high

quality habitats attract small game species

like quail, wild turkeys and rabbits. Analyses

of various grass species show that a field

planted in native grasses has a greater nutri-tional

content than a similar field planted

in fescue. Studies have also shown increased

nesting success of game birds and songbirds

in warm- season native grasses.

Re- creating the Piedmont Prairie

Various county, state and federal agencies

are interested in both managing the few

remaining prairie fragments left in North

Carolina and re- creating prairies. Motiva-tions

are as varied as the diversity of Pied-mont

prairies: scientific research, endangered

species restoration, aesthetics, cattle grazing

and wildlife habitat.

Dr. Tom McCoy has a small cattle farm in

Mecklenburg County. Until 1998, his pastures,

like most pastures in the Piedmont, were

primarily fescue. As part of an overall farm

plan to improve wildlife habitat, water qual-ity

and aesthetics , Dr. McCoy planted five

acres of his pasture to switchgrass, a native,

warm- season grass. Switchgrass produces

better quality forage in the summertime

than fescue, so his cattle gain more weight

during this time of the year. Switchgrass

also provides much better habitat for quail,

rabbits and songbirds than fescue.

Although planting a field of switch-grass

is not the same as re- creating a prairie,

it does provide some of the same benefits to

wildlife. And as in a native prairie, pre-scribed

burning is the best way to manage

the grass stand.

On the Suther farm in Cabarrus County, a

small, somewhat wet field was always used

for hay production. The native grasses and

forbs produced a good quality hay for the

family’s cattle. Botanists with the Cabarrus

County Natural Heritage Survey were elated

in 1997 when they discovered a rare and

unusual assemblage of plants in this field,

including big bluestem, little bluestem,

gammagrass, plumegrass, indiangrass,

wild rye, turtlehead, ladies’ tresses, Indian

paintbrush and Canada lily. In fact, over

125 species of plants have been identified

within the five- acre field thus far. Although

not in pristine condition, this precious

prairie remnant provides researchers with

a glimpse of the beauty and diversity of

historic conditions in the Piedmont.

On Public Lands

Piedmont prairie habitat also occurs on

public property in Mecklenburg County’s

Nature Preserves managed by the Park and

Recreation Department’s Natural Resources

Division. At the Cowan’s Ford Wildlife

Refuge in north Mecklenburg, over 65 acres

of crop and hayfields have been converted

to mixtures of warm- season native grasses.

Big bluestem, little bluestem, Indiangrass,

switchgrass and eastern gammagrass have

been planted over the last four years using

no- till drills. The planting and burning sched-ule

has been staggered to provide contin-uous

habitat and ground cover. Each field

is burned about every three years.

Latta Plantation Nature Preserve is the

home of a 40- acre Piedmont prairie restora-tion

project. The county purchased the parcel

in 1992, six years after it had been clear- cut by

the former owner. The remaining trees were

cut and drum- chopped by the N. C. Forest

Service in 1995, and prescribed burning has

occurred annually since.

Piedmont Prairies

Continued on page 4 Continued on page 5