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15. The Conservation Significance Of Prairie Remnants In Missouri, Bruce Schuette
15. The Conservation Significance Of Prairie Remnants In Missouri, Bruce Schuette
North American Prairie Conference Proceedings
How to conserve the great biodiversity of the prairie resource is a question of continuous debate. In Missouri the estimated 6,070,284 ha (15 million acres) of prairie at the time of Euro-American settlement has been reduced to an estimated 20,234–24,281 ha (50,000–60,000 acres) today, with 8,093 ha (20,000 acres) in conservation ownership. This valuable resource is rare now and is continuing to disappear. The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF), a nongovernmental organization celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2016, has acquired and protects 22 tracts that cover more than 1,335 ha (3,300 acres), comprised mostly of original unplowed prairie. These parcels, though …