Presentation by David Carr of Blandy Experimental Farm for a May 2012 Invasive Plant Workshop.

2. University of Virginia’s
Blandy Experimental Farm
Interpretation the
collections of the
University Orland E. White
Research Public Outreach Arboretum

3. University of Virginia’s
Blandy Experimental Farm
Orland E. White Arboretum
Blandy Experimental

Farm

4. Blandy Experimental Farm
Orland E. White Arboretum

6. With 24% of the earth’s terrestrial vegetation classified
as grasslands, they represent the most extensive of the
earth’s biomes.

9. • Before settlement, grasslands stretched
south from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and
Manitoba to the highlands of Mexico and
west from Indiana to the Rockies.
• Coverage was over 1 million square
miles in the U.S. alone.
• States have lost 82% - 99% of tallgrass
prairie
• States have lost 30% – 99% of mixed
grass prairie
• States have lost 20% - 86% of
shortgrass prairie

10. There are 55 grassland
animal species listed as
either threatened or
endangered in the United
States.
Lesser Prairie Chicken

13. Natural Grassland
Communities of Virginia
• Southern Appalachian Grassy Balds • Ultramafic Barrens
– Mountain oat grass and sedges – Little bluestem, Indian grass
– White-top Mountain – Franklin and Grayson Counties
• Acidic Oak-Hickory Woodlands and • Riverside Outcrop Barrens
Savannas – Big and little bluestem
– Little bluestem, Indian grass, broom sedge – Patomac, Shenandoah, and James Rivers
– Quantico Marine Base • Maritime Dune Grasslands
• Low Elevation Acidic Outcrop Barrens – Cordgrass, beach grass, sea oats, little bluestem
– Little blue, broom sedge, oat grass, sedges – Virginia coastal dunes
– Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge • Riverside Prairies
• Limestone and Dolomite Barrens – Big bluestem, Indian grass, switch grass
– Big and little bluestem, Indian grass, side oats – Patomac River gorge
– Western Valley and Ridge • Mesic & Wet-Mesic Prairies
• Piedmont Prairies – Big bluestem and Indian grass
– Little bluestem, Indian grass – Ridge and Valley region
– Quantico, Ft. Pickett, Manassas

14. Modern-day
grasslands in
Virginia exist
primarily in
agricultural
settings.

15. Most Virginia grasslands
are dominated by exotic,
cool-season grasses.
Festuca elatior
Tall fescue
‘Kentucky 31’

17. Henslow’s Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow

18. Big bluestem
Little bluestem Broom sedge
Switch grass Side-oats grama Indian grass

19. Photosynthetic Pathways
• Spring and
C3 early summer
“Cool season • Drought
grasses” intolerant
• Mid - late
C4 summer
“Warm season • Drought
grasses” tolerant

20. Bunch Grasses
Little bluestem Big bluestem

21. Tall Stature
Big bluestem

22. Native Warm Season Grasses and
Livestock Grazing

23. Sources for Warm Season
Grass Seed
• Ernst Conservation Seed
– www.ernstseed.com
• Bamert Seed Company
– www.bamertseed.com
• Prairie Moon
– www.prairiemoon.com
• Prairie Nursery
– www.prairienursery.com

25. Site Preparation
Site Preparation
Herbicide Treatments
Herbicide
• Roundup® Sept.
1999
• Roundup® April
2000

26. Site Preparation
Burn
Virginia
Department of
Forestry
19 April 2000

27. No-till
WSG Drill
VGIF
May 2000

28. Setaria glauca
Yellow foxtail

29. Cirsium and Carduus spp.
Thistles

30. Lonicera japonica
Japanese honeysuckle

31. Galium verum
Prior to Manipulation
Yellow bedstraw

32. Sorghastrum nutans
Indian grass

33. Important Collaborators
• U.S.D.A. Natural Resource Conservation Service
– Mike Liskey
– Dr. Greg Moser
• Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
– Patty Moore
– Bonnie Larson-Brogdon
• Virginia Department of Forestry
– Gerald Crowell
• Ernst Conservation Seed
– Carl Ernst

34. Other Resources:
Virginia Native Plant Society
www.vnps.org
Department of Conservation & Recreation
www.dcr.state.va.us
Virginia Working Landscapes
www.vaworkinglandscapes.org

35. Other Resources:
Blandy Experimental Farm
blandy.virginia.edu
David E. Carr
blandy@virginia.edu