Friday, October 5, 2012
Prairies: Part 1, site indicators
While the largest forest type in North America may be the Boreal Forest, the largest ecotype was historically the prairies. Much of the original grasslands no longer exist. The midwest and great plains have some of the richest agricultural soils, so it's hard to criticize the breadbasket of the world for plowing them under.
Prairies are dominated by herbaceous plants, not trees and shrubs. Grasslands that do contain trees, usually scrub oaks, can be found further south in Oklahoma and Texas. These are called savannas. Ohio still contains some original prairie remnants. Most of these are protected as nature preserves. Tall grass prairies reach their eastern most extension around Ohio. Closer to the Rocky Mountains are the Short grass prairies (due to lack of rain). Where the two meet you get Mixed prairie.