[Abby Brown] Way up in northern Iowa,
there's a safe place for birds and other wildlife.
It's got the perfect name, Union Slough.
It's the union of two watersheds,
which makes it swampy.
Slough means swamp.
So it's called Union Slough.
So how is this identified as a prairie?
Let's go check it out.
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[Abby] Hey, Tom.
[Tom Skilling] Morning.
[Abby] So this is the Prairie Pothole Region, right?
[Tom] Right.
[Abby] How was this made?
[Tom Skilling, Wildlife Biologist] The Prairie Pothole Region is an area in Iowa
that's kind of a U-shape goes from like Spirit Lake,
to Clear Lake, and down to Des Moines.
[Abby] Okay.
[Tom] It was created by glaciers.
[Abby] Wow.
[Tom] So massive glaciers, like maybe a mile thick.
[Abby] Wow. And they came in and basically flattened
this place out, right?
[Tom] Yeah, reshaped everything.
[Abby] And what was left once the glaciers left?
[Tom] Well, when they melted, they left big chunks of ice
that that kind of sunk into the ground.
And it created all these depressions,
lower areas that hold water.
[Abby] That's what the “pothole” is, right?
[Tom] That's what the pothole is.
[Abby] So what's left behind is very unique. Right?
[Tom] Right.
[Abby] How so?
[Tom] Well, you have low ground and plants.
Some plants like low ground and wet ground. And then you have
higher ground and some plants like that.
And then you get the highest ground and some plants like that.
So you have a whole different
set of plants as you move up the hill.
[Abby] That's fascinating.
(insect sounds)
[Abby] Now, this has never been disturbed, right?
We call this remnant.
And how did this piece of land survive when the settlers
really wanted to dig it up and farm it?
[Tom] Right. It's a really miraculous
because it's not been plowed or drained.
And in the middle of Kossuth county, that's unusual for sure.
[Abby] Yeah.
[Tom] It just had a land owner that
had some interest in it and they hayed it
and did some grazing, but they never plowed it.
And so it survived.
And good for us.
[Abby] Yeah. Because some of these plants
are the same species that were here
hundreds and hundreds, or even longer ago?
[Tom] Right. Right.
People showed up here about 150 years ago,
and the prairie disappeared quickly after that.
Within 50 to 60 years, most of it was gone.
But this is one of the pieces that survived. And it's very,
just a precious piece of ground.
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[Tom] Wetland prairies, first of all,
have water, which makes them wet. So then you have a different set of plants
that grow there and animals that use that,
the variety of birds and muskrats and mink,
many things that use wetland prairie.
Some of the wetland species would be Boneset.
Ironweed is a good one.
Prairie Blazing Star is a beautiful plant.
Riddell's Goldenrod, one
that most people probably don't know, beautiful plant.
Plants and animals like the wetland area,
because that's their habitat.
I mean, they like, they like water,
they like the plants because that's the food they eat.
Most animals, especially insects and bugs and that kind of thing,
are specific to certain plants.
And so the ones that you find in the wetlands
are there because of the wetland plants that are there.
Some animals lay their eggs in the water.
So they have to have water to, you know, to reproduce.
Union Slough is a fantastic place for
swans because there are 1200 acres of marsh.
It's relatively isolated because it's not open
to the public generally.
So the birds aren't disturbed.
Good habitat and they've done really well here.
(music)
[Abby] If I'm just driving down the road my car,
how do I identify a wetland prairie?
(music)
[Tom] The best thing is to look at the plants.
I mean, if you know the plants, cattails for sure
would show you that that's a that's a wetland.
The wetland plants tend to be taller actually, because it's wetter.
[Abby] Okay.
[Tom] So sometimes over your head.
[Abby] Oh, wow.
And of course, there might be some water.
Tom: Right. And definitely there'll be water. Right.
Prairie is awesome.
[Abby] Yeah, it sure is.
[Tom] I mean, there's lots of plants,
lots of animals, lots of stuff going on.
But you have to stop and get out there and be in it to experience it.
[Abby] Union Slough was so interesting.
How might this compare to other wetlands
that are in your area? What's the same?
What's different?
Have fun investigating.
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