In an epoch where the activities of an ever-growing human society threatens to overwhelm the last patches of remnant prairies, woodlands, savannahs and wetlands, it can be difficult to find substantive hope.
Members of the SIUC Restoration Club were cheered and inspired Saturday after collecting native seed with two seasoned defenders of biodiversity and longtime southern Illinois residents Robert and Rhonda Rothrock. Robert assisted us with the collection of many rare and valuable species of plants once abundant in southern Illinois, from his property where he and his wife have lovingly restored the native plant community over many years.
These seeds will be employed to expand a 2-year-old wet prairie restoration on the east side of Campus Lake, near the Center for Environmental Health and Safety.
Thanks to their generosity and goodwill, this restoration will double in size, reducing the pollution associated with mowing and maintaining lawns. Additionally, this restoration will function as a filter for runoff into Campus Lake, and provide much-needed habitat for birds, small mammals and pollinating insects.
As many long-time residents of the region such as the Rothrocks will attest, recent decades have seen the continued erosion of many remnant patches of biodiversity. Many of the plants and animals that give the Midwest its unique organic texture and atmosphere are in danger of quietly disappearing unless we change the way we manage our landscape.
Conservation is not a global problem so much as it is a local one. Taking care to manage our backyards, roadsides, forests and fields for maximum biodiversity and ecological function will improve the quality of life for all organisms in this unique corner of the Midwest.
For those of you interested in taking immediate action to improve the landscape we all call home, please contact us via our Facebook group page, SIUC Restoration Club.
We are always looking for enthusiastic new members with an interest in restoration.
Klopf is doctoral student
in plant biology.
