Park Staff Continue Restoration and Maintenance of Park Prairies and Woodlands

IMG_6202 - Copy - CopyThroughout the fall and winter, Jefferson County Park staff will be working in multiple locations in the Counties conservation parks to remove invasive shrubs and trees and conducting periodic prescribed burns.  This work is intended to restore natural functions and improve the overall health of the oak woodlands and other native plant communities found in our parks.  Part of the “restoration” process is to target and remove/reduce a single species that is dominating a site and allowing for a greater diversity of plants to establish. 

Ecosystems with a greater diversity of not only plants, but insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals, tend to be the most resilient.  Meaning they are more capable of surviving disturbances such as drought, fire, flooding, and the invasion of invasive plants and animals.  A good example of resilience in a prairie was during last year's drought, when the mowed grasses at Korth Park had totally died off, and the prairies remained green, lush, and were still in full bloom with more than 40 types of grasses, forbs, and flowers. 

If you see our staff in the parks please thank them for their ongoing work keeping our parks looking beautiful, and the natural communities found within functioning as resilient high diversity ecosystems.   

Did you know, the ecosystem defined as Oak Savanna once covered over five million acres in southern Wisconsin, including large areas of Jefferson County.  Today, oak savanna is considered the rarest plant community in the state with less than 1,000 acres of quality oak savanna remaining.  

Additionally, over 2 million acres of southern Wisconsin were historically covered by open, high diversity prairies that stretched between the oak savanna and hardwood forests of the County.  Today, less than 0.1% of those prairies remain.   

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