Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Fire is a common sight this time of year in the Flint Hills, but research conducted by Alexis Powell, a former University of Kansas master’s student, suggests burning and grazing practices threaten bird species that nest on the prairie.

“Grass bird populations are decreasing more than any other bird species,” said Mark Robbins, ornithology collection manager at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and co-advisor for Powell’s master’s thesis.

Powell studied the effects of annual prairie burning and high-density bison grazing, called “double stocking,” on the populations of seven grassland bird species. He observed decreases in the population of birds dependent upon prairie grass and brush for breeding.

Powell’s research focused on bison grazing, which is rare in the Flint Hills, he said. But cattle present a similar problem.

Both bison and cattle prefer the new growth that sprouts from burned pasture.

“Fresh growth has a lot less silicon and is high in nitrogen,” Powell said.

Livestock are attracted to the burned areas because silicon is difficult to digest. Farmers, who raise much of the livestock in the Flint Hills for the meat industry, want to add bulk to their livestock. They burn the prairie to encourage nitrogen-rich new growth, which livestock use to make proteins, Robbins said.

The problem is two-fold. Many farmers burn their fields annually, often burning the entire pasture. Birds that nest from May to July are left without suitable nesting habitat due to the burned prairie that is crowded with livestock.

“You put the cattle on in April or May, and they come off in June, whereas traditionally you would put them on at the same time, April or May, but leave them on until September or October,” Powell said. “Twice as many cattle are put on for grazing in about half the time.”

Robbins estimated that farmers burn between 60 to 70 percent of the Flint Hills each season. The Flint Hills is the largest remaining tall grass prairie in North America.

“The Flint Hills look like a golf course during this period,” Robbins said, referring to the tracts of barren land.

It is the nature of the prairie to burn, but Robbins and Powell agree annual burning and double stocking are unnatural.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against burning,” Robbins said. “But we need to try to mimic the natural system before Europeans arrived.”

That natural system, according to Robbins, could resemble “patch burning” in which certain sections of the prairie are burned at different times of the year. The burned portion is then the focus of that year’s grazing.

Powell agrees that patch burning could pose less of a threat to nesting bird populations.

“You can essentially attract cattle to the [burned] area,” Powell said. Livestock are attracted to the new growth in the burned areas, leaving the unburned portions fallow for bird nesting.

Patch burning is a potential solution to decreasing bird populations. But the system is not convenient for farmers who are strapped with economic and time concerns.

“One challenge of patch burning is that it is much easier to burn the entire pasture,” Powell said.

Powell said research from Oklahoma State University has shown double stocking is only marginally more profitable than other grazing systems. But the practice has become entrenched since the 1980s, and even if the system isn’t much more profitable, it is certainly easier.

“There is a lot of government involvement in the world of farming,” Powell said. “It wouldn’t take much money to make up for the losses, but the changes could have a big impact.”

Source: Alexis Powell

For more information on the Flint Hills and the Konza Prairie:

The Nature Conservancy operates the prairie in conjunction with Kansas State University.