Bison are helping to sustain a diverse native prairie in northwestern Iowa. More than 200 bison roam the Nature Conservancy’s Broken Kettle Grasslands Preserve in the Loess Hills. James Baker, a land steward with the conservancy, says the grazing bison give birds different options for habitat. Some birds prefer short grass, others would rather nest in tall grass.

“Different animals like different things,” Baker says, “and by having the bison here, we provide hopefully as many species as possible what they like.” Since the conservancy in Plymouth County introduced bison to the preserve in 2008, grazing has helped milkweeds thrive, attracting monarch butterflies. Baker says when bison graze, it opens up ground and provides space and sunlight for plants to grow.

“Without the bison or some grazer here, you’d have basically a nice level vegetation which would support some species but there’s a lot of species that would be left out,” Baker says. The conservancy hopes to open up more of the three-thousand-acre prairie to the bison in the future so they can graze on untouched areas, allowing more land to reap the benefits of year-round grazing. On one day each year in October, scientists catch the bison to get them up to date on vaccinations.

(By Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio via Radio Iowa)