I see that the Science II prairie was burned — all of it!

The Science II Prairie Web site states that burns will occur “on alternate sides of the walk that goes through the prairie.” This did not happen.

I realize this is a planting, a fake prairie, and it lacks the diversity of either a prairie remnant or a high quality prairie planting, but still  — burning 100 percent is the wrong example to teach.

This burn should be about teaching management to natural resource ecology and management students — our future land managers and ecological restorationists. The burn should incorporate what has been learned over the last 20 years: don’t burn it all.

I understand that it is much easier to ring a fire and burn everything, but easy is not necessarily better.

When Iowa was the tall grass prairie state, when fire was set by Native Americans or lightning, it could burn across the landscape for days at a time. But there remained unburned prairies: refugia. Not so anymore. Our Iowa prairies are, for the most part, postage-stamp size and delineated by agriculture, corn and soybeans.

Prairie ecology seems to be about plants and birds. Consider however, the insects, many of which are now eggs, larvae and pupae, with no wings to escape a fire. Why is there no list of insects associated with this prairie? As an example, the Science II prairie plant list includes Mirabilis nyctaginea. Have the four species of micro moths (Neoheliodines nyctaginella, Neoheliodines cliffordi, Aetole tripunctella, and Embola ionis) host specific to Mirabilis nyctaginea been documented? Has anyone even looked for them?

Insects are over half of the named and described species on planet earth. These numbers can probably be extrapolated to Iowa.

If insects are so speciose, why then are they virtually ignored by land managers and most ecology students? Why is a basic entomology course not required for all NREM students as well as all biology majors? Prairie, forest, savannah, riparian and fen plants are pretty well documented. I dare say the birds are well-known as well. When will we begin to include the insects?

Until NREM and biology students are introduced to the 50 percent of life that are insects (Entomology 370), their ecological education at Iowa State is incomplete.

Next time, before you burn the Science II prairie, consider reading and heeding your own management plan.

Leave some areas unburned, for the insects and as a hands-on management lesson for students.

MJ Hatfield

ISU 1972 alumnus

Resident of Ames