Desertification is a major threat to many grasslands, so let's study the best real-world example: The Horqin Grassland, aka the Horqin Sandy Lands. How has this landscape changed over time, what can it teach us about the future of arid grasslands, and which approaches by Inner Mongolia and China to fight desertification give us hope? We love a hope…

We get patriotic (kinda) in this special episode where all three hosts work together to petition for new national symbols for the US of A. New floral emblem, new national symbol, and a brand new category all-together. Why do we love non-native national symbols? Who knows. Do better, America. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: As if t…

The fastest land animal in North America, second fastest in the world: the graceful, wonderful, pronghorn. Nicole shares all the reasons these icons of the American prairie are truly the best from their evolutionary history to their epic stare battles between each other and rump flashes to warn of predators. Primary Sources: Kitchen, D. 1974. Socia…

Patas Monkeys are weird little guys with fabulous mustaches and very intricate relationships with a special tree on the African savannah. We talk acacias, ants, and the Lorax as Allan tries to make Nicole love just a single primate. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Palmer, T., Stanton, M., Young T., Goheen, J., Pringle, R., and Kar…

This is a special podcast swap episode where we host Kindred Podcast's Power of Fire episode. Learn about the history of fire, how it shapes the landscape and people that live there. Speakers:Tony Incashola Jr., forest manager for CSKT (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), and Stephanie Gillin, information and education program manager and for…

The long-legged, sickle claw wielding seriema is a wonderful bird that provides insight into the extinct terror birds of old. Rachel explains the link between past and present and we ponder whether or not scientists ever bother actually looking at birds. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Oswald, T., Curtice, B., Bolander, M., Lopez,…

The conservation story of Canada's polar-vortex-loving Wood Bison is one of colossal mistakes, stacked odds, and (to our gleeful surprise) hope and optimism. These animals have survived drowning, disease, and hybridization, and have gone on to... success? Allan explores this topic in today's episode. Primary Sources: 2018 Wood Bison Recovery Strate…

It's snowy and getting colder where we're at, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go outside. Rachel gives a compelling argument as to why winter is the best time of year for birding and gives insight into the Christmas Bird Count: a citizen science project dating back over a hundred years. Learn more about the Christmas Bird Count here. Primary So…

This episode is a little different. We celebrate spooky season with the haunting tales of feldgeist, Sinkhole Sam, and the Ohio Grassman. These stories haunt the minds of those who visit prairies and fields across the globe. Be weary, you never know what's lurking in the tall grass. Photos and more are at our site. Contact:Website Facebook Twitter …

Grasshopper mice are small but fierce. They howl like wolves, stalk their prey like cats, and finish up with a quick face clean. These solitary animals like to live life dangerously and enjoy even venomous meals. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Grasshopper Mouse Hunting and Howling [YouTube] Animal Diversity Web. Regents of the Un…

Nicole talks painted dogs: a surprisingly wholesome and fun-loving animal. They are excellent hunters, take care of not just their pups but their elderly, and rarely squabble amongst themselves. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Painted Dog Conservation website. Painted Dog Research Trust website. Robert L. Robbins. (2000). Vocal Co…

Enjoy this episode of very good facts and very good nonsense. We revisit a nice game of stump the podcast host, this time with more bug viscera and talking ourselves out of an obvious answer. Our Info:Website Facebook Twitterinfo@grasslandgroupies.org

In the Páramo grasslands of South America is a cloud covered land where a unique ecosystem thrives. Allan tells us all about a plant that drinks clouds plus the miraculous little hummingbirds that call this place home. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Luteyn, J. 1999. Páramos: A Checklist of Plant Diversity, Geographical Distributi…

Did you know meerkats are far more murderous than they seem or that their burrows can be as wide as a Purple Worm's? All this and more as we delve underground and find out why they can be so aggressive and who would win in a fight: 1000 meerkats or Nicole. Primary Sources: Gómez, J., Verdú, M., González-Megías, A., Méndez, M. 2016. The phylogenetic…

Conservation can be DEPRESSING, so for Mental Health Month we decided to share ONLY positive news and stories (after taking a little break for our brains). Rewire those neurons everybody, because it's not all bleak. Good news so far in May: Biden-Harris Administration announced $36 million for national forests and grasslands Dakota Prairie Grasslan…

Wherein Rachel makes a definitive list of best bird nests in North American grasslands. Primary Sources: A Field Guide to Birds Nests by Hal Harrison The Birder's Handbook by Paul R. Ehrlich Madison Audubon's Into the Nest ContactWebsite Facebook Twitterinfo@grasslandgroupies.org

Ostriches are one of the strangest birds we've ever talked about. They are the world's biggest bird and toughest survivor. They nest together, have radiators for necks, and can drink saltwater. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: "Strangest Bird Alive". 2016. National Geographic. Documentary. Schou, M.F., Bonato, M., Engelbrecht, A. e…

Soils define habitats as much as the plantlife, so let's talk about that! How do you identify a soil species, and should grassland ecosystem restorations include soil microbe transplants? Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Prairie: A Natural History of the Heart of North America by Candace Savage [Affiliate Bookshop Link] Current and…

Basic midwest feeder bird or mysterious exotic tundra sparrow? Actually, both! Harris's Sparrows, one of the most enigmatic North American sparrows, are about to travel well out of reach into the remote frigid north, so let's gossip about them before they're gone. Only a handful of studies have been done with this species, and to this day we lack p…

If you haven't started thinking about your gardens yet, now is the perfect time to get started planning. Nicole walks us through gardening for native habitats, wildlife, and how to get your neighbors on board too. Photos and more are at our site. Further Reading: Find out more about Bee City Wichita at our website Dyck Arboretum of the Plains "Prai…

A wholesome episode about secure love, forming bonds under stress, and human connection through the lens of a grasslands specialist: the prairie vole. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: NPR on the hot new vole research: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/01/27/1152009605/prairie-voles-oxytocin-love-hormone-bonding-study W…

So many monkeys that are forest dwellers, but baboons as a group are ground-dwelling grasslanders whose habitat use and social structure might help us learn about our own hominid ancestors. In this episode, Allan combines ecology and anthropology to discuss some grasslands monkeys. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: King, G.E. 2022. …

The chamois is a goat-antelope from the rolling alpine meadow scenery of European mountains, and today's episode is a straightforward peek into the idyllic life of this animal that's (for once) doing alright! Unless you count the mandatory 7 years of grizzled aging in the mountains and their shrinking body masses. (I don't!) Photos and more are at …

Yank your concept of crayfish out of the water. In this episode, Nicole walks us through one of her favorite arthropod groups and makes a pretty good case for why prairie lovers should love these little crustaceans that burrow deep into the prairie. She also makes us rethink crayfish boils forever. Primary Sources: Florey, C. 2019. Description of B…

In this episode, Rachel goes down the opposite of a rabbit hole as we discuss a single widely-cited paper from 2018. Take a look at Africa's savanna plants and what their adaptations mean for conservation, human impacts, and climate change across the continent. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Osborne, C. P., Charles-Dominique, T.,…

Have an existential crisis about the inner lives of bees with us! In this episode, Nicole attempts to teach us a few things about bumblebees while under constant antagonization to slander honeybees. This overview of bumblebees tumbles into some very specific studies on energy, cognition and learning, and even play behaviors for this big bumbly grou…

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 c…

This rabbity rodent of South America's grasslands is a common sight in zoos, but has one of the strangest social structures we've talked about in mammals. What makes this strictly monogamous-til-death, pair-bonded, troupe-travelling mammal SO antisocial? How does that work, and what else have we been missing all this time? Nicole shares about the P…

CW: we talk about animal genitalia in this episode in the last 30 mins (it's hard to avoid with hyenas) Hyenas have historically been painted in a pretty negative light, only for recent PR teams to praise their strong women leaders, successful hunts, and sophisticated societies. And while we're all for praising the underdog, a lot of recent media i…

We are always fans of highlighting underappreciated animals and this week we tackle the ibis. Bin chicken or noble alarm clock? You decide. One thing's for sure: their poop is a problem. Thank you to our guest this week: Allan Saylor! Thanks for listening, we'll see you again in two weeks! Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at ou…

Content Warning: talk of blood. The last of our "spooky"-themed episodes, let's talk about ticks! How do they feed, what kind of diseases do they carry, and how best to prevent getting sick from them. Did you know there are over 900 species of ticks and they live quite literally everywhere? Well, now you do. Be safe out there. Thanks for listening …

Content Warning: talk of dead things (not graphic). Old World Vultures have a different set of tricks in order to survive including eating fruit, bones, and garbage. We talk Bearded Vultures, Eurasian Griffons, and more in this part two of our vulture special. http://savebellbowlprairie.org - save this Illinois prairie by Nov. 1st! Included is more…

Content Warning: talk of corpses and the eating of them. Vultures are nasty birds which cleanse the landscape of death and disease. In this part of our first ever two part episode we learn about the New World vultures from North and South America and how they fit into their landscapes and interact with each other. Next time: Old World vultures! Tha…

If you ever find yourself staring at a tangle of orange spaghetti in a grassland, it's probably a dodder plant. These talented, strange parasites have no leaves or roots, but plenty of other tricks to make sure that they succeed. Learn about plant communication systems, haustoria, plus a bonus fun tale of a maiden in a prairie looking for love. Tha…

A raptor like no other crosses 20,000km across hemispheres every year, chasing summer and bugs and grasslands through the Americas. The Swainson's Hawk is a spectacle, and we're grateful to have them fighting on our side in the looming grasshopper apocalypse. Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll…

How can grasshoppers save the world? By doing what they do best: eating. But too many grasshoppers might end us all so keep that in mind the next time you turn your nose up at entomophagy. Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you next time! Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and mo…

Rachel takes us on a journey into one of North America's savannas dominated by oak trees. They provide shelter and food for a variety of different animals and (surprise) are critically endangered. One of the biggest causes of decline is a change in land management when European settlers pushed out indigenous land caretakers. This episode is a littl…

Episode Notes Coyotes are fantastic survivors that no matter how much people hate them (and boy do they hate them) they keep thriving. They are the ultimate flexitarian, can control their litter sizes, and just can't be stopped on their conquest to take over the world. We also dive into the problem of human-coyote conflict and how best to etch out …

The concept behind Pleistocene Park is deceptively simple: rewild the Pleistocene Siberian arctic, slow the effects of climate change in the arctic. All it takes to revive the 10,000-year-old Mammoth Steppe, restore permafrost, and seriously reduce carbon and methane emissions--according to scientists--is releasing long-gone megafauna and watching …

Episode Notes Madagascar... land of the forest and lemurs and definitely not mostly grassland, right? Wrong. Welcome to another case of grassland erasure as we try to set the record straight on the wonderful, beautiful grasslands that blanket this tropical island. We even highlight a very special tree! Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration…

Episode Notes We're going back to the Eurasian Steppe this week to take a look at the Mongolian toad. How do these toads survive where no other amphibian dares to travel? What the heck is a drink patch? The answer is more complex than you might think. Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you…

Episode Notes Saiga antelope: strange Muppet or amazing survivor? These animals have some amazing adaptations to help them survive the nearly insurmountable odds stacked against them. Also, sandalwood is evil apparently? Who knew. Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you next time! Primary S…

Episode Notes THE characteristic toucan species, Toco Toucan, tucanuçu, is the only toucan that doesn't live exclusively in forests. Like many hornbills in the Old World, these birds thrive in South America's savannas, where they're intricately connected to their ecosystems. Let's put them back in their place and do an explore. Thanks for listening…

Nuance below: We have some feelings on the North American Model and the way it's implemented and discussed in the wildlife field. It usually disparages other models of wildlife conservation, silences non-consumptive users, and erases the indigenous "north American models" developed and implemented long before colonization. We'd love to hear other v…

Episode Notes Apparently Biosphere Reserves are everywhere? Nicole's deep dive into UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme takes several twists and turns, linking natural and social sciences, the program's protected grasslands, the difficulties of international cooperation, and other land conservation efforts here in the United States. Happ…

Episode Notes In Assam, India, the grasslands along the river Brahmaputra totally contain tigers, but Rachel is bound and determined to talk about something hiding in the shadows of those tigers: riverine and river-island grasslands and their flagship species the Bengal Florican. Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are …

Episode Notes What has four legs and walks on its middle finger and features heavily in all your favorite childhood video games?? Horses are actually kinda neat, it turns out, especially the modern conservation work of the last remaining wild horse, Przewalkski's Horse, the Takhi. Nicole embraces her childhood horsegirl vibes and kinda sorta teache…

Episode Notes In an April 1 break from the normal format, Nicole and Rachel try to stump each other with a game of Two Truths, One Lie. Buckle up for carnivorous prairie plants, Saiga death by banging, and so, so many bugs. Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you next week! Primary Sources,…

Episode Notes Some of the smallest, most unassuming birds among us have the most amazing stories to tell. The Grasshopper Sparrow is a tiny little bird with a big personality. Learn about captive breeding of the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow and other ways we are helping this prairie icon avoid the brink of extinction. Thanks for listening to our wee…

Episode Notes What is mouse-sized, carnivorous, and gives birth to tiny fetal joeys? Lots of things probably, but this week dunnarts are the star of the show. Hailing from Australian grasslands, these fat-tailed little marsupials are losing their habitats before we've even figured out their social behaviors, but maybe their cute faces will help the…