The people of Cedar Creek are dedicated to understanding our planet's ecosystems and how they are changing under human pressures. Through research, conservation, and education, Cedar Creek will continue to bridge the gaps between science, community, and government.

From the earliest work at Cedar Creek to the most modern experiments today, research has focused on ecology and the services ecosystems provide to the planet and to human society.

World-renowned scientists have made Cedar Creek their workplace from the beginning. The modern science of ecosystem ecology was conceived here in the 1940s. Radio collars for animal tracking were invented by University of Minnesota scientists working at Cedar Creek. Long-term research on prescribed burning for savannas began here in the 1960s. Cedar Creek's insect community has become one of the most intensely studied ecological communities anywhere. Experiments begun in the 1980s helped to establish modern ecological theory. Currently two of the most influential ecologists in the world*, David Tilman and Peter Reich, conduct their primary research at Cedar Creek.

The modern science of ecosystem ecology— the study of interactions between living forms and the air, water, and soil they inhabit—was born here at Cedar Bog Lake in the 1930s. The pioneering work of University of Minnesota graduate student Raymond Lindeman now permeates ecology worldwide, and remains a prime research focus at Cedar Creek.

Radio collars for animal tracking were invented at Cedar Creek in the 1960s, revolutionizing the study of animal behavior. Radio telemetry technology was successfully transferred to Minnesota industry and has now spread throughout the world.

In the 1960s Cedar Creek scientists started one of the earliest and longest-running experiments on fire and fire suppression in forest ecosystems. Results have illuminated the way forests and prairies develop and have clarified the global carbon cycle.

Inspired by grassland experiments that began in the 1980s, Cedar Creek researchers have helped establish modern ecological theory—explaining how plants compete and coexist, how biodiversity contributes to stability and predictability of ecosystems, and how habitat destruction affects extinctions.

Biodiversity refers to the number of different species living in a given area. Cedar Creek has the world's largest and longest-running experiment on biodiversity. The experiment has shown that a greater variety of plants means the ecosystem is more productive, absorbs more pollutants, captures more carbon dioxide from the air, better withstands drought, and has less disease. These results have great practical importance, as biodiversity is changing throughout the world.

Ongoing large-scale experiments at Cedar Creek examine three of the strongest human alterations to the biosphere---increasing carbon dioxide in the air, increasing fertilization of the land, and reduction of biodiversity. All three factors affect the performance of ecosystems.

Over one-quarter of the world's usable land is grazed. Experiments at Cedar Creek are examining the effects of grazing on plant communities and how grazing changes biodiversity.

Abandoned pastures and croplands at Cedar Creek have been allowed to change back naturally to prairie and forest over the decades. By studying changes in the plants, insects, mammals, and soils, researchers have learned more about the process called succession—how living species replace one another over time, how rapidly plants migrate, how long it takes for soils to develop, and how natural and agricultural lands differ.

Urbanization
The area surrounding Cedar Creek is one of the most rapidly developing parts of the country, with housing and traffic increasing each year. Before long, Cedar Creek will be a large natural oasis in the midst of suburbia. The scientific data from long-term plant and animal studies at Cedar Creek will help us understand the interaction of urbanization with natural habitats and wildlife.

Savanna restoration
Some of the largest remaining tracts of savanna available for restoration in Minnesota are at Cedar Creek. As these are restored, they will provide important scientific data.

Large grazers
Reintroduction of large mammals like bison, once so abundant on the great midwestern prairies, could be important to savanna and prairie restoration. In addition to making a more realistic natural habitat, large grazers hold promise of a better scientific under-standing of plant development in grasslands and savannas.