Prairie Plants and the Carbon Cycle | Iowa Science Phenomena

Investigate how prairie plants are vital to the carbon cycle.

Stretching for miles in Central Iowa, the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge was once farmland but is now restored prairie. Meticulously restored prairies may contain up to 100 different species of grasses and flora, but that pales in comparison to well-maintained remnant tracts that can contain nearly 400 different species. It’s a biodiversity that can take hundreds or thousands of years to create.