Prairie Research

While prairie is very rare in Missouri today, there is still much to learn about this complex ecosystem. A key aspect of MPF’s mission is prairie education, including support of prairie research. 

To this end, MPF raises funds to pay for annual species’ surveys on its prairies, and also provides numerous small grants to researchers studying prairies, glades, and other native grasslands. In 2008, for example, MPF provided a small grant to Nicole Miller, then a Ph.D. candidate at Washington University, to assist with her work studying plant-pollinator interactions on Missouri prairies and glades. 

MPF also allows researchers—with permission—to use MPF properties to gather data and carry out other scientific work. In 2010, for example, Lauren Hart, a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, compared insect communities in original tallgrass prairies, restored prairies, and fescue-dominated agricultural fields, as well as insect-feeding interactions. Results of these and other researchers’ work is often published in the Missouri Prairie Journal and posted below. Also, MPF has funds restricted to support prairie and related research projects.  If you would like to request permission to use MPF properties to carry out scientific work or to seek MPF funding, please email lilly@moprairie.org.

MPF’s prairie events open to the public also result in data collection and biological discoveries. For example, at MPF’s Penn-Sylvania Prairie BioBliz in 2010, 242 species of plants and animals were documented in fewer than 24 hours, including 133 plant species confirmed from a 1999 list plus 30 newly documented plants. At MPF’s Golden Prairie BioBlitz in 2011, Arkansas darters—an uncommon headwater fish—were discovered in a small spring-fed prairie stream.

Learn more in Research on Missouri Foundation Prairies in the Summer 2025 issue of the Missouri Prairie Journal.

Research on MPF Prairies:

Insects:

Summary Report of Pollinator Surveys within Carver, Noah Brown’s, and Schuette Prairies (2022)

Snowball Hill Prairie Butterfly, Dragonfly, and Bird Survey (2017)

Macroinvertebrates of Prairie Headwater Streams: Spatial Patterns of Community Structure and Report Figures (2016)

Report on bees found at Golden and Stilwell Prairies (2014)

Annotated Ant List for Shelton L. Cook Memorial Meadow BioBlitz (2023)

Annotated Ant List for Gayfeather Prairie (2014)

Annotated Ant List for Penn-Sylvania Prairie

Odonota surveys of the various sites of the Missouri Prairie Foundation (2013)

Flora:

2024 Floristic Integrity Report of Morton Family Prairie, Polk County Prairie, and New Scott County Sand Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2023 Floristic Integrity Report of Shelton L. Cook Memorial Meadow, Rock Hill Prairie and Benton County Prairie The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2022 Floristic Integrity Report of Shelton L. Cook Memorial Meadow, Linden’s Prairie, and Thoh-dah Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC 

2021 Floristic Integrity Report of Carver Prairie, Lordi Marker Prairie, and Schuette Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2020 Floristic Integrity Report of Coyne Prairie, Golden Prairie, Linden’s Prairie, and The Rae Letsinger Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2019 Floristic Integrity Report of Gayfeather Prairie and Stilwell Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training

2018 Floristic Integrity Report of Coyne Prairie, Penn-Sylvania Prairie, Schwartz Prairie, and Snowball Hill Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2017 Floristic Integrity Report of Noah Brown’s Prairie, Coyne Prairie, Denison Prairie and Snowball Hill Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2016 Floristic Integrity Report of La Petite Gemme, Linden’s Prairie, and Pleasant Run Creek Prairie by the Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2016 Floristic Integrity Report of Carver Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2015 Floristic Integrity Report of Penn-Sylvania Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2014 Floristic Integrity Report of Golden Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

2012 Floristic Integrity Report of Coyne Prairie by The Institute of Botanical Training, LLC

Linden’s Prairie Bryophytes (2016)

Missouri Bryophytes of the Prairie (2016)

La Petite Gemme Prairie Bryophytes (2015)

Schwartz Prairie Bryophytes (2012)

Birds:

2024 Breeding Bird Surveys on Missouri Prairie Foundation Properties by the Missouri River Bird Observatory

2022 Breeding Bird Surveys on Missouri Prairie Foundation Properties by the Missouri River Bird Observatory

2021 Breeding Bird Surveys on Missouri Prairie Foundation Properties by the Missouri River Bird Observatory

2020 Breeding Bird Surveys on Missouri Prairie Foundation Properties by the Missouri River Bird Observatory 

2019 Breeding Bird Surveys on 10 MPF Prairies by the Missouri River Bird Observatory

2018 Breeding Bird Surveys on Missouri Prairie Foundation Properties by the Missouri River Bird Observatory

2017 Bird Surveys Report for Golden

Carver Prairie Breeding Bird Survey (2016)

2014 Grassland Bird Survey

2012 Grasslands Bird Survey

Reptiles and Amphibians:

Herpetofaunal Survey: Reptiles and Amphibians at Golden Prairie

Studies (including those published/peer-reviewed) on prairie, biodiversity conservation, and other related topics:

Soil nutrients influence floristic distribution and quality across remnant and degraded grasslands, by Samuel Lord, Kristen S. Veum, Jeffrey D. Wood, Justin R. Thomas, Stephen H. Anderson, Kerry Clark, and Lauren L. Sullivan., published in Restoration Ecology (July 2025). Available from: http://doi.org/10.1111/rec.70127

Ancient Prairies as a Reference for Soil Organic Carbon Content and Microbial Community Structure, by Samuel Lord, Kristen S. Veum, Lauren L. Sullivan, Stephen H. Anderson, Veronica Acosta-Martinez, and Kerry Clark., published in Applied Soil Ecology (June 2024). Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929139324000866

Aboveground Primary Productivity of Tallgrass Prairie Based on Accumulated Plant Biomass on Miscellaneous LTER Watersheds, by Nippert, Jesse. Environmental Data Initiative, 2023. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/64711e5f73ca1234bf8841d8630fe2f4.

Prescribed Fire Increases the Number of Ground-nesting Bee Nests in Tallgrass Prairie Remnants, by Brokaw, J., Portman, Z.M., Bruninga-Socolar, B. & Cariveau, D.P., published in Insect Conservation and Diversity, (2023) 1– 13. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12628

A New Tool for Assessing Restoration Potential and Monitoring Restoration Success in Tallgrass Prairies: The Natural Community Health Index, by Mike J. Leahy and Jennifer Buchanan, published in the April 2022 issue of Natural Areas Journal.

Habitat Restoration Benefits Wild Bees: A meta-analysis, by Rebecca K. Tonietto and Daniel J. Larkin, published in the March 2018 issue of Journal of Applied Ecology.

Holding the line: three decades of prescribed fires halt but do not reverse woody encroachment in grasslands, by Jesse E. D. Miller, Ellen I. Damschen, Zak Ratajczak, and Mutlu Ӧzdoğan., published in Landscape Ecology (September 2017). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319880743

MPF Vice President of Science & Management Bruce Schuette’s paper, The Conservation Significance of Prairie Remnants in Missouri, which he delivered at the 2016 North American Prairie Conference in Illinois.

Bumble bees selectively use native and exotic species to maintain nutritional intake across highly variable and invaded local floral resource pools, Ecological Entomology (2015), 40, 471–478. Alexandra N. Harmon-Threatt and Claire Kremen.

Fire Season Effects on Orthopteran Populations at Hunkah and Bogart Prairies at Prairie State Park by Susanne Greenlee, March 2000.

Variations in Leaf Beetle Populations of a Native Tallgrass Prairie: Influence of Seasonal Burn Regimes, by Douglas G. Ledoux, presented to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in April 1998.

Proceedings of the North American Conference on Savannas and Barrens, at Illinois State University, October 15-16, 1994, edited by James S. Fralish, Roger C. Anderson, John E. Ebinger, and Rober Szafonia.

Other:

Comprehensive Distribution and Characterization of Missouri’s Glade-Producing Rock Formations by Paul W. Nelson, Allison J. Vaughn and Larry D. Pierce, Jr., Missouri Department of Natural Resources Special Report No. 14, 2022.

Missouri Climate, 1895-2021 by Pat Guinan, Missouri Climate Center report.