SDSU Prof Studies Climate Change Impact on Prairie Wetlands

So the scholars in the South Dakota Legislature want more "balanced" instruction in our schools about climate change? Perhaps they can turn to our own Dr. W. Carter Johnson. The South Dakota native and SDSU Professor of Ecology is doing important work studying the effects of climate change right in our backyard. His latest work on the Prairie Pothole Region just made the pages of Bioscience. Johnson and his fellow researchers find we will likely lose water, grasses, waterfowl, and other species.

In other words, we'll have fewer of the critters from the shooting of which we derive so much pleasure and revenue.

Dr. Johnson explained some of his findings on the Feb. 11 Dakota Midday on SDPB. Perhaps we can plat that tape for the kids in class to balance out the uninformed raving they here on the news from their astrologically inclined legislators.

Johnson, W., B. Werner, G. Guntenspergen, R. Voldseth, B. Millett, D. Naugle, M. Tulbure, R. Carroll, J. Tracy, and C. Olawsky. "Prairie Wetland Complexes as Landscape Functional Units in a Changing Climate. " Bioscience 60.2 (2010): 128-140. Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. See PDFs of this paper and other work on wetlands and climate change here.