Wildlife Habitats at Monsanto’s Chesterfield Campus

August 9, 2017

History of Wildlife Habitats at Chesterfield

• Around 1993 areas of the campus were designated and began being managed as wildlife habitats.

• For wildlife areas we only count the acres we are actively contributing as managed wildlife habitats.

• We have been gradually adding more area since and currently manage ~13 acres of the site and have ~107 acres left to go.

Wetlands • We have 2 wetlands on Site covering ~2

Acres • Both wetlands began as detention basins in

1984 and due to low groundwater levels quickly became wetlands • These wetlands serve as a habitat for:

• Birds: Blue Herons, Mallards, Red Winged Black Birds • Amphibians and Reptiles: Spring Peeper, Leopard frog,

Grey Tree Frog, Cricket Frog, American Bullfrog, Brown Snake, American Toad

• Flora: Cattail, Late Flowering Thoroughwort, Cottonwood, Black Willow and Switchgrass

• Crustaceans: Crawfish • Mammals: Deer, Beaver, Raccoons

Wetlands

•Maintenance • Designated Jurisdictional Waterways by the US

CORP of Engineers • Due to this any major maintenance requires

studies of the area and a permit

•Employee Engagement • Biodiversity studies • Cattail removal • Trash and garbage removal

Prairies

• We have 3 prairies on site with a total area of 5.5 Acres • Hill Prairie was originally started in

1993 and was expanded to its’ current size in 1998 and covers ~1.10 acres.

• Wildflower Meadow was started in the fall of 2015 and covers ~3.30 acres

• West Drive Prairie was started in the spring of 2016 and covers ~1.10 acres

Prairies • Habitat for

• Birds • Blue Birds, Chickadees,

Turkeys, Gold Finch, Cardinals

• Insects • Tiger Swallowtail, Praying

Mantis, Monarch Butterflies, Praying Mantis

• Mammals • Deer, Rabbit, Squirrel

• Reptile • Three Toed Box Turtle,

Grey Tree Frog • Flora

• Little and Big Bluestem, Indian Grass, Switchgrass, Common Milkweed, Various Coneflowers

Prairies

•Maintenance • Prairies are relatively low

maintenance and once established require less maintenance than manicured lawns • Mowing in the late fall/early

winter every year • Prairie burns ever 3 to 5 years

•Employee Engagement • Biodiversity studies • Wildflower planting and reseeding • Prairie burn volunteers

Wooded Areas

• We have a total of ~120 acres of wooded areas on the Chesterfield campus

• Currently we are actively managing ~ 8 acres of that

• Current plan is to remove honey suckle from the remaining 112 acres in 2018

Wooded Areas

• Habitat for • Birds

• Blue Bird, Chickadee, Turkey, Red Tail Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Turkey Vulture

• Mammals • Deer, Fox, Rabbit, Squirrel

• Flora • Shingle Oak, White Oak, Red Oak, White

Ash, Cottonwood, Sycamore, Sugar Maple, Black Willow, Pawpaw, Persimmon, Hickory, Red Bud, Flowering Dogwood, Black Cherry, Eastern Red Cedar, Deciduous Holley, White Pine, Honey Locust, Black Locust, Swamp Milkweed, Purple Prairie Trillium, May Apple, Dutchman's Breeches, Spring Beauty, Wild Onion, Wild Grape, Christmas Fern, Poison Ivy

Wooded Areas

•Maintenance • Wooded areas are relatively low maintenance and

once established require less maintenance than manicured areas • Removal of Invasive species primarily Bush

Honeysuckle and Bradford Pears

•Employee Engagement • Biodiversity studies • Honeysuckle removal events

Rain Gardens

• We have a total of 12 raingardens on Site, 4 of which are still under construction which act as storm water BMPs

• These raingardens are an excellent way to treat storm water and create a small habitat for: • Bees, butterflies, deer and

birds

Raingardens

•Maintenance • Can be very involved until the rain

garden is established • Once established

• Mowing in the late fall/early winter every year

• Require periodic weeding to remove invasive species

• Removal of sediment and replanting as needed

•Employee Engagement • Biodiversity studies • Wildflower planting

• All of these habitats and activities at the Chesterfield Campus were used to help the campus reach gold certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council.

• More information about what the Wildlife Habitat Council does: • http://www.wildlifehc.org/about-

us/vision-and-values/

Questions

14