b'Dont Forget About the Rough:Cultivating an endless fascination for PDs flora & fauna1342PD Golf Course Superintendent Cory Griess tells us hes thinking about the many advantages of the native grasses we have: Big Bluestem,2Gramas (Blue and 1Side Oats), Switchgrass, and Little Bluestem. If youre trapped in a love hate 3 4affair with them, see page 24 and ask for a good forecaddie.We guess you wont have to look very hard for native grasses. LOVE THEM FOR:the breeding and nesting shelter they give grasslandtheir deep, fibrous roots, which can grow over 10 feet birds like the grasshopper sparrow and bobolink that huntlong, bind the soil, absorb nutrients and moisture, and bees, beetles and other insects within the grass clumpsrapidly build organic matter as they decompose. This process created the famously rich, black topsoil that the improved wildflower diversity they promote thatmade the Midwest a center for agriculturebenefits native pollinatorshow they pull massive amounts of carbon dioxide from their ecological complexity that creates a vibrantthe atmosphere and store it underground. This turns the biological community, unlike non-native grass lawns,prairie into an effective carbon sink that helps combat which offer little habitat for wildlife. Different grasslandclimate changestructures attract different speciescreating a dense, interlocking network near the surface,acting like steel in concrete to prevent soil erosionPrairie Dunes is recognized by Audubon International with its sanctuary certification for conservation of wildlife and natural resources. Source: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/flint-hills-tallgrasses.htm25'