A grant has been awarded to Minnesota State University Moorhead, under the direction of Dr. Alison Wallace, Dr. George Davis and Dr. Donna Stockrahm, to conduct a workshop for the purpose of planning the development of a 5,000 acre tallgrass prairie biological field station. The MSUM Regional Science Center's Buffalo River site is well positioned to place an increased emphasis on ecological monitoring, research, and research training activities. Current educational programs are well established. Ecologically unique land has been purchased and placed under a management plan. Partnerships have been formed with adjacent high quality lands for research and instructional use, including property held by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Nature Conservancy. The site has a basic facility that currently serves K-12 populations and the general public, and could easily be improved to handle expanded research activities by regional and visiting researchers and students. There are critical numbers of interested field researchers in the immediate area from three higher education institutions. Most importantly, there is a need for a field station that is situated primarily in a northern tallgrass prairie ecoregion and contains high quality tallgrass prairie acreage available for ecological monitoring and research.
To make this planning effort a success, the following objectives will be addressed and met: 1) the articulation of an overall vision for the future of the proposed field station, 2) the elucidation of specific research and education missions of the proposed field station, and 3) the formation of a comprehensive plan for administration, facility, and program development to ensure a fully functioning field station within a five-year time period. These objectives will be met during a three-day workshop to be held at the site. An outside panel of field station professionals will be invited to join regional researchers and agency personnel. Working groups that concentrate on education, research, or administrative and facilities issues will be formed. An outside facilitator will help plan and run the workshop, and edit the final report generated by the working groups. A successful planning workshop will allow MSUM to proceed with the development of a field station in an efficient and effective manner, with the full support of partner institutions and agencies.
The proposed field station contains a variety of native and restored tallgrass prairie, wetland, and riparian woodland areas. However, tallgrass prairie is by far the most representative of the site, and this rare ecosystem is not well represented in existing field stations, especially in the northern regions of the U.S. In order to better monitor and understand our changing ecosystems, research and educational efforts need to be put forth in a variety of ecosystems and at a variety of latitudes. Thus the proposed field station will be a valuable addition to the worldwide network of biological field stations.
