Charles A. Geyer Agricultural Botanical Survey of 1838–1839: A Comparison of the Composition of Minnesota Prairies Then and Now

Abstract

Prairie remnants often serve as targets for restoration despite little knowledge of how they have altered over the past +150 years due to changes in the biotic and abiotic environment including suppression of fire, increased inputs of exogenous nitrogen, extirpation of bison, climate warming associated with the mid-19th century termination of the ‘Little Ice Age’ and 20th century anthropogenic forcing, and invasive introduced species. In this paper I assess the utility of prairie remnants as targets for restoration and management of prairies by examining compositional change of native plants in western Minnesota over the past ∼170 years. This analysis is made possible by the recent discovery of an unpublished manuscript by Charles A. Geyer as well as the relocation of 100s of herbarium specimens collected by Geyer. Geyer was a botanist with the 1838–1839 expeditions of J.N. Nicollet in western Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas. Comparison of the Geyer data with modern lists taken from the Natural Heritage Information System Relevé Database indicates that there has been surprisingly little change in composition of native species. This suggests that, in the aggregate, remnants retain much of their original flora and provide a good target for prairie restoration and management.