University Sustainability Initiatives
Campus Prairie Project
Reconstructing native prairie on campus is now a major focus in MUM's efforts to become sustainable. Native prairie is a much more sustainable approach to campus landscaping for a variety of reasons. Once it has been reconstructed, it doesn’t require much care other than annual controlled burns and prairies sequester carbon at the rate of 1.6 tons of carbon per acre per year.
MUM Organic Farms received an initial prairie reconstruction grant of $17,890 for 2009 from the Iowa Living Roadway Trust Fund (LRTF), affiliated with the Iowa Department of Transportation.
This 3-year cooperative project will revitalize 14 acres of previous demolition sites and reconstruct an inviting native prairie parkland with a wide diversity of species, mown paths and borders, park benches, educational kiosks, and plant identification signs. These sites will be open to the public and will complement our 30-year commitment to sustainable landscaping ethics. It will be considered an outdoor classroom.
To reconstruct prairie sites, we use sustainable practices inspired by the National Organic Program (NOP) guidelines used on our certified organic farm. This includes site preparation, greenhouse plug production, and managing invasive species. Volunteers, including MUM students, help with all of these activities.
To receive updates or information on the prairie projects, please send a message to prairies@mum.edu and we’ll add you to our email list.
Prairie Information
Prairie grasses and forbs (wild flowers) have unusually deep root systems that enrich the soil with extensive biomass that absorbs rainwater, decreasing the threat of flooding during storms, increasing water retention in the soil — and ultimately creating some of the richest topsoil in the world.
The dense structure of plant debris provides wildlife habitat year round and becomes fuel for the modern-day prairie management technique of controlled burns. Mimicking the natural prairie fires that once swept across the plains, burns warm the soil and encourage a new round of plant growth from the roots up.
And it's attractive. North American prairie is best known for its self-perpetuating and diverse floral display and beautiful grasses. Of the hundreds of plant varieties found in the prairie, most are wildflowers. Their nectar attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
Iowa was blanketed with a perennial emerald ocean of tallgrass prairie for 8,000 years. Because prairie created such rich topsoil, most of it was plowed under and converted to farmland within the span of one lifetime.
It is one of the most complex and intricate plant communities in the world and is now one of the rarest ecosystems in North America. Fortunately, because it has so many practical and esthetic benefits, prairie is being reintroduced in landscapes throughout the Midwest.
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