Cons Sci Seminar - 12/12/25

December 12, 2025

12:00-1:00pm

In person (preferred): 335 Borlaug Hall, St. Paul Campus, UMN

Remote access: https://umn.zoom.us/j/91587399054

Prescribed fire effects on pollination, pollinators, and plants across a fragmented prairie landscape

Dr. Stuart Wagenius

Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University

Abstract

Prescribed fire is critically important to maintain prairie habitat and biodiversity. Why? How do fires promote the persistence of native plants and animals in prairies? It is hypothesized that fire effects on pollinators and plants may influence persistence of plant and pollinator population dynamics. This presentation describes several long-term landscape-scale experiments that reveal differing effects of fire on bee nesting, plant demography, and plant-pollinator interactions. Results have policy and management implications for conservation of pollinators & plants in fragmented prairie landscapes.

Biosketch

Wagenius grew up in Minneapolis. He didn't take any biology classes in college. While working in Louisiana he needed to escape the heat. So, he took a class at Itasca. He learned about birds, plants, and the prairie. He got hooked on nature. After a few jobs and many prereqs, Wagenius started grad school earning a PhD in EEB at UMN in 2001. He founded the Echinacea Project, which conducts ecological, genetic, and conservation research in fragmented prairie in western Minnesota. He worked at the Chicago Botanic Garden for 24.5 year. Due to budget problems he was laid off in October 2025. He is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, IL.