The waves of flame that swept across a swath of Wheatland Township prairie land earlier this month cleared the way for native grasses, flowering plants and small animal species to flourish there the rest of the year.
“The annual prairie cycle begins with fire,” said David Kropp, who monitors the prairie planting with Ray Schulenberg.
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Burning builds soil, prevents erosion and allows native grasses and flowers a clear field for growth, he said.
Kropp, a retired landscape architect, and Schulenberg, a retired botanist from the Morton Arboretum, started replanting their 3.5-acre parcel near the DuPage River with seeds of native plant species gathered within a 50-mile radius of the area in 1968.
“It’s not a reconstruction (of the virgin prairie that greeted the first settlers), but rather a planting of 70 (original) species,” Kropp said.
Kropp, Schulenberg and a helper lit a match and used rakes to guide the fire in the right direction.
Two inches under the topsoil, plant and animal species lie dormant, waiting to return.
Return they do; tall grasses and flowering plants known as forbs sprout throughout the spring.
By July, the prairie is in its colorful glory. “As this perennial garden grows, the forbs flower at the height of the grass, encouraging pollination and feeding many species of bees, butterflies and beetles,” Kropp said.
the land also serves as a nesting site for redwing blackbirds and song sparrows and hunting ground for great horned owls.
“In early autumn, migrating Monarch butterflies crowd the goldenrods and asters,” he said.
Migrating birds drop in to feed on seeds.
As the blooms fade in winter, birds, such as dark-eyed juncos and tree sparrows, roost under the remains of the vegetation and forage for fallen seeds, while voles and deer mice carve out tunnels and store supplies of seed.
“There’s a lot of life out there,” Kropp said. “There is much value in the visual beauty of prairie, the habitat it forms and in all that can be learned from it.”
Schulenberg’s leadership in the prairie conservation field is noted at the Morton Arboretum, where a habitat of prairie plants bears his name.
Kropp, who studied architecture, was drawn to the landscape of the field because “I couldn’t save the world with buildings, but I might be able to save some of the diversity (of life).”