Author Archives: Chris Helzer

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About Chris Helzer

Chris Helzer is Director of Science and Stewardship for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska, where he conducts research and supervises the Conservancy’s preserve stewardship program. He also helps develop, test, and share prairie management and restoration strategies. Chris is also dedicated to raising awareness about the value of prairies through his photography, writing and presentations. He is the author of The Prairie Ecologist blog, and two books: The Ecology and Management of Prairies and Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter. He is also a frequent contributor to NEBRASKAland magazine and other publications. Chris and his family live in Aurora, Nebraska.

Photo of the Week – October 12, 2012

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It’s been a windy week, but there was a lull for a few hours yesterday morning.  I took advantage of some early morning light and took my camera for a walk in a local prairie.  There was a lot of red and gold color in the grasses and wildflowers, but I was really drawn to the white fluffy seeds of milkweeds and false boneset that were catching the warm sunlight.

A few remaining false boneset (Brickellia eupatorioides) seeds barely hang on to the flower head. Restored prairie at The Leadership Center in Aurora, Nebraska.

I have some more photos to share next week, but this seemed an appropriate one to end a week of blustery fall weather.  Have a great weekend.

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Ants in Restored Prairie – Part 2 of our 2012 Insect Week Results

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As promised, here is the second half of the results from our insect week back in July.  Back in September, I reported that it appears bees are using our restored prairies much as they do our remnant prairies.  That’s particularly important because our prairie restoration objective is to functionally enlarge and reconnect our remnant prairies by restoring the cropland around and between them.  That objective can only be reached if insects and other creatures in our remnant prairies are using restored areas as habitat.

Besides bees, the other group we focused on during our insect week was ants.  James Trager (biologist and naturalist at the Shaw Nature Reserve in Missouri) and Laura Winkler (a graduate student at South Dakota State University) were here to help us start an inventory of the ants in our prairies and – more importantly – to begin evaluating our restored prairies as ant habitat.  As with the bees, there’s still much to learn, but the news so far is good.

Mound building ants (Formica montana) tending aphids on bull thistle. Platte River Prairies, Nebraska.

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