Eastern Redcedar Water Use in Tallgrass Prairie

Eastern Redcedar and Water Cycle in Tallgrass Prairie

A new research study is underway to learn about eastern redcedar water usage. The project, Eastern Redcedar and Water Cycle in Tallgrass Prairie, is a three-year collaborative effort by Oklahoma State University and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Oklahoma Water Science Center. The study focuses on the invasion of eastern redcedar into the state’s tallgrass prairie. The study is seeking answers to how the spread of eastern redcedar in the state will affect stream flow and water supply in the Great Plains states where water shortages are increasing. The project began in September 2009 and is proceeding on schedule. The first of three progress reports appears in the OWRRI 2010 Annual Report.

Water supply to streams and groundwater are influenced by vegetation and changes resulting from vegetation management. Current understanding of eastern redcedar water usage is based on inconclusive results of studies on semiarid savanna ecosystems, according to the researchers.  Therefore, a climate and site-specific investigation focusing on prairies of the Great Plains with moderate or well-balanced moisture is urgently needed considering the long-term water planning that is ongoing for most of the affected states.

In the Great Plains, tallgrass prairie is rapidly transforming to woodland largely by the encroachment of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) trees. Of the 17 million acres of rangeland in Oklahoma, eight million acres are currently overgrown with eastern redcedar. This study will compare water usage in tallgrass prairie with and without eastern redcedar.

This research promises to significantly impact natural resource management in Oklahoma, and OCC will continue to follow progress reports and announce findings of this research as they are made available.