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"The schools in which I was educated were by most standards first-rate. But they
were, as our schools generally are, indifferent to the place and to the culture in which
they operated.
Among my science courses, I took two full years of biology, but I never learned that
the beautiful meadow at the bottom of my family's pasture was remnant virgin prairie.
We did not spend, so far as I can rememeber, a single hour on prairies -- the landscape
in which we were immersed -- in two years of biological study."
Paul Gruchow, Grass Roots -- The Universe of Home
I feel just like a bison, Munch, munch, munch..."
Allie, moving through Marietta Sand Prairie Reserve
It is with great pleasure that we present the second volume of Tillers. The idea for this
journal was stimulated by two significant events at Grinnell College, the inauguration
of the Center for Prairie Studies and changes in the
Biology Department's curriculum.
The former is a college-wide effort to connect faculty and students with our prairie
place -- geographically, biologically, historically, and aesthetically. It seeks to undermine
our tendency to ignore the lessons of our own locales, and thus cultivate in ourselves
an appreciation of place, wherever that may come to be. Concurrently, the Biology
Department began a series of changes in curriculum that further emphasize active
learning. As one of several sections of Introduction to Biological Inquiry, Prairie
Restoration will introduce students to basic concepts in biology while emphasizing
the ways that biologists ask questions, test hypotheses through observation and
experimentation, and communicate their results. Our goal is to provide beginning
students with a sense of the excitement -- and the ambiguities -- of authentic research.
The journal creates a community of learning across the years, allowing students to
build upon and modify the studies of their predecessors -- just like scientists!
The development of this course was supported by a curricular grant from the Center
for Prairie Studies, a grant from Grinnell College's Fund for Excellence to upgrade
equipment at the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), and support from the
National Science Foundation's Award for Integration of Research and Education
(AIRE) and Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) programs.
The title of the journal is meant to evoke consideration of the interaction between the
botanical, agricultural, and aesthetic histories of the tallgrass prairie. We leave it to the
reader to discover these meanings.
Jonathan Brown & Christina Caruso, Editors
- "Effects of topography on the relationship between soil condition and the vigor of Andropogon gerardii and Sorghastrum nutans." P. Brands, J. Hoest & N. Marsh
- "Infrequently burned prairies dominated by Andropogon gerardii and their role in carbon sequestration." K. Arnold, D. McGranaham & L. Seifert
- "Competition has a greater effect than supplimental nutrients on the growth of Sorghastrum nutans and Bromus kalmii." L. Briguglio, P. Janson & L. Oswald
- "Burning has little effect on seed production in a restored prairie." R. Coriell, J. Dalgleish & A. Levinsky
- "Annual burning decreases density in upper soil layers of the seed bank." H. Blodgett, G. Hart & M. Stanislaw
- "Fire and mowing have effects on the density of Asteraceae and Fabaceae." D. Carter, D. Lesh & A. Mogush
- "Edaphic prairie arthropods, with the exception of Diptera, show no reaction to seasonal burns." M. Kirkwood, L. Shapiro & X. Walker
- "Small mammals are integral to the maintenance of the tallgrass prairie." D. Collopy, K. Mannion & A. Mynsberge
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