Day 4 Summary and Questions

South Boulder Creek with Dave Sutherland

Tall Grass Prairie
• 98% of all tall grass prairie is gone – threatened ecosystem
• designated Colorado state natural area – very rare
4 Major Grasses
1. Big Blue Stem Grass
2. Switch Grass
3. Yellow Indian Grass
4. Prairie Cord Grass
Climate
• 12000 years ago – climate much cooler and wetter
• Eastern deciduous forest and tall grass Prairie
• 10,000 years ago global warm occurs
o as a result there was high water volume
o helped carve boulder valley
o removed most of tall grass prairie as a result of warming
Trees in the city of Boulder are a recently new phenomenon planted by settlers within the last 100 years

Plant Adaptations
o high root to shoot ratio
o makes plants able to handle different extremes (cold vs. drought)
o Grazing keeps grasses under control – Boulder Open Space trying to compensate for the Bison that used to graze the prairies
o Fire! Prairie is a fire-adapted ecosystem
o Ecosystem is adapted to a variety of disturbances (fire, drought, grazing)
Plants
o Spryanthesis orchid – endangered native species – choked out by un-grazed grasses
o Orchard Grass and Smooth Brome – invasive European grasses that out compete natural prairie grasses
o Golden Banner – in the Pea family, pollinated by bees
o Indian Blanket flower- native, pollinated by the gaillardia moth adapted especially to this plant
o Yucca- exclusively pollinated by the Yucca moth
o Wavy Leaf Thistle- native
o Oyster Root – non native from Europe
Dog Tags
o Voice and Sight control tags- watch a video and lays out expectations for dog etiquette
o Complicated dog regulations in different areas
Land Use Arguments
o Lock the land up and keep people off
o pave it and make it extremely accessible
o Where do you find the balance?
o Conservation vs. Recreation
Habitat Conservation Areas
o 45,000 acres of open space – balance what we should do with it
o biodiversity hotspot – where the plains meet the mountains - #1 for breeding biodiversity for birds in the US
o 4 elements
1. agriculture
2. recreation
3. natural area
4. habitat conservation area
Habitat Conservation: effort to keep the fewest trails and most unbroken ground
o off trail permit required to access
Prairie Dogs
o Protected in Boulder County
o Overpopulation and overgrazing issues
o animals to move into private property – classic owner vs. conservationist issue
o illegal to move prairie dogs into counties without government approval – nature conservancy reaction
o Ongoing issue: what do we do with the Prairie dogs?
Boulder Open Space
o 5 million visit a year vs. 3 million to Yellowstone
o 6 education staff
o Budget issues as a result of the lower sales tax revenues in boulder


Questions:

1. Name the 4 Major Prairie Grasses.

2. Name 4 plants that we observed.

3. How many people visit Boulder Open Space per year? How does this compare to Yellowstone?

4. T/F – Orchard grass and smooth brome are widespread and native to Colorado.

5. Name the 4 different management areas of City of Boulder Open Space.

6. Why are there cows grazing on remnant tall grass prairie?

7. What are the two elements behind green tags and what do they mean?

8. How much of the tall grass prairie is left?
a. 10% b. 2% c. 15% d. 36%
9. T/F Global warming reduced tall grass prairie ability to survive on the front range

10. T/F It is legal to move prairie dogs onto private land in a different county without consent of the county commissioners of the receiving county.