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GENERAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR SELECT NATURAL <br />COMMUNITY TYPES <br />Below are general management strategies for prairie, savanna, wetland and forest communities. <br />These management strategies are intended to be generic; therefore more specific management <br />recommendations may be necessary for individual natural communities and sites. More specific <br />management strategies are provided in Sections 5 & 6 of this report. <br />Prairie and Savanna Management <br />The health of prairie and savanna plant communities was maintained before Euroamerican <br />settlement by grazing and fires, both of which probably occurred annually to every few years on <br />most sites. Some fires occurred naturally. But the vast majority were intentionally set by Native <br />Americans. Fires maintained the open structure of prairies by controlling the growth and spread <br />of trees and shrubs, removing accumulated plant litter, warming the soil in spring, and returning <br />nutrients to the soil. With the spread of agriculture and urban development, fires have been <br />suppressed, leading to the spread of shrubs, trees, and exotic plants in prairie and savanna <br />communities, and loss of diversity of native grasses and forbs. The activities of large and small <br />mammals and insects also helped to maintain prairie communities by spreading seeds, burrowing <br />to loosen soils, and pollinating prairie grasses and forbs. <br />In addition to the suppression of fires, prairies and savannas have been degraded by <br />inappropriate levels of grazing, which reduce forb diversity and encourage the dominance of <br />clonal plants (such as golden rod) that are unpalatable to livestock. Other factors responsible for <br />the decline of prairie and savanna communities include: development, ill- advised tree planting, <br />plowing, and too frequent mowing. <br />Less than one percent of the prairie and savanna landscapes that once existed in southeastern <br />Minnesota remain. The goal for managing the remaining remnants should be to maintain or <br />restore as much of the original diversity as possible, through re- establishing or mimicking the <br />processes that helped to maintain these plant communities. <br />City of Roseville 28 <br />Parks Natural Resource Management <br />