The Emerald Horizon: The History of Nature in Iowa

Index

Numbers in italics indicate an illustration or photograph. agricultural policies and programs, 25, 102–103, 107, 228–229, 244–247, 252, 254. See also Conservation Reserve Program agriculture, 23–34, 241–247; alternatives to, 33–34, 242–247; conservation practices in, 119, 215, 242–244, 246; effects on native systems, 27, 79, 31–33, 102–103, 105–107, 114–116, 123–124, 128–129, 157–158, 160–162; effects on soil and water, 17, 31, 118–119, 120, 124, 126–132, 161, 241–242, 245; mechanization and industrialization of, 23–26, 24, 28, 30, 32–33, 117, 245; Native American, 9–11; perennial cover in, 27–29, 102–103, 215, 242–245; post-1800 history of, 20–21, 23–34, 116–127, 160; returning nature to, 145, 212, 232, 242–247, 257; and sustainability concerns, 27, 33, 34, 82, 120–121, 220, 241–242, 245–247, 257; traditional diversified, 27–29, 27, 33, 242. See also biofuels, cattle, crops, farms, fertilizers, grazing, hay and hayfields, hogs, land-use statistics, pesticides, plowing, soil, tiling of cropland algific talus slopes, 53 amphibians. See frogs and toads, salamanders ashes, 54, 88, 177; white, 59–60, 163, 174; green, 54, 59, 163, 180, 199 badger, 48, 105, 107, 138 basswood, 5, 59–60, 163–164, 168, 169, 174–177, 196, 199. See also maplebasswood forests bear, 5, 67, 107 beaver, 13, 66, 77, 106, 107–108 Big Sand Mound, 138 biodiversity: defined, 39; importance of, 72–74, 220–221, 249, 257–258 biofuels, 244–245 birds, 69, 99–104, 237; agriculture’s impact on, 101–103; destruction of, 70, 78–80; diversity of, 99, 103, 194–195; exotic, 85, 100, 103; neotropical migrants , 68, 100–101; original abundance of, 66, 67, 69–70; populations, 99–104, 132; of prairies and grasslands , 66–68, 101–103, 138, 214, 237, 244; reintroduction of, 101, 104; of wetlands, 65, 68, 103–104, 132, 237; of woodlands and forests, 68–69, 80, 103, 166, 186 bison, 67; ecological effects of, 38–39, 58, 72, 162; modern, 16, 108, 245; pre-1800, 5–6, 9–10, 12, 66, 105 blue jay, 91, 101, 168, 196 bluegrass, 80, 123–124, 142, 178, 213 bluestems: big, 42–43, 44, 47–48, 49, 61, 123, 142; little, 43, 44, 46–47, 49 bobolink, 66, 101–103, 237 Broken Kettle Grasslands, 134, 151 brome, 83, 123–124, 149 buckthorn, 84, 86–87, 170, 262 buffer strips, 139, 182, 215, 218, 241 butterflies, 71, 94–95, 139–140, 168, 213, 240, 255; and fire, 95, 213–214; regal fritillary, 94, 195; skipper, 71, 93–95, 140 Index 290 | Index Calvin, Samuel, 1 carbon sequestration, 51, 118–119, 182, 215, 244 cattails, 48, 86, 131, 217–219 cattle: ecological effects of, 123–124, 160– 161, 180, 243–244; modern decline in population, 30, 102, 161; settlementera , 27, 117, 121–123, 160. See also grazing cedar. See redcedar Cedar River, 98, 129, 138, 170 clearcuts. See logging and tree clearing climate: ancient, 3–6; modern, 18–19, 38–40, 215. See also drought, global warming coneflowers: gray-headed, 45, 141; pale purple, 45, 49, 135, 141, 146; purple, 146 confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), 30–31, 130, 241 conservation easements, 227–228, 251 conservation history, 15–17, 79, 133 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), 89, 102–103, 107, 137, 244 conservation subdivisions. See urban development corn: current use of, 25–26, 28–30, 29, 242, 244–245; ecological effects of, 28, 118–121, 242, 245; Native American use, 9–11, 80; settlement-era use, 20, 25, 27, 117, 122 Corn Belt, 117 cottonwood, 54–55, 123, 163, 170, 178– 179 cougar, 67, 77, 107 cowbird, 80, 91, 100, 103 coyote, 77, 92, 106, 107, 166 cranes, 67, 78, 99, 104 crops: row system, 26, 29–30, 29, 243, 245; settlement-era, 27, 80–81, 117, 123. See also corn, soybeans Darling, J. N. “Ding,” 17–18 dead zones, 115, 132 deer, 91, 106, 107, 166; ecological effects of, 109, 110, 185–187, 204, 207; numbers of, 107–109; pre-1900 hunting of, 6, 9–10, 77, 105, 108 Des Moines lobe, 3–4, 65. See also prairie potholes dogwoods, 59, 138, 142, 163, 170, 199 dragonflies and damselflies, 94, 96, 97 draining, 126–132 droughts, 38, 41, 53, 72, 165, 220 Dutch elm disease, 85–87, 178, 185 eagle, 103–104 ecological change, 2, 14 ecological collapse, 110–111 ecological goods and services, 63–66, 99, 237–238, 258; of prairies, 51–52, 62, 145, 147, 220...