Everything about Oak Savanna totally explained
An
oak savanna is a type of
savanna, or lightly-forested grassland, with
oaks as the dominant tree species.
California oak savannas
Edwards Plateau savanna
The
Edwards Plateau of central Texas is distinguished by
juniper-oak savannas, underlain by medium and short grasslands.
Midwestern oak savannas
The oak savannas of the Midwestern United States form a transition zone between the
Great Plains to the west and the
broadleaf and mixed forests to the east. Oak savannas are found in a wide belt from northern
Minnesota and
Wisconsin, down through
Iowa,
Illinois, northern and central
Missouri, eastern
Kansas, and central
Oklahoma to north-central
Texas, with isolated pockets further east around the
Great Lakes. The
World Wildlife Fund divides the oak savannas into two
ecoregions, the
Upper Midwest forest-savanna transition and the
Central forest-grasslands transition, distinguished by the predominant of tree species.
The dominant
tree is usually the
black oak (
Quercus velutina), although in some areas the
burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa) or
chinquapin oak (Quercus muhlenbergii) predominate. The dominant grass species is typically the
little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).
History
Before European settlement, the oak savanna ecosystem was sustained by a
fire cycle. Fires, set by lightning or Native Americans, ensured that the savanna areas didn't turn into
forests. Only trees with a high tolerance for fire, principaly certain oak species, were able to survive. On sandy soils, black oak
(Quercus velutina) predominated. On rich soils bur oak
(Quercus macrocarpa) was the major tree in central North America. These savanna areas provided habitat for a many grazing animals, including bison, elk and deer.
European settlers cleared much of the savanna for agricultural use. In addition, they suppressed the fire cycle. Thus surviving pockets of savanna typically became less like savannas and more like forests or thickets. Many oak savanna plant and animal species became extinct or rare.
In the 1970s, conservationist began to try to restore and preserve these surviving pockets of savanna.
Current distribution
Surviving pockets of oak savanna can be found throughout the historical range of this ecosystem. Many are protected and maintained by government bodies or
non-profit organizations such as
The Nature Conservancy. Examples include the
Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in
Prairie City, Iowa, the
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in
Indiana, and in
Ontario,
Pinery Provincial Park on
Lake Huron. The
University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum is also restoring two oak savanna areas.
Oregon oak savanna
A small section of
Oregon White Oak savanna is preserved at
Mount Pisgah Arboretum in
Eugene, Oregon.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Oak Savanna'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://oak_savanna.totallyexplained.com">Oak savanna Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
