Professor presents Sioux County plant research

Hardy has examined the plant life of three drainages in northeastern Sioux County in recent years for the U.S. Forest Service and has been surprised by her findings. She presented the information at the CSC Reta King Library on Tuesday to open the spring semester of Dorset Graves Lecture Series.

Hardy and her husband, Bob, began using scientific methods three years ago to collect plant data at the drainage at the Hudson-Meng Bison Kill Site and two others located less than two miles away. The professor said her studies began after other scientists questioned why the drainage at the Hudson-Meng site has evidence of more anthropological activity from thousands of years ago than the other two nearby drainages.

Although each site had a great deal of diversity of plants and grasses, the most prominent occurring species greatly varied at each location, she said.

Despite the many changes in the area’s plant and soil composition during the past 9,500 years, Hardy said many similarities probably exist because the basic structure of the Pine Ridge escarpment has remained the same. She said the topographical features of the landscape are so distinct in the region that they locally affect the climate and, consequently, have an impact on plant life.

“We do know that the Pine Ridge feature was the same, and from that we can assume that there were drainages that may not have been exactly in the same place they are today, but probably fairly close to it,” she said.