Published April 19, 2019
Field of Dreams
Heads up! This article was published 5 years ago.
Michaela Woods just landed the best project ever.
The University of Dayton doctoral student of forestry ecology and management (perfect last name for that, right?) is working with Five Rivers MetroParks to reclaim a 230-acre former farm in Trotwood’s Great Miami Mitigation Bank.
Woods is focused on the 30 acres in the southwest corner, along North Lutheran Church Road. “They showed me that huge parcel of agricultural field and said, ‘You can do whatever you want,'” Woods says. “That was the best thing I could ever hear.”
Woods and the Five Rivers MetroParks’ conservation team want the entire area to become a biodiversity hotspot — including wetlands, forests, prairies, and vernal (seasonal) pools — and step one is to restore the soil’s health after nearly a decade of farming. So they’ve planted oats, which will start that recovery process by outcompeting invasive species and preparing the ground for wildflower and native prairie grass planting in the fall.
During these plantings over the next few years researchers will monitor the soil for microbial activity, nutrient cycling and other indicators to make sure it’s becoming suitable for future tree plantings. Woods will be involved with the project for at least three years and maybe, if she’s lucky, for years after that, she says. “This is a really big and awesome opportunity.”
The planting plans for the farmland adjacent to Woods’s corner are under way, as well.
The short-grass prairie that will take root in that section should attract bobwhite quail, which Five Rivers MetroParks Biologist Grace Dietsch says is an umbrella species. “If you have a habitat that’s good for quail, it’s also good for monarchs, other pollinators, meadowlarks, dickcissel, wild turkey, white-tailed deer and so much more,” she says.
Quail are not common in Ohio anymore, although there are breeding populations at the mitigation bank, according to Dietsch. So the conservation team worked with the state chapter of Pheasants Forever to determine the ideal mix of seeds to help expand available habitat for the bird.
Fire places: Five Rivers MetroParks crews have burned 100 acres of prairie this year to keep grasslands healthy for native plants and animals. The burns remove woody vegetation that competes with native plants, releasing nutrients into the soil and making room for new growth to attract wildlife.
