Ted Van Bruggen Shares Prairie Knowledge
Posted by Kathryn Fahy
Ted Ven Bruggen, former chair of Biology at the University of South Dakota, shared some of his vast knowledge of the prairie and plants of our area with Rotary at the Wednesday, August 11 meeting.
Ted, who retired in 1990, describes himself as a "person blessed beyond the ability to describe." In addition to teaching, he has studied and photographed many plants of our region over the years. He shared with the group an air flow map (showing how we land in a temperate climate area), an explanation of what makes a prairie (erosion, air flow, glaciers, fire, grazing), and some information about the 200-250 species of grasses found in a prairie. He concluded by sharing photos of native plants he has taken. His complete library of photos can be found on the USD website at: www.usd.edu, then click on the following links in this order: College of Arts and Sciences, Biology, Faculty, Molly Nepokroeff, Courses, Plant Systematics, Photogallery, Plant Images of Theodore Van Bruggen. Plant families will be arranged alphabetically.