Category Archives: General

Reader Feedback Opportunity – What Do You Think?

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I’ve been writing this blog for about eight months now, and it’s been an extremely enjoyable and fulfilling experience.  As I’ve told many people, I learn something from every post.  I learn by forcing myself to research, justify and corroborate my viewpoints and facts as I write about each subject.  I also learn from the many insightful comments and questions you’ve sent back to me through replies to posts, emails, and phone calls.

Stormy sky over a recently-burned Griffith Prairie, north of Aurora, Nebraska. Owned and managed by Prairie Plains Resource Institute, this diverse mixed-grass prairie has undergone extensive eastern red cedar removal and is managed with prescribed fire and grazing.

While writing the blog is fun for me, I’m doing it on work time – – so I have some responsibility to justify the time I spend on it.  It’s difficult to measure the effectiveness of something like a blog because although I get some statistics on how many times each post is read, I don’t really have any idea who’s reading it or what they think about it (except when people reply with comments/questions). 

I’ve decided that the most effective way to see whether or not the blog is achieving its objectives is to simply ask.  So – I’m asking. 

Here are my rough objectives for this blog:

1. Provide an interactive and updated source of prairie-related information as a companion to my book on prairie management.

2. Raise awareness and enthusiasm about prairies.

3. Provide a searchable on-line forum for discussion about challenges related to prairie management and restoration.

4. Improve the management and restoration of prairies by providing useful (and sometimes provocative) information and ideas.

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If you have a few minutes this week, I’d love to hear back from you about how I’m doing on those objectives.  You can simply reply to this post or you can send me an email (chelzer@tnc.org).  Please tell me what you think so far. 

–  Has the blog changed the way you think about or manage/restore prairies?

– Is the information technical enough?  Too technical?

– What do you like most/least about the blog?

– Do you have ideas for future blog post topics?  Any other suggestions for improving the blog?

I can’t thank you enough for reading (and responding to) the posts I’ve written so far.  I look forward to many more future discussions!

Photo of the Week – May 19, 2011

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A ground beetle showing off its massive mandibles. Aurora, Nebraska

I found this ground beetle in my yard when I was pulling up some bricks.  It’s a very common, though not often seen, beetle around here – and its close relatives are abundant throughout much of the United States.  This one appears to be Scarites vicinus, though it’s difficult to be sure.

This Carabid beetle spends its days beneath the ground, burrowing in moist soil or beneath logs (or bricks!).  It comes out at night to hunt on the surface, killing and eating just about any small invertebrate it encounters. 

If it is spotted by a mouse or other potential predator, the beetle’s first defense is often to “play dead” (see below) but if that doesn’t work, a pinch from its impressive mandibles can be a good fallback option!

When threatened, the beetle pulls in its vulnerable legs and antennae and stiffens up, looking for all the world like a dead beetle.

Many thanks to Ted MacRae for his help with identification and supplemental information on this beetle.  Visit his blog at: http://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/