Successful Native Plant Meadow Restoration in NC’s Piedmont

(Raleigh, NC) – Native prairies have disappeared across North Carolina, and are now the least represented habitat in the state’s Piedmont Region—the plateau nestled between the coastal plain and the Appalachian Mountains. Converted to croplands, pastures, roads, and housing, this land now offers little value to the diversity of wildlife it once supported.

Laura Fogo, FWS biologist, with Walt Tysinger, Triangle Land Conservancy Senior Land Manager during a site visit to the Horton Grove Preserve to develop restoration plans. USFWS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is working to improve and recreate prairies, which offer high-quality habitat for wildlife. In 2011, the Service joined the Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) to establish a demonstration project that reclaimed 25 acres of an abandoned agricultural field within the Horton Grove Nature Preserve in Durham County. In just four years, TLC successfully transformed the site into a healthy native plant community.

“TLC calls this habitat a ‘native plant meadow’ rather than a Piedmont Prairie since it doesn’t meet the precise definition of a prairie,” explains Walt Tysinger, Senior Land Manager for TLC. “Ecologists use the term Piedmont Prairie to refer to ecosystems with particular soil types that restrict the growth of woody plants. The pre-settlement landscape of the North Carolina Piedmont was dominated by savanna-type habitat that was kept open by regular intervals of fire but are not technically prairies.” Streams and rivers in the Piedmont created natural firebreaks, causing Piedmont Prairies to be smaller than prairies of the Midwest.

Regardless of the name used for the site – prairie, savanna, or meadow – the site includes native grasses, forbs (wildflowers), and shrubs as the dominant vegetation, with a few trees scattered along the landscape. The site provides seeds, fruits, and nectar for a rich diversity of organisms. Unlike lawn grasses that spread horizontally, native grasses grow in clusters, creating perfect hideouts and resting places for birds avoiding predators or nesting on the ground.

Substituting invasive plants with native species requires perseverance. In 2011, the site was infested with fescue (grasses cultivated for pasture and lawn), Japanese stilt grass (Microstegium vimineum), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), and non-native lespedeza (flowering plants in the pea family)—the plants that take over once land is cleared and left unmanaged. TLC called in a contractor with heavy equipment to remove the big, woody sweetgum and loblolly pine trees. Cedar trees were left untouched and remain scattered across the site. TLC then applied herbicide to the invasive exotic grasses and burned the site during four consecutive winters to create space for native grasses. Controlled burns help reduce hardwoods and stimulate germination of native grasses and forbs.

Once the land was cleared, TLC identified native grasses and forbs well adapted to the local weather and moisture levels. They partnered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Durham Soil and Water Conservation District, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden. With a list of desired plants in hand, TLC enlisted the help of local nurseries, Niche Gardens, Cure, Mellow Marsh Farms, and Hoffman’s to grow Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), little blue stem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and other plants. Each spring, volunteer youth groups and corporations plant seeds and tree shoots. TLC continues to update a map of the site showing the location of each plant so they can return to collect seeds that will be used to produce additional plants for this restoration project.

Blue false indigo inflorescence, is one of the native wildflowers used in the restoration. USFWS

A sequence of prescribed fire, strategic herbicide applications, and planting will need to continue to maintain the desired conditions. This restoration effort has improved important stopover and wintering habitat for the American woodcock (Scolopax minor), and is expected to benefit a number of other bird species, including the loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), prairie warbler ( Setophaga discolor), and grasshopper sparrow ( Ammodramus savannarum). The restored habitat serves as a demonstration area for grassland restoration across North Carolina’s Piedmont. The site is part of a trail system that includes other ecosystems throughout the Horton Grove Nature Preserve with an educational kiosk and learning stations enhancing the visitor experience.

The Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in its North Carolina Field Office in Raleigh provides technical and financial support for this project. We plan to continue enrolling more private landowners into the program.

Learn more about efforts to restore the Horton Grove Nature Preserve.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service News Release  •  July 28, 2015  •  Lilibeth Serrano Vélez, Public Affairs Specialist

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