November 6, 2020
Building Ecological Resilience in Prairies
Dr. Chris Helzer
Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy - Nebraska
Description
Prairies have had a hard run of luck lately. Most of the grassland we have left is in relatively small fragments and has lost some of its species diversity. As a result, those remnants have less ability to adapt to stresses and are at risk of a downward spiral of productivity and diversity. All is not lost, though! Thoughtful management can help prairies build and retain diverse communities of species, and we know how to restore prairie habitats that can effectively enlarge and reconnect small fragments. Prairies have a lot of built-in resilience; we just have to provide them with the enabling conditions they need to maintain it.
Bio
Chris Helzer is The Nature Conservancy’s Director of Science in Nebraska. His main role is to evaluate and capture lessons from the Conservancy’s land management and restoration work and share those lessons with other land managers. He also works to raise awareness about the value of prairies and prairie conservation through photography, writing, and presentations.
Chris spends a lot of time photographing prairies and their inhabitants. His photos can be frequently be seen in publications and on websites of The Nature Conservancy, as well as magazines like NEBRASKAland magazine and Wildflower magazine.
Chris is also the author of two books published by the University of Iowa Press – “The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States” and “Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter”.
Chris lives in Aurora, Nebraska, a beautiful small town right on the edge of tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie.
Contact info: chelzer@tnc.org