Research Projects
Establishing sustainable milkweed populations and expanding capacity to collect and propagate local ecotype seed on public lands in Central Missouri.
Period: March 1, 2018 - Present
Contact: Eric Kurzejeski, Larry Vangilder
Organization: University of Missouri Prairie Fork Trust, Missouri Department of Conservation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Funding Source: PFCA, MDC, NFWF
Objectives: Prairie Fork Conservation Area (PFCA) offers a unique opportunity to engage a wide range of collaborators in significant efforts to enhance monarch and other pollinator conservation in Central Missouri. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) owns the 717 acre area and manages an adjoining 200 acres owned by the Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF). Both properties are collectively known as PFCA which is located in central Missouri about 3 miles south of the town of Williamsburg, Missouri (Figure 1). Since the lands were donated to the MDC in 1996, management efforts on PFCA have been specifically targeted toward the restoration of natural communities, especially prairie. The aggressive restoration efforts are assisted by a trust, The Prairie Fork Charitable Endowment Trust, established for the express purpose of supporting land management, education and monitoring on PFCA. The trust is administered jointly by the University of Missouri School of Natural Resources (SNR) and the MDC.
Through combined efforts PFCA partners built capacity to initiate an aggressive prairie restoration program. The program focus was to convert over 400 acres of row-crop to restored prairie by using a wide diversity of local native grass and forb ecotypes. To accomplish this required a major collaborative effort to resolve a range of logistical and operational concerns. These included a lack of local native seed sources, development of species-specific seed collection techniques, acquisition of specialized seed processing equipment and construction of an on-site seed storage and processing facility. Collaborative funding was secured to build a 2,400 sq. ft. seed sorting and drying facility, purchase a tractor and mounted flail vac, hammer mills and other equipment to harvest and process local ecotype seed and hire botanists to oversee seed collection. These efforts have been in cooperation with the MPF on whose property the initial seeding of restored prairie was conducted, SNR and MDC. The Missouri State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation also contributed funds to secure necessary equipment. MDC contributes annually through the agencies budget for management on PFCA. Annual seed collection is conducted primarily by staff botanists who also oversee significant collection efforts by
volunteer organizations including Missouri Master Naturalists, University of Missouri Fisheries and Wildlife students, Missouri Prairie Foundation members and Audubon Missouri members.
Partner efforts have resulted in the restoration of prairie on 352 acres on PFCA to date (Figure 2). An additional 40 acres will be seeded in winter 2017. Prairie restoration on PFCA will be completed in 2018. As restoration nears completion the PFCA partners plan to shift the management focus on PFCA toward the establishment and sustainability of milkweed and a diversity of other nectar producing plants at the landscape scale within the approximately 400 acres of restored prairie.
Approach:
The vision among collaborators at PFCA, and the purpose of this grant request to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, is to transition efforts towards 1) ensuring sustainable populations of milkweeds exist within the restored prairie to benefit monarchs and other pollinators 2) using the infrastructure, land-base and skills of the PFCA partners to produce and collect local ecotype milkweed seed and propagate plants and 3) becoming a seed source for the propagation of milkweeds and other conservative plants important to pollinators for both commercial growers and conservation agencies (e.g. MDC state nursery).
Objective 1: Ensuring sustainable populations of milkweeds exist within the restored prairie to benefit monarchs and other pollinators.
Annual seed collection occurs on restored prairies on PFCA as well as other local conservation areas. Seed is collected throughout the growing season using a wide range of collection techniques. More conservative species are hand-collected while other seed is collected by use of a specialized tractor-mounted flail-vac. On average, seed from over 200 native species is harvested annually (C. Newbold, Natural History Biologist, Missouri Department of Conservation, personal communication). This seed includes 10 species of milkweed, from Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) to more conservative species such as A. purpurascens (purple), A. sullivantii (Sullivant’s), A. tuberosa (butterfly), A. verticillata (whorled), and A. viridiflora (green). Currently, annual collection of milkweed seed averages 3 lbs, or approximately 190,000 seeds based on using a value for common milkweed of 64,000 seeds per pound. Seed is processed and stored in the 2,400 sq. ft. on-site facility. In winter the prairie restoration mixture, which includes all seed collected the past year, is broadcast-seeded on tracts that have been in no-till row-crop agriculture for at least the past 5 years. Approximately 40 acres is seeded each year. These tracts are then managed by MDC using a combination of mowing during the establishment years and controlled burning after the stand is established. Milkweed seeds are currently incorporated into the annual prairie restoration seeding mixture, however, no efforts are targeted specifically toward propagation of milkweed within the restored prairie.
Vegetation monitoring shows over 180 species of grasses and forbs are established in the restored prairie on PFCA, including many very conservative species. However, due to grass competition across the restored sites, milkweeds and other forbs are not as abundant as desired. Milkweed are estimated to have a density of less than 10 plants per acre on the restored prairie plantings (C. Newbold, Natural History Biologist, Missouri Department of Conservation, personal communication).
We propose to shift the focus of management on the restored prairie on PFCA to support and sustain milkweed as well as a diversity of nectar producing plants. We propose to establish a minimum of 200
milkweed plants per acre, or 8,000 plants, across PFCA. Establishing and sustaining 200 milkweed plants per acre is the current goal defined in the draft Missouri Monarch and Pollinator Conservation Plan (Missourians for Monarchs Collaborative Steering Committee 2016). The draft plan clearly identifies the importance of public land to the sustainable propagation of milkweed. The plan establishes a goal of planting and preserving 19,000 acres annually with at least 200 milkweed stems per acre for the next 20 years. Sustainability has the greatest chance for success on lands devoted to conservation and priority is placed on milkweed plantings on public lands.
The draft Missouri Monarch and Pollinator Conservation Plan (Missourians for Monarchs Collaborative Steering Committee 2016) suggests the following strategy and actions for public lands.
“Strategy 2. Public Land Management – Convene and engage partners with public land stewardship responsibilities in determinations about commitment, priorities, targets, capabilities, and effort commensurate with their authority and limitations. Seek opportunities for coordination and collaboration, information sharing, and pooling of resources.
Actions:
a. Collaborate on the development and adoption best management practices, and create demonstration sites featuring their use.
b. Identify existing habitat for conservation.
c. Identify areas to create or enhance habitat.
d. Set acreage targets for habitat.
e. Request participation in monitoring efforts.”
Efforts on PFCA, supported by this grant and partner funds, will directly address these actions. On PFCA we will refocus management in the restored prairie to reduce grass competition, collect and propagate local ecotype milkweed seed and establish nursery areas within the restored prairie where milkweed plugs and bare root seedlings will be planted. Monitoring plant survival will help determine best management practices.
Objective 2: Using the infrastructure, land-base and skills of the PFCA partners to produce and collect local source milkweed seed and propagate plants.
To be successful we need to increase the capacity for 1) the collection of local ecotype milkweed seed and 2) for growing milkweed plants/plugs. To accomplish this local ecotype seed will be collected during fall 2016 and 2017 from restored prairie on PFCA and 4 other local conservation areas owned by MDC; Marshall Diggs, Danville, Reform and Rocky Forks. The 4 conservation areas are within a 40 mile radius of PFCA. Seed collection and propagation will include conservative species of milkweed as well as more common species. Half of the seed propagation (4,000 plants) will occur at the MDC-owned George O. White State Nursery (bare root plant production) and the other half through the use of local commercial growers to produce 4,000 milkweed plugs.
Milkweed plantings will be distributed in 1 acre nursery patches at a rate of 5 acres of nursery planting per 40 acres. The result will be 50 acres of planted milkweed across the approximately 400 acres of
restored prairie on PFCA. We will work with MDC management staff to assess the best locations for these nursery plantings. The goal of restoring milkweeds in patches is to enhance the future ability to collect seed for propagation (Grygiel et al. 2014) and to enhance monitoring of plant survival and monarch use. During winter and spring 2017 management will be conducted to reduce grass competition on the restored prairie through a combination of controlled burns and application of grass specific herbicides. The goal is to reduce grass competition by >80%. Plugs, bare root plants and a limited amount of direct seeding will occur in the spring of 2017. Planting will be done by hand using modified dibble bars for bare root stock and plugs.
Milkweed plant survival, by species and overall, will be monitored annually on 10 1 m2 plots randomly located within each 1 acre planting. Survival will be correlated with management practice (burning, herbicide or both) and age of prairie planting (range = 1-12 years) to assess the best management strategies for incorporating milkweed into restored prairie. While this grant will conclude in fall 2018, plant survival will be monitored for 5 years after establishment using funding from the trust and MDC staff support.
The benefit of the milkweed plantings to monarch populations will be assessed by monitoring the monarch egg masses on milkweed plants from July-October in both 2017 and 2018. Plants will be sampled in 10 1 m2 plots randomly located in the 1 acre nursery patches. The number of egg masses has been shown to be correlated with monarch population potential (Stenoien et al. 2015). We will use this metric as a surrogate to assess local monarch use of plantings and potential impact on monarch abundance. Data on egg masses will be incorporated into the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
( http://mlmp.org/).
Objective 3: Becoming a seed source for the propagation of milkweeds and other conservative plants important to pollinators for both commercial growers and conservation agencies (e.g. MDC state nursery).
Successful establishment of milkweed nursery patches within the restored prairie will provide a long-term seed source for a variety of plants important to pollinator conservation. We believe PFCA is well positioned to become a primary regional seed source, in the near future, because of the commitment of partners and the already established facilities. We will begin seed collection from the PFCA nursery patches in fall of 2017. We will engage both commercial growers and the MDC George O. White State Nursery in the production of milkweed plants. The initial focus will be to use these plants for conservation actions on public ground. As the seed source on PFCA becomes well established we will then examine options to use seed for establishing additional nursery sites that can assist in meeting public and private demand for milkweed.
Literature Cited Grygiel, C. E., Norland, J. E. and Biondini, M. E. (2014), Using precision prairie reconstruction to drive the native seeded species colonization process. Restoration Ecology, 22: 465–471.
Missourians for Monarchs Collaborative Steering Committee. 2016. Missouri monarch and pollinator conservation plan. Draft Version 4 (3/9/2016). 22 pp.
Stenoien, C., K.R. Nail and K.S. Oberhauser. 2015. Habitat productivity and temporal patterns of Monarch Butterfly egg densities in the eastern United States. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 108(5): 670–679.