
©Jerry Jelinek
The grassy fields you see at Cuyahoga Valley National Park used to be forest. CVNP’s meadows were once farm fields, rock quarrying sites, or other land people cleared of trees. When the land was abandoned, switchgrass, bromegrass, timothy, and others grasses began to grow, creating meadow ecosystems. Once grassland plants take hold, the ecosystem’s food chain develops. Insects, voles, mice, and birds that feed on grasses, sedges, and flowering plants soon show up. Once there’s prey to eat, predators like hawks, owls, snakes, foxes, and coyotes quickly follow. The old field meadow ecosystems of CVNP are full of brightly colored life. Goldenrod, milkweed, and asters bloom with flowers visited by dozens of different butterflies. Grassland songbirds, including meadowlarks and savannah sparrow come to eat, breed, and nest.