The Root Systems of Prairie Plants diagram originated from a desire to share the power of what we cannot see in our prairie ecosystems. Below the earth’s surface lay a storehouse for carbon in the air, water from the skies and higher grounds, and of nutrients and microbes needed to feed vast numbers of plants and other creatures.

The roots of prairie plants play a large role in all of these beneficial functions. Carbon is fixed in them and permanently stored as they die and become part of the soil. Water is translocated down the micro channels they make, and is directly absorbed by them in staggering volumes. In healthy prairie ecosystems, even extreme storm waters are fully infiltrated with no surface runoff. With their own death and renewal, the roots and above ground plant parts create very rich soils, full of nutrients and life, and channels open to falling water. The roots themselves are also host to small life forms such as Mychorrizal Fungi, which offer symbiotic benefits to the plants as rent.

In the darkness below the earth’s surface, the roots of prairie plants also offer a knitted network of structure to anchor fine particles of soil. The root structures that we admire in the diagram are ultimately what secure the soil against the pressures of wind and water erosion. Grasses, sedges, and rushes tend to have more fibrous, and intricate root systems, while forbs tend to have more coarse, tuberous structures that can penetrate to 15’ below the surface for some species. Each variation of root structure serves different functions, for the plant, in the ecosystem, and for applications in modern landscapes.