Restoring Mixed Grass Prairie in Southeastern Alberta, Canada

Abstract

On the Ground • Between 2008 and 2010 a cultivated field of 57 ha within the mixed grass prairie of southeastern Alberta was restored with native grasses and silver sagebrush plugs. • Wildlife occupying the site increased from being dominated by horned larks to 13 species using the land within 3 years. Two of these species Sprague’s pipit and chestnut-collared longspur are native grassland specialists considered “Threatened” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. • Litter values on the reseed in year 3 were approaching normal values that would be expected on a loamy site within a healthy mixed grass prairie.