Major projects

 

The work of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute spans SGI’s focal region. Below are listed our main research projects and collaborators at this time. Please contact our Chief Conservation Officer Theo Witsell with any questions about SGI research projects.

 

current projects - 2025

improved grassland classification & Mapping for the southeast

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?

Appalachian Bog Restoration

SGI’s Zach Irick is developing a protocol to determine best management strategies and techniques to restore southern Appalachian bogs. The project involves years long surveys and restoration activities to monitor the health, species, and Notable discoveries from this project include location of the southernmost cranberry bog, xxx partners, etc. get more info from Zach. Tucker Foundation.

Carbon sequestration in southeastern grasslands

SGI is collaborating with Dr. Heather Alexander & graduate 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.  Ask Heather for photos. Work is funded from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

Cumberland plateau grasslands status assessment and conservation plan

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, 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 quality, and are a major conservation priority. With funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, 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.

prairie reconstruction Research

Google Prairie

Gabby - publication on pollinator preference of native vs non-native

  • Climate change

Mammal game camera - google prairie

NFWF Anchor Sites

  • Monitoring

Grassland quality analysis

The SGI research team is developing new tools to both find grasslands and assess their quality. Based on the presence or absence of 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. 

Grasslandia

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 grassland 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 clearing house. Stay tuned for updates on Grasslandia! Click here to learn more about mapping historical grasslands. Check out our blog Six Good Clues that a Southeastern Grassland was Here by Theo Witsell.

national park service partnership

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

Include other national park areas.

new Species Descriptions

From insects to plants, SGI’s staff and affiliates are aware of many undescribed, or “new”, grassland 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. Research on multiple species are currently underway by SGI staff and partners. Click here to see publications of recent new species descriptions.

Rights-of-way grasslands

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 rights-of-way under powerlines compared to the biodiversity under adjacent closed canopy forested areas. Many of the TVA rights-of-way contain rare grassland species throughout the southeastern U.S. To learn more about SGI’s work in Rights-of-Ways, click here. Check out our blog The Importance of Rights-of-Way to Sun-Loving Grassland Species by Theo Witsell.

Spring Creek bladderpod (paysonia perforata)

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. The research involves affects of different ecological restoration techniques on the plant, including experimental prescribed fire and mechanical disturbance to mimic buffalo disturbance. Ask Jeremy for edits and proposal details. Look for photos on Facebook page.

Sumter Farm & Stock Company Mapping & Inventory

SGI is working with the Sumter Farm & Stock Company in the Black Belt Ecoregion of Alabama to map remnant grasslands, other ecosystems, and sites for future restoration work. All ecological communities are being mapped on the 11,000 acre property, which is unique in the ecoregion due to attentive land management and resulting abundance of remnant grasslands. A detailed inventory of the flora and fauna of the property is part of this project. Ask Chip for map of Sumter Farm.

Vertical Grasslands

SGI’s Alaina Krakowiack works to describe plants growing on very steep slopes using repelling and rock climbing methods. Ask Alaina for her abstract on a presentation on vertical grasslands.

“People have a misconception that we have a relatively complete understanding of southeastern grasslands. We don’t. They began to decline on the eastern edge of our region in the 1600s and this loss spread west with settlement. Today, our southeastern grasslands are among our rarest and most-threatened ecosystems. Many types have never even been named or described, which is also true of some species they support. There is also an urgent need for scientific information to inform the protection, restoration, management, and reconstruction of these imperiled ecosystems. SGI feels the urgency of this need and is working to be a leader in both grassland science and historical research.”
— Theo Witsell, SGI Co-Founder and Chief Conservation Officer

Past Projects & Partners

The Southeastern Grasslands Institute is grateful for the partnership of many agencies, donors, and organizations since our inception in 2017. Please see the list below of significant projects and partners that have advanced grassland restoration in our focal region.

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