the Best Biome

The Best Biome Podcast

a love letter to grasslands

Two prairie biologists make the ever-growing argument for why grasslands are the world’s best biome.

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The Best Biome

Prairie biologists make the ever-growing argument for why grasslands are the world’s best biome.

Episode Notes

What does the American South and the Tallgrass Prairie have in common? Their grasslands support an elusive little grassland specialist that the old timey ornithologists roast way too hard: the Henslow’s Sparrow. In this episode we explore the beloved longleaf pine savannas of the southern US, and ask why a little grassland sparrow who hates trees chooses to spend its winters among the longleaf pines.

Photos and more are at our site.

Primary Sources:

Harrington, Tim; Miller, Karl; Parks, Noreen. 2013. Restoring a disappearing ecosystem: the longleaf pine savanna. Science Findings 152. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 6 p.
Herkert, J. R., P. D. Vickery, and D. E. Kroodsma (2020). Henslow’s Sparrow (Centronyx henslowii), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.henspa.01

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