Duke Prairie
Clinton County, Iowa
Duke Prairie Plants and Wildlife
Bird Checklist for Duke Prairie Preserve.pdfIn the table below:
Click on the Plant, Bird, Reptile and Amphibian, Insect and Arachnid, and Mammal tabs at the bottom of the table to scroll through the lists.
These lists are based on species identified during site visits and sightings submitted using the link in the sub-bullet point below. Submitted species are added to the table as time allows.
Click here if you would like to submit records of plants or wildlife you have seen at this location.
Bloom periods are based on those provided by the Illinois Plants Database.
About Duke Prairie
Duke Prairie is a 20-acre prairie remnant owned and managed by the Clinton County Conservation Board. The majority of this site is underlain by a poorly drained silty clay loam soil with pockets of wetter soils, loams, and windblown sands. Due to a diversity of soil conditions, several types of plant communities can be found on this small prairie, with sedge wet meadows occurring on the wetter soils, mesic prairie on the well-drained loams, and dry-mesic prairie on the excessively drained eolian sands.
Duke Prairie was plowed and planted to wheat for one growing season in 1898. Likely due to wet soils and dry, nutrient poor sands, the site was allowed to naturally regenerate from residual plants and propagules. The regenerated prairie was used as pasture until it was purchased by the Clinton County Conservation Board in 1991.
Clinton County Conservation Board Duke Prairie Website http://www.clintoncounty-ia.gov/clintoncounty-ia.gov/PAGE/Duke.aspx
Click here for a Duke Prairie soils map.
Amenities
There are no maintained trails, restroom facilities, or off-road parking at this site.
How to Get There:
Nearby Sites of Interest:
Interesting literature
Iowa's County Conservation System Guide to Outdoor Recreation
Click here to view a Google Scholar search for additional literature using the pre-filled search terms of "Anderson Prairie State Preserve Iowa"