Habitats
Cedar Point and Arapaho Prairie are home to numerous experiments that have shaped our understanding of nature. The habitats around Cedar Point Biological Station are incredibly diverse allowing our researchers and students to ask a wide variety of questions about the natural world.
The diversity of the aquatic habitats can be illustrated by Lake McConaughy (the largest body of water in Nebraska), Lake Ogallala, the North and South Platte Rivers, the numerous streams that flow into them as well as the ponds of the area. The rivers act as movement corridors that allow both eastern and western species to inhabit the area. The terrestrial habitats are equally diverse; the station is home to riparian forests, cedar forested canyons, and mixed grass prairie.
The Cedar Point area is the junction of four major grassland types: short grass, mixed-grass, sand-sage and sandhills prairie. The sandhills are the largest area of grass-stabilized sand dunes in the world. Arapaho Prairie, owned by The Nature Conservancy, is two square miles of ungrazed sandhills prairie in Arthur County. It is managed by Cedar Point and was purchased expressly for our researchers and courses. There is a prep building and automated weather station on the prairie. Cedar Point also has an automated weather station on site.
The incredible diversity of habitats leads to enormous diversity of the flora and fauna. The success of the station is partly due to generous support of our neighbors in Keith and Arthur Counties allowing our researchers and courses access to even more habitats on their property. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is also very supportive and allows access to the lands and water they manage.
Due to the presence of sensitive biological research, both Cedar Point grounds and Arapaho Prairie are open to the public only through prior arrangements. Collecting and hunting are prohibited as this may cause damage to an experiment.
