Through ecological restoration, we are re-establishing and maintaining native biological diversity at Shaw Nature Reserve. Protected natural areas today are small and scattered compared to the land area occupied by natural ecosystems in the past. Natural processes and disturbances which once maintained biodiversity—climate, wildfire, animal migrations, burrowing, grazing, etc.—now function differently than did in the past. In addition, importation of invasive species and many other human activities have replaced natural ecosystems with biologically impoverished "human-made habitats."
Shaw Nature Reserve strives to restore or create habitats for as many Missouri native species of flora and fauna as possible. Management practices are undertaken with the ecological aim of creating self-sustaining healthy populations of native species, while taking into account educational, interpretive and aesthetic considerations.
Plant and Animal Habitats
Ecological Restoration & Habitat Management
Digital Resources