SGI staff and partners are working on classifying and describing all the different types of grasslands in our focal region. To date, 118 unique grassland natural communities have been recognized in our region but many others remain undescribed. Access our Guide to Grasslands of the Midsouth here. For a general overview of main categories of grasslands, please visit our page What are Southeastern Grasslands?

SGI is working with the Bell Farm in Alabama to map remnant grasslands and sites for future restoration work.

SGI is collaborating with researchers at Auburn University to evaluate the ability of grassland ecosystems to sequester the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the soil. Researchers are especially interested in whether grasslands with a larger number of plant species are more effective than grasslands with only a few species in sequestering carbon and whether certain plant species are more effective than others at moving atmospheric carbon into the soil for long-term storage. 

The Cumberland Plateau, a roughly 9.4 million acre ecoregion on the western part of the Southern Appalachians, is a diverse landscape that historically supported a mosaic of forests and open woodlands, savannas, and embedded grasslands such as glades, bogs, and riverscour. While large areas of forest remain today, the grasslands have declined dramatically from their historical extent and are a major conservation priority. With funding from an America The Beautiful Challenge grant, we are compiling the first-ever status assessment and conservation plan for open ecosystems of the region and the species that depend on them. The final report for this effort should be released in early 2026.

 The SGI research team is developing new tools to both find grasslands and assess their quality. Based on key indicator species, we are developing ways to identify if degraded or overgrown lands were natural grasslands historically. These tools will also help determine restoration potential of degraded grasslands which will inform restoration strategies. 

SGI is developing a public online grasslands information portal and decision support tool called Grasslandia. This spatial, GIS-based platform will allow users to access a wide variety of historical and scientific information on grasslands through a map-based interface. From maps of where grasslands were found historically, to images and descriptions of remnant grasslands, to species lists and best practices for grasslands restoration and management, Grasslandia will be a one-stop shop for all things grassland. Funded by the US Department of Agriculture, SGI research staff are working in partnership with ESRI and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on this ambitious grassland information mapping project. Stay tuned for updates on Grasslandia! Click here to learn more about mapping historical grasslands.

SGI has entered into a partnership with the National Parks Service that spans 40 National Parks. A majority of SGI staff are involved with this project. The goals of the project are to restore and monitor important species of plants and invertebrates in grasslands in our national parks, with major work scheduled to be published in peer reviewed journals.

 From insects to plants, SGI’s staff and affiliates are aware of many undescribed  “new” species that are unknown to the scientific community. Formally describing these species can take years of field and museum work as well as DNA analysis. 

Zack Irick is SGI’s resident wetlands expert, and is doing extensive research on the wetland genus Sarracenia.  

Rights-of-way along roadsides and utility corridors like powerlines and gas lines are critical reservoirs of southeastern grassland biodiversity. In many regions, the prairies have all been plowed and the savannas have grown up into unnaturally dense forests, choking out sun-loving species. Rights-of-way, some now nearly a century old, have served as critical refugia for grassland species and SGI is always on the hunt for these grassland remnants to search for rare species, collect seed, or look for grassland animals. In partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Mississippi Entomological Museum (Mississippi State), SGI completed four years of field work and data collection that will result in a series of publications. The publications will center on data on the plants and pollinator biodiversity of large TVA right-of-ways under powerlines compared to the biodiversity under adjacent closed canopy forested areas. Many of the TVA right-of-ways contain rare grassland species throughout the southeastern U.S. To learn more about SGI’s work in Rights-of-Ways, click here. To learn more about SGI’s work on Roadside Grasslands, click here.

Paysonia perforata, commonly called the Spring Creek Bladderpod, is a rare bladderpod only found in Wilson County, Tennessee. SGI researchers are working to better understand this rare plant and its ecology.

SGI’s Alaina Krakowiack works to describe plants growing on very steep slopes using repelling and rock climbing methods.

To learn more about the Piedmont Prairie Partnership, please click here.

Below are a list of partners participating in the Piedmont Prairie Partnership:

• North Carolina Botanical Garden

• Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association

• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

• State Botanical Garden of Georgia

• Atlanta Botanical Garden 

• U.S. Forest Service

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

• Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy

• South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative

To learn more about our work with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), please click here.

To learn more about our work with the Tennessee Valley Authority, please click here.