Lost, but not forgotten. This is the sentiment of the Restoration Ecology: From Coastal Wetlands to the Appalachian Mountains and Back Creative Inquiry team. This project, mentored by Dr. Althea Hagan from the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, focuses on the restoration of Piedmont prairies and coastal wetlands. To restore these ecosystems, the team researches restoration practices and identifies the most optimal methods for the systems they wish to restore. They also learn the importance of restoring a site to its original ecological functions.  

Historically, wildfires and grazing kept prairie ecosystems healthy by prohibiting tree growth and acting as natural fertilizers. Fire suppression and lack of large grazing animals caused trees to invade the Piedmont prairies which led to the loss of native prairie plants. So the Creative Inquiry team is attempting to restore native grasses such as Little Bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium, Indian grass, Sorghastrum nutans, and Broomsedge, Andropogon virginicus. Reintroducing these species along with other native prairie plants will increase biodiversity, which can provide habitat for wildlife and hopefully restore the once functioning prairie ecosystem.  

To identify the best restoration practices and the impact of those practices on prairies, the Creative Inquiry team conducts experiments in Clemson’s greenhouses and the Clemson Experimental Forest. They use the greenhouses to study the impacts of controlled burning and fire severity on native Piedmont prairie plant species. The experiments in the Clemson Experimental Forest study different site preparation methods such as using herbicide, tilling, mowing or weed whacking the area before planting seeds. Their goal is to determine which methods give the native prairie plants the best chance of survival. Preliminary results show that the use of herbicides in sight preparation yields the highest survival rate of native plant seeds. “I think it killed everything that was there before, which sort of made it a blank slate,” Hagan said. The herbicide creates a fresh start for all the native plants to grow.  

During the summer, students in the Summer Creative Inquiry and Undergraduate Research (CI+UR) program work on a wetland restoration project in the Brosnan Forest near Charleston. Originally an attempt was made to restore this site to a forested wetland with no success. The plants would not grow at the site so the land managers contacted Hagan and her team for help. First, the team completed a plant survey. With the survey data and knowledge from the previous attempt to restore the wetland, the team hypothesized that the ecological site might be an herbaceous wetland with few woody stems rather than a forested wetland. This would explain the previous failed attempt. “If you’re trying to plant species in a place that is outside of their niche, they’re not going to thrive or survive,” JB Rehrig, a sophomore environmental and natural resources major, said. The restoration of this wetland could have positive impacts on flood mitigation and water purification in the surrounding areas. 

Habitat restoration does not only benefit plants, they provide native habitats which benefit wildlife conservation efforts. Endangered species such as prairie chickens need healthy ecosystems to thrive and repopulate. “I think being able to provide an outlet of restoration is important for the sense of making sure there’s still something to conserve and something to manage for,” Rachel Brown-Villarreal, a junior wildlife and fisheries biology major, said. Understanding the impact ecological restoration has on native plants and animals, helps bring the once lost species to light and not forgotten.