Ruby, E. S.

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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 6 Article 9 1953 Prairie Vegetation in Northwest Arkansas E. S. Ruby University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas  Part of the Botany Commons Recommended Citation Ruby, E. S. (1953) "Prairie Vegetation in Northwest Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 6, Article 9. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol6/iss1/9 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, uarepos@uark.edu. PRAIRIE VEGETATION IN NORTHWEST ARKANSASE. S. RUBYUniversity of ArkansasThe climax vegetation of northwest Arkansas is generally admitted to bedeciduous forest which is bordered by the Tall Grass Prairie on the west and theLake Forest on the north. The great climatic changes of the past have permittedthe movement of the boundaries of the deciduous forest and the grassland. Thesemovements have resulted in the isolation of fragments of both climaxes withinthe now recognized boundaries of the opposite formation. One of the more famousisolated areas is the Cross- timbers found in Texas. The Cross- timbers is aportion of the deciduous forest completely isolated in the grassland formation.This area is post-climax to the grassland formation. Similarly, grassland areasin the deciduous forest are pre-climax. Pre-climax grassland formations such asthe Grand Prairie are to be found in the state of Arkansas. Other areas lesswell known are the following: The Massard Prairie and the Cedar Prairie nearFort Smith in western Arkansas. The Norwood Prairie, west of Fayetteville, andthe Lindley and Osage Prairies, shown in Figure 1.Figure 1. Vegetational Map of Northwest Arkansas. The ShadedSections Represent the Various Areas of Prairie Vegetation.These prairie areas are located in the basins and are surrounded by moun-tains covered with vegetation of the deciduous forest. Nuttall (1819) statedthat the Grand Prairie would be suitable for rice culture. Today, this observa-tion has been completely fulfilled, by the Grand Prairie area being the centerof rice production.Lesquereux (1856) studying the coal deposits of Arkansas recorded the pres-ence of prairie areas. His observations were similar to those of Nuttall.Sargent (1880) shows these various prairie areas in his vegetational map of Ar-kansas (Figure 1).Research Paper No. 1068 Journal Series. University of Arkansas.12 ARKANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCEThe Norwood Prairie. The Norwood Prairie is located in the northwest partof Arkansas. It lies west of Fayetteville and is west of the Wedington Gap.The original vegetation of this prairie has been destroyed, with the exceptionof a few isolated areas which attest to its former status before the advent ofthe plow. The few areas that have not been plowed have been used as permanentpasture and heavily over-grazed until a grazing disclimax is now found through-out the prairie.Figure 2 (above). A typical pas-ture in the Norwood Prairie ofNorthwest Arkansas. Figure 3(left). Typical community of IndianGrass in Massard Prairie.Figure 2 shows a typical pasture in the Norwood Prairie at the presenttime. The long and continuous grazing has permitted the invasion of other grassspecies and an increase in certain less palatable species. Kentucky bluegrass(Poa pratensis ) and broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus) have become the dominantspecies represented in the vegetation of this pasture. The tall grass vegeta-tion has been almost completely eliminated. Intermittent mowing has been prac-ticed on this pasture with the result that the woody and herbaceous species havenot increased.The stage of deterioration of the Norwood Prairie and similar prairie areasis easily measured by the abundance of broomsedge that is present. Kentuckybluegrass appears to serve as one of the early indicators of overutili zation.Continued deterioration is apparently well indicated by the presence of broom-sedge. Other indicators of deterioration of the prairie vegetation are theherbaceous species common to the deciduous forest. The broomsedge also repre-sents the vegetation of a fire-disclimax in this area.The Massard Prairie 1. The Massard Prairie, south of Fort Smith, is locatedin a basin lying between two hills known locally as Wolf Mountain and SouthRidge which have elevations of about 600 feet. The prairie has an elevation ofabout 500 feet. Massard creek crosses the prairie from southwest to northeast.The surface of the prairie is gently rolling and contains many small moundswhich are three to four feet in height and some twenty feet in diameter.*From "A Study of the Flora of Massard Prairie with Some Ecological Notes, by M. R. Arm-strong.PRAIRIE VEGETATION IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS33TribeGramineaeCyperaceaeLiliaceaeRosaceaeThe plant societies found in the Massard Prairie are representative of theTall Grass Prairie formation (Figure 3). The typical grasses found in theMassard Prairie are big bluestem (Andropogon furcatus), little bluestem (Andro-pogon scoparius), Indian grass (Sorghas trum nutans), and switchgrass (Panicumv irgatum). Table 1 lists the various Gramineae genera common to the MassardPrairie, while Table 2 lists the dominant grasses. Some of the species found onthe Massard Prairie are neither common nor even listed as being present in theTall Grass Prairie to the west and north. This is probably due to climaticchanges associated with the southern position of Arkansas in the vegetativeformations. That is, certain of these species are not adapted to the lowertemperatures found further north and west. Rainfall may also be another of thedeciding factors which prevents their spread. However, the interaction of cli-matic effects may often be more important than the main effects acting alone.TABLE 1. The Grameneae genera common to the Massard Prairie.Genera No. of Species Genera No. of SpeciesAgrostis 3 Panicum 10Andropogon 4 Paspalum 4Aristida 4 Phalaris 1Bouteloua 1 Setaria 1Bromus 1 Sorghastrum 1Danthonia 1 Sorghum 1Digitaria 1 Sphenopholis 1Echinochloa 1 Sporobolus 3Elymus 1 Tridens 2Eragrostis • 3Festuca 1Leptoloma 1TABLE 2. The dominant grasses found on the Massard PrairieAndropogon furcatusAgrostis hyemalisAndropogon scopariusAristida gracilisBouteloua curtipendulaEragrostis pectinaceaPanicum agrostoidesPanicum capillarePaspalum floridanumSphenopholis intermediaBig bluestemTicklegrassLittle bluestemSlender triple awnSide-oats gramaPurple Love-grassRed- top panicWitch grassFlorida paspalumSlender wedge grassTABLE 3. The major taxonomic families found on the Massard Prairie.No. of Genera2164CaryopyllaceaeRanunculaceaeCruci ferae3363LeguminosaeEuphorbiaceaeOnagraceae1864UnbelliferaeAsclepiadaceaeLabiatae835Solanaceae 3ScrophulariaceaeComposi tae83734 ARKANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCEThe great number of tribes and genera (Table 3) present in the MassardPrairie gives it a taxonomic complexity which is quite common in the prairieareas of the United States.Climatically, the area should be considered as being marginal for thegrowth of trees. The normal rainfall (38.93 inches) is adequate for tree growthifother factors are favorable. Soil conditions may be the primary factor pre-venting the climax vegetation from becoming established. The soils in the prai-rie areas of Arkansas are cold, wet soils which are underlain by a clay or shalehardpan. This hardpan is the cause of the soils being wet during the rainymonths and also results in a droughty soil during the summer months when pre-cipitation is low. The impermeability to water of the clay-pan is the reasonthat rice can be successfully produced on the Grand Prairie.The germination and growth of tree seedlings seems to be inhibited by thecold, wet soil conditions that prevail in this area plus the droughty conditionof the soil during the summer months.Belie Tall Grass Vege tation on the Mountain Slopes of Nor thwest Arkansas .In the northwestern portion of Arkansas, remmants of the Tall Grass Prairie areevident in sites other than those shown in Figure 1. A typical area in Wash-ington County is shown schematically in Figure 4. This area is east of theNorwood Prairie and consists of approximately 20 acres. Ithas not been fencednor grazed. The area consists of a ravine lying between two formerly cultivatedfields. The field on the west ridge has been abandoned for a considerableperiod of time and has been revegetated with trees and broomsedge (Figure 5).The east ridge was sown to Korean lespedeza and has been allowed to reseed it-self every year. During the winter of 1951-1952, the area was leased to aTexan who put in fences and developed stock ponds.Figure 4 (left). SchematicIllustration of the PrairieFlora of a Northwest ArkansasHillside. Figure 5 (above).Abandoned Field being revege-tated with Oaks and Broom-sedge.The vegetation on the slopes of the ravine primarily is little bluestem andIndian grass. Little bluestem was estimated as providing 65 per cent of thevegetative cover and the Indian grass 30 per cent. The other 5 per cent of thevegetative cover was trees and miscellaneous forbs. Baptisia specie were foundto be present in this area. It is significant to note that there was not oneplant of broomsedge within the boundaries of the native grass area, whereas itwas found in profuse abundance in the fields on either side of the ravine. Asharp ecotone existed between the native grass area and the previously culti-vated areas.PRAIRIE VEGETATION IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS35There are few stumps in the native grass area, indicating that previousforest cover was limited to isolated trees that were probably established duringperiods of optimum conditions and made the minimum essential growth before thecompetition and occasional fire could destroy them. The sprouts of sassafrasand oak which are now found in the area are nearly all dead. They apparentlyhave been killed by fire as indicated by their blackened condition. Residentsof the area say that burning has not been practiced.On the abandoned cultivated field to the west of the area, there are twoapparent successional responses. One is the immediate increase in the abundanceof broomsedge, and secondly, the slower but nevertheless consistent increase indeciduous type of woody vegetation.The soil in this ravine and on the ridges is rocky, most of the rocks beingsmaller than 3 inches in diameter. The perennial vegetation concealed the rockysoil from the casual observer. Erosion is practically nonexistent. There wereno cases of accelerated erosion. The rocks are very evident in the abandonedfields.Examination of these areas indicates that Northwest Arkansas is truly atransitional zone. The deciduous forest can be said to be the climax vegeta-tion. There are indications that the grassland vegetation and the deciduousforest are codominant in nature. Topographical and edaphic features apparentlyprovide slight advantages and disadvantages for each of the formations and thusdetermine which of the vegetational types would prevail under natural con-ditions.On the basis of this material, it is quite possible for proper managementto develop in northwest Arkansas pastures consisting of perennial prairie grass-es. This would necessitate the maintenance of the areas in a disclimax con-dition and would require constant effort to prevent the development of herba-ceous and woody species.ReferenceArmstrong, M. R., A Study of the Flora of Massard Prairie with Some Ecological Notes.Lesquercux, Leo, 1856. On the Origin and Formation of Prairies, Geological Survey of Illinois,V. 1.Nattall, Thomas, 1819. Travels into the Arkansas TerritorySargent, Charles S. , 1880. Forest trees of North America, Tenth Census of the United States,V. IX, Gov. Print, office, Washington, D. C.

Prairie Vegetation in Northwest Arkansas

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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceVolume 6 Article 91953Prairie Vegetation in Northwest ArkansasE. S. RubyUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaasPart of the Botany CommonsThis article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able toread, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking priorpermission from the publisher or the author.This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academyof Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu.Recommended CitationRuby, E. S. (1953) "Prairie Vegetation in Northwest Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 6 , Article 9.Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol6/iss1/9PRAIRIE VEGETATION IN NORTHWEST ARKANSASE. S. RUBYUniversity of ArkansasThe climax vegetation of northwest Arkansas is generally admitted to bedeciduous forest which is bordered by the Tall Grass Prairie on the west and theLake Forest on the north. The great climatic changes of the past have permittedthe movement of the boundaries of the deciduous forest and the grassland. Thesemovements have resulted in the isolation of fragments of both climaxes withinthe now recognized boundaries of the opposite formation. One of the more famousisolated areas is the Cross- timbers found in Texas. The Cross- timbers is aportion of the deciduous forest completely isolated in the grassland formation.This area is post-climax to the grassland formation. Similarly, grassland areasin the deciduous forest are pre-climax. Pre-climax grassland formations such asthe Grand Prairie are to be found in the state of Arkansas. Other areas lesswell known are the following: The Massard Prairie and the Cedar Prairie nearFort Smith in western Arkansas. The Norwood Prairie, west of Fayetteville, andthe Lindley and Osage Prairies, shown in Figure 1.Figure 1. Vegetational Map of Northwest Arkansas. The ShadedSections Represent the Various Areas of Prairie Vegetation.These prairie areas are located in the basins and are surrounded by moun-tains covered with vegetation of the deciduous forest. Nuttall (1819) statedthat the Grand Prairie would be suitable for rice culture. Today, this observa-tion has been completely fulfilled, by the Grand Prairie area being the centerof rice production.Lesquereux (1856) studying the coal deposits of Arkansas recorded the pres-ence of prairie areas. His observations were similar to those of Nuttall.Sargent (1880) shows these various prairie areas in his vegetational map of Ar-kansas (Figure 1).Research Paper No. 1068 Journal Series. University of Arkansas31Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1953], Art. 9Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1953.12 ARKANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCEThe Norwood Prairie. The Norwood Prairie is located in the northwest partof Arkansas. It lies west of Fayetteville and is west of the Wedington Gap.The original vegetation of this prairie has been destroyed, with the exceptionof a few isolated areas which attest to its former status before the advent ofthe plow. The few areas that have not been plowed have been used as permanentpasture and heavily over-grazed until a grazing disclimax is now found through-out the prairie.Figure 2 (above). A typical pas-ture in the Norwood Prairie ofNorthwest Arkansas. Figure 3(left). Typical community of IndianGrass in Massard Prairie.Figure 2 shows a typical pasture in the Norwood Prairie at the presenttime. The long and continuous grazing has permitted the invasion of other grassspecies and an increase in certain less palatable species. Kentucky bluegrass(Poa pratensis ) and broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus) have become the dominantspecies represented in the vegetation of this pasture. The tall grass vegeta-tion has been almost completely eliminated. Intermittent mowing has been prac-ticed on this pasture with the result that the woody and herbaceous species havenot increased.The stage of deterioration of the Norwood Prairie and similar prairie areasis easily measured by the abundance of broomsedge that is present. Kentuckybluegrass appears to serve as one of the early indicators of overutili zation.Continued deterioration is apparently well indicated by the presence of broom-sedge. Other indicators of deterioration of the prairie vegetation are theherbaceous species common to the deciduous forest. The broomsedge also repre-sents the vegetation of a fire-disclimax in this area.The Massard Prairie 1. The Massard Prairie, south of Fort Smith, is locatedin a basin lying between two hills known locally as Wolf Mountain and SouthRidge which have elevations of about 600 feet. The prairie has an elevation ofabout 500 feet. Massard creek crosses the prairie from southwest to northeast.The surface of the prairie is gently rolling and contains many small moundswhich are three to four feet in height and some twenty feet in diameter.*From "A Study of the Flora of Massard Prairie with Some Ecological Notes, by M. R. Arm-strong.32Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1953], Art. 9http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol6/iss1/9PRAIRIE VEGETATION IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS33TribeGramineaeCyperaceaeLiliaceaeRosaceaeThe plant societies found in the Massard Prairie are representative of theTall Grass Prairie formation (Figure 3). The typical grasses found in theMassard Prairie are big bluestem (Andropogon furcatus), little bluestem (Andro-pogon scoparius), Indian grass (Sorghas trum nutans), and switchgrass (Panicumv irgatum). Table 1 lists the various Gramineae genera common to the MassardPrairie, while Table 2 lists the dominant grasses. Some of the species found onthe Massard Prairie are neither common nor even listed as being present in theTall Grass Prairie to the west and north. This is probably due to climaticchanges associated with the southern position of Arkansas in the vegetativeformations. That is, certain of these species are not adapted to the lowertemperatures found further north and west. Rainfall may also be another of thedeciding factors which prevents their spread. However, the interaction of cli-matic effects may often be more important than the main effects acting alone.TABLE 1. The Grameneae genera common to the Massard Prairie.Genera No. of Species Genera No. of SpeciesAgrostis 3 Panicum 10Andropogon 4 Paspalum 4Aristida 4 Phalaris 1Bouteloua 1 Setaria 1Bromus 1 Sorghastrum 1Danthonia 1 Sorghum 1Digitaria 1 Sphenopholis 1Echinochloa 1 Sporobolus 3Elymus 1 Tridens 2Eragrostis • 3Festuca 1Leptoloma 1TABLE 2. The dominant grasses found on the Massard PrairieAndropogon furcatusAgrostis hyemalisAndropogon scopariusAristida gracilisBouteloua curtipendulaEragrostis pectinaceaPanicum agrostoidesPanicum capillarePaspalum floridanumSphenopholis intermediaBig bluestemTicklegrassLittle bluestemSlender triple awnSide-oats gramaPurple Love-grassRed- top panicWitch grassFlorida paspalumSlender wedge grassTABLE 3. The major taxonomic families found on the Massard Prairie.No. of Genera2164CaryopyllaceaeRanunculaceaeCruci ferae3363LeguminosaeEuphorbiaceaeOnagraceae1864UnbelliferaeAsclepiadaceaeLabiatae835Solanaceae 3ScrophulariaceaeComposi tae83733Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1953], Art. 9Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 195334 ARKANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCEThe great number of tribes and genera (Table 3) present in the MassardPrairie gives it a taxonomic complexity which is quite common in the prairieareas of the United States.Climatically, the area should be considered as being marginal for thegrowth of trees. The normal rainfall (38.93 inches) is adequate for tree growthifother factors are favorable. Soil conditions may be the primary factor pre-venting the climax vegetation from becoming established. The soils in the prai-rie areas of Arkansas are cold, wet soils which are underlain by a clay or shalehardpan. This hardpan is the cause of the soils being wet during the rainymonths and also results in a droughty soil during the summer months when pre-cipitation is low. The impermeability to water of the clay-pan is the reasonthat rice can be successfully produced on the Grand Prairie.The germination and growth of tree seedlings seems to be inhibited by thecold, wet soil conditions that prevail in this area plus the droughty conditionof the soil during the summer months.Belie Tall Grass Vege tation on the Mountain Slopes of Nor thwest Arkansas .In the northwestern portion of Arkansas, remmants of the Tall Grass Prairie areevident in sites other than those shown in Figure 1. A typical area in Wash-ington County is shown schematically in Figure 4. This area is east of theNorwood Prairie and consists of approximately 20 acres. Ithas not been fencednor grazed. The area consists of a ravine lying between two formerly cultivatedfields. The field on the west ridge has been abandoned for a considerableperiod of time and has been revegetated with trees and broomsedge (Figure 5).The east ridge was sown to Korean lespedeza and has been allowed to reseed it-self every year. During the winter of 1951-1952, the area was leased to aTexan who put in fences and developed stock ponds.Figure 4 (left). SchematicIllustration of the PrairieFlora of a Northwest ArkansasHillside. Figure 5 (above).Abandoned Field being revege-tated with Oaks and Broom-sedge.The vegetation on the slopes of the ravine primarily is little bluestem andIndian grass. Little bluestem was estimated as providing 65 per cent of thevegetative cover and the Indian grass 30 per cent. The other 5 per cent of thevegetative cover was trees and miscellaneous forbs. Baptisia specie were foundto be present in this area. It is significant to note that there was not oneplant of broomsedge within the boundaries of the native grass area, whereas itwas found in profuse abundance in the fields on either side of the ravine. Asharp ecotone existed between the native grass area and the previously culti-vated areas.34Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1953], Art. 9http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol6/iss1/9PRAIRIE VEGETATION IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS35There are few stumps in the native grass area, indicating that previousforest cover was limited to isolated trees that were probably established duringperiods of optimum conditions and made the minimum essential growth before thecompetition and occasional fire could destroy them. The sprouts of sassafrasand oak which are now found in the area are nearly all dead. They apparentlyhave been killed by fire as indicated by their blackened condition. Residentsof the area say that burning has not been practiced.On the abandoned cultivated field to the west of the area, there are twoapparent successional responses. One is the immediate increase in the abundanceof broomsedge, and secondly, the slower but nevertheless consistent increase indeciduous type of woody vegetation.The soil in this ravine and on the ridges is rocky, most of the rocks beingsmaller than 3 inches in diameter. The perennial vegetation concealed the rockysoil from the casual observer. Erosion is practically nonexistent. There wereno cases of accelerated erosion. The rocks are very evident in the abandonedfields.Examination of these areas indicates that Northwest Arkansas is truly atransitional zone. The deciduous forest can be said to be the climax vegeta-tion. There are indications that the grassland vegetation and the deciduousforest are codominant in nature. Topographical and edaphic features apparentlyprovide slight advantages and disadvantages for each of the formations and thusdetermine which of the vegetational types would prevail under natural con-ditions.On the basis of this material, it is quite possible for proper managementto develop in northwest Arkansas pastures consisting of perennial prairie grass-es. This would necessitate the maintenance of the areas in a disclimax con-dition and would require constant effort to prevent the development of herba-ceous and woody species.ReferenceArmstrong, M. R., A Study of the Flora of Massard Prairie with Some Ecological Notes.Lesquercux, Leo, 1856. On the Origin and Formation of Prairies, Geological Survey of Illinois,V. 1.Nattall, Thomas, 1819. Travels into the Arkansas TerritorySargent, Charles S. , 1880. Forest trees of North America, Tenth Census of the United States,V. IX, Gov. Print, office, Washington, D. C.35Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1953], Art. 9Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 195336Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 6 [1953], Art. 9http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol6/iss1/9

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Prairie Vegetation in Northwest Arkansas

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