Rachel Crownhart: "Importance of Prescribed Fire on Reconstructed Tallgrass Prairies"

Prairie Reconstruction Initiative Winter Webinar Series, recorded 4 March 2026 Speaker: Rachel Crownhart, Supervisor Natural Resources, Natural Resources, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Abstract: Rachel will present findings from her master’s research using the Prairie Reconstruction Initiative (PRI) vegetation monitoring protocol. The talk will focus on how nested plot sampling was applied to assess species richness, Shannon’s diversity, and vegetation height across restoration treatments – burned and unburned prairies. She will discuss the strengths of the PRI monitoring protocol for detecting change over time in vegetation establishment, including how subplot-level species occurrences translate into frequency and diversity metrics. The presentation will also highlight practical lessons learned in data analysis, and how PRI-based monitoring can inform adaptive management in prairie restoration projects. Bio: Rachel Crownhart is a supervisor of Natural Resources for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, MN where she works as an environmental scientist. She works primarily with wetland and prairie reconstructions, management, and monitoring. Working with a variety of plant communities is one of the highlights of her work, especially woodland spring ephemerals. She is most proud of a wetland reconstruction that turned a 40-acre row-crop agricultural field into a pothole wetland complex with over 17 acres of restored wetlands. A Minnesota state special concern Carex species was recorded in this restoration as well.