Grassland – Savanna complex without grazing, millions of acres in the Midwest landscape perpetuated in the catastrophic state: Sick land: These pictures were taken in a regional park within the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Both sites are southwest aspects on well drained Hawick gravel glacial moraine soils, perfect aspect and soils for mesic-dry and dry grassland-savannas. […]
Oak Forest Restoration Versus Savanna Resoration
Oak Forest Restoration Versus Savanna Restoration: Here’s an example of using an erroneous official vegetation label “Oak Forest” or “Oak Woodland” and even “Floodplain Forest”, instead of the more ecologically accurate concept “Savanna” for restoration target goals. What do we mean by the term forest, or the more nebulous term “woodlands”? These two sites are […]
Oaks are Grassland Trees, Not Forest Trees
A Classic Example of Oak Mismanagement. Oaks are GRASSLAND trees / NOT forest trees! This tree, in a Bloomington Park, is 38″ dbh, in Hawick sand-gravel loams. The above ground structure, in these soils, can easily be 300 – 500 years old. Despite the good intentions of the land managers, to not disturb the oak […]
Floodplain Forest as a Novel Vegetation Instead of a Historic Community and Why it Matters
Stephen Thomforde 2017 Introduction: In this document the floodplain is defined as the flat plain between the river and the blufflands that fills with water during flood events. This interpretation is based on elevation without any consideration of vegetation or soil classification. This document further constrains the definition of floodplain by soils which are alluvial […]
Last Farm in Bloomington: Save the Sheep for Ecological Restoration of the MN River Corridor
This sheep farm is one block from the Mall of America. It is the last working farm in Bloomington, MN. In the background you can see the Minnesota River Valley and 11,000 acres of publicly owned (Federal, State, and City) land that lays lifeless and barren outside a parvenu of rank inedible, non-flammable species. The land […]