Published April 19, 2024
Ecotalks for April 18, 2024: Madelaine Gregory, Valerie Thurston
This edition of Ecotalks featured two speakers who worked closely with Five Rivers MetroParks to conduct their research, and presented their findings at Cox Arboretum MetroPark on April 18, 2024. Recordings for these Ecotalks are archived below.
Secondary “Succession”: Healing Post-agricultural Soils through Prairie Plantings by Valerie Thurston, University of Dayton
With a growing trend of abandoned agricultural land in the Midwest, and opportunity has emerged to use the land for restoration purposes. In partnership with the Five Rivers MetroParks, Valerie and the McEwan Lab are searching for the most efficient and self-sustaining ways to help the land return to a healthy and native ecosystem through a prairie planting. Valerie has completed a full botanical inventory of the site and presented on these findings.
The State of Soil Streamlines Success in Restoration: Finding a Solution in Soil! by Madelaine Gregory, University of Dayton
The abandonment of fields once used for agriculture is becoming more common on a local and global scale. Historically, fields would transition to their original state through a process known as secondary succession, however after years of intensive agricultural practices such as tilling, herbicide & insecticide use, fostering monocultures of one species, etc. this is no longer occurring without intervention. This experiment is in collaboration with the Five Rivers MetroParks, and began in the summer of 2019 with the establishment of 20 (50 by 50 m) square plots in a former agricultural field, each of which received native prairie seed treatments and soil treatments. My research focuses on how soil composition and microbial activity shifts in response to time and application of these treatments.
