Distribution and Abundance of Prairie Plant Species in the Loess Hills

Authors

Thomas R. Rosburg, Iowa State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Research

Keywords

Loess Hills, mid-grass prairie, tallgrass prairie, ecotone, woody encroachment, habitat association, resource partitioning

Abstract

The species composition of grassland and ecotonal communities throughout the Loess Hills was studies between 1990 and 1993. Information pertaining to the latitudinal distribution of species in the Loess Hills, the abundance of species among community types (i.e., habitats), species persistence under woody encroachment, species associations, and resource partitioning among species is provided for the majority of grassland species occurring in the Loess Hills. The most abundant species on extant prairie in the Loess Hills include Bouteloua curtipendula (side-oats grama), Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem), Cornus drummondii (rough-leaved dogwood), Aster ericoides (heath aster), Carex heliophila (sun-loving sedge), Sisyrinchium camppestre (blue-eyed grass), Dichanthelium oligosanthes (Scribner's panic grass), Amorpha canescem (lead plant), and Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed).

Publication Date

March 1997

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

104

Issue

1

First Page

8

Last Page

20

Copyright

© Copyright 1997 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Rosburg, Thomas R. (1997) "Distribution and Abundance of Prairie Plant Species in the Loess Hills," Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS, 104(1), 8-20.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol104/iss1/5