October Ants As a young naturalist, someone once told me that ants are to the prairie as worms are to a garden: they move soil and nutrients around and keep the top- and sub-soil layers healthy. I've shared this analogy with many students since that time, but never really dug any deeper. Last month's blog post on prairies got me thinking about the depth of ecosystem intricacies in the prairie, and the role each species plays in creating a balance. I figured it was time to ...Continue Reading →

September Prairies Aldo Leopold's chapter in A Sand County Almanac entitled "Prairie Birthday" contemplates the existence of a remnant of pre-settlement prairie. A place he estimates may have been old enough to have "watched the fugitive Black Hawk retreat from the Madison lakes to the Wisconsin River." He writes: Every July I watch eagerly a certain country graveyard that I pass in driving to and from my farm. It is time for a prairie birthday, and in one corner of ...Continue Reading →