Issue At Hand

One tenth of one percent of Iowa’s once dominant prairie landscape remains intact, nearly half of which resides in the seven counties containing the landform known as the Loess Hills. Historically, the Loess Hills were occupied largely by tall and mixed grass prairie interspersed with oak savanna. Climate, landform, topography, and fire disturbance interacted to form xeric conditions on hilltops, creating a situation where western grassland obligate species mixed with eastern tallgrass prairie. It is this overlap of biomes that is responsible for the Loess Hills’ rich biodiversity and unique species composition.

What We Hope to Accomplish

We expect to inform the restoration and management of grassland and savanna habitats in the Loess Hills. To do so, we will cooperate with a nationwide program called LANDFIRE to classify the Loess Hills landform into specific Fire Regime Condition Classes. This Classification assesses and depicts the departure of the current vegetation from historical conditions. Data will ultimately be used to gauge local efficacy of the National LANDFIRE program, but also provide useful input that guides local restoration efforts.

How We Go About It

Historical accounts, vegetation modeling, expert opinion, and existing historic vegetation maps will be reviewed to determine baseline reference conditions for the Loess Hills region. Reference conditions will then be used in developing fire regime classes based on the average number of years between recurring disturbances for the region. Reference conditions will then be compared to current vegetation composition to portray the extent of departure from historical conditions.