The most common plant in Nebraska, is a grass called smooth brome, Bromis inermis, in the grass family, Poaceae. Introduced as a forage plant from Eurasia over 130 years ago, this plant has made its way into every corner of our state and lots of other places.
It’s drought tolerance, and aggressive growth habit, really fast-tracked its popularity, after the Dust Bowl era. It establishes easily and rapidly, which has maintained its demand as a method for stabilizing areas prone to erosion. In wet years it can grow almost 3 feet high and actually provide many of the benefits native grasses provide, especially for some wildlife. In the winter with snow, that might be a different story.
Today in rangeland and landscape science, smooth brome (Bromus inermis) is one of the most widespread challenges in habitat management. It is now hard to imagine the native grasses of just over 150 years that dominated the landscape with big bluestem, switchgrass, Indian grass, prairie sandreed and blue joint.
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Smooth brome is now prevalent on the landscape in every place you can possibly think of in Nebraska and much of the Great Plains. It spreads aggressively through both seed and rhizomes. Smooth brome creates a dense mat successfully crowding out desirable native plant species. This eliminates vegetative diversity and structural characteristics which are beneficial to a host of wildlife species. We see smooth brome adjacent to wetlands, in grassed waterways, railroad right-of-ways and even city parks.
Our firm was fortunate enough to be a part of a Dakota skipper survey for a CO2 pipeline in the Dakotas and Nebraska, recently. We started northwest of Bismarck ND and worked our way southeast to the South Dakota border. Surveys for Dakota skippers are set into motion when certain habitat features are met and plant communities are stable. Those features include, but are not limited to presence of certain flora species such as prairie lily, bluebell bellflower, mountain death camass, and smooth camass. Other species include Rocky Mountain Blazing Star, strict blue-eyed grass, black eyed Susan and Canada goldenrod.
The ugly news for a thousand miles of pipeline of survey only two sites contained suitable habitat even worth looking at for those rare butterflies. Pretty hard pill to swallow, considering what most of us believe in thinking better habitats persist up north and out west, beyond intensive agriculture. What else will disappear?
Reducing smooth brome invasions can be a multi-step process and becomes an ongoing commitment and requires good timing and a well thought out effort. There are ways to set back and remove smooth brome and allow for native grasses and wildflowers to gain back control. Well timed prescribed burning, high intensity short duration grazing, chemical use or a combination of these practices are the most effective way to eradicate the species. This will be no small task going forward with range management in the 21st century.
As invasive or even just aggressive plants encroach within these grassland communities, hard questions will have to be asked and resolved or managed on how we want our future “prairies” to exist.
In nature some changes are so subtle and small, that resulting change happens right before our eyes and we don’t even think it is happening. Climate change is a little like that when we don’t realize, or pay attention to small changes in temperature, humidity, precipitation or anthropogenic disturbances like chemical additions or land use disruption. Some species of aquatic plants in the Potamogeton (pondweed) family of plants disappear over time with just a one or two degree Centigrade in historically stable temporal conditions in aquatic environments.
As I have walked grasslands for over fifty years now, I surmise with a heavy heart there will be many changes in the next 50 years, as our population grows and mans impact (along with Mother Nature) will continue to accelerate with many plant and animal groups.
Keeping an eye on the environment has never been more important.
Michael P. Gutzmer, PhD is principal and owner of New Century Environmental LLC and provides environmental consulting services in the Great Plains. NCE works with water, wetlands, habitat development threatened and endangered species and pollution problems. Please email me at mgutzmer@newcenturyenvironmental.com.
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July 16, 2022 at 11:00PM
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The good, the bad, and the ugly about smooth brome - Columbus Telegram
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