Iowa’s Native Ecosystems

While schools are closed, we're creating a series of "Talk of Iowa" episodes that will be fun and educational for learners of all ages. This is our last biology class, but join us every Tuesday throughout the summer for learning and fun with Talk of Iowa Summer Camp Before the land was transformed by settlement Iowa was covered with tall grass prairie. Over much of the state there was an ocean of tall grasses and flowers as far as the eye could see. There were wooded areas along many of the state’s rivers and streams, but 85% of the land was covered in prairie. On this Talk of Iowa we learn about the native eco-systems of Iowa including tallgrass prairie, oak savannah, woodlands and wetlands. Host Charity Nebbe talks with Dan Cohen of the Buchanan County Conservation Board and Heidi Anderson of the Polk County Conservation Board. We also learn about the dramatic change that settlement brought to Iowa’s landscape. Of the 30 million acres of prairie that once covered Iowa less than one