Unintended consequences!

    Cedar trees are very hardy and well adapted to prairie life. Deer do not graze on cedars as they do on spruce. Growing in the proper location they are good for wildlife. During the winter deer and pheasants shelter from the wind and snow in their cover. Pheasants roost in them at night, snug out of the wind and safe out of reach of coyotes and fox. During spring and summer cedars provide excellent habitat for nesting songbirds. 

    Over the years I've planted many rows of cedar trees for wildlife habitat. These rows are adjacent to grasslands. That brings the unintended consequence. Birds eat cedar berries and defecate the seeds in the grass. Cedars sprout from these droppings and in a few years can infest grasslands. The result is neither "fish nor fowl', or, more accurately, neither "grassland nor woodland."  Wildlife that require open grasslands are eliminated. Many acres of grassland in western states have been rendered non-productive by invasive cedars.

   Why wasn't this an issue prior to settlement by Europeans?  Two factors kept the cedars at bay. Prairie fires were common. Some were ignited by lightning strikes and other deliberately started by Native Americans. Fires are fatal to cedar trees.

   Bison also control cedars. M.S., my high school classmate, raised bison for a number of years. He reported that when bison were put in grassland with cedar trees the bison destroyed the trees with their horns. Bison could be observed with the remnants of cedar trees stuck in their horns. Within a short period of their being loosed in a grassland containing cedars they had destroyed them all.

   This bison behavior raises the question of "Why?"  Why would they do this? It would have been to their benefit, preserving the grass on which they depended. But it's a fascinating, rather abstract, cause and effect.  Perhaps I should raise bison so I don't have to hand cut the trees in the grass. 😀

Takk for alt,

Al

Fourteen deer ran out of the grove. I thought that they'd be dispersed by now.