The Ecological Services team is a division of the Kalamazoo Nature Center designed to work with private and public landowners. Whether you need surveys, planting, treatments, or monitoring, our Ecological Services team can help you find more sustainable solutions for all of your land management needs.
To inquire about your project idea or schedule a site visit please fill out the Project Request Form and we will be in touch.
Our small crew of certified pesticide applicators efficiently identify and treat a wide variety of invasive plant species using multiple techniques that promote quality results as well as environmental health. Careful planning for the most effective and habitat-friendly treatments are determined per species for each site. Methods such as cut and dab, gloved swiping, selective backpack spraying, brushhogging, mowing, and other specialized treatments are used to manage invasive species such as autumn olive, Asiatic bittersweet, multiflora rose, invasive phragmites, narrow-leaf cattails, and more. Selective treatments minimize off-target impacts and produce quality habitats over the long-term by allowing space for native plants to thrive with less competition from fast-growing invasive species.
For rapid treatments of high priority invasives such as Japanese Knotweed, contact your local CISMA: Landowner Management – Michigan Invasive Species Coalition.
KNC staff with expertise in native plants offer consulting and installation of native seed mixes for prairie and other native habitat reconstruction or enhancement. Available for both residential or corporate projects, KNC offers prairie seed installations using a no-till seed drill and hand planting live native plant plugs for small gardens that promote wildlife enhancement and other environmental benefits. Preparation and planning can take several months so be sure to contact us at least six months prior to when you would like the planting installed.
While native plantings require less maintenance and water than some landscaped plantings, they still require care for weeding and can take a few years to fully establish under the right conditions. Native plantings often have a wilder, ungroomed look, but provide critical habitat for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife and provide unique character and dynamic color year around.
Some funding for landowner native seeding projects can be found through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Programs. Find out more at Programs & Initiatives | Natural Resources Conservation Service or by contacting your local NRCS or Conservation District representative to see if you qualify for any funding programs.
KNC biologists and contracted employees provide services such as avian surveys, butterfly surveys, floristic surveys as well as monitoring and land management recommendations. Several protocols for bird and butterfly inventories and vegetation monitoring are available for long-term projects to reveal trends of biodiversity as a result of other ecological enhancement activities over several years.
