A Reconsideration of Grassland Classification in the Northern Great Plains of North America

This paper presents a meta-analysing of the landscape features of Stipa-Bouteloua-Agropyron-Koeleria Faciation, a network of villages and hamlets in the Northern United States that were established in the 1970s and 1980s as part of efforts to understand the building blocks of human settlement in the region.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION . 135 DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA 137 CONCEPTS OF VEGETATION ANALYSIS 141 LOCATION OF STUDY AREAS . . . . . . . . . 144 CLIMAX COMMUNITIES . . . . . . . . 145 Fescue Prairie Association . . . . 145 Mixed Prairie Association . . . . . . . 147 Stipa-Agropyron Faciation . . . . . . 147 Stipa-Bouteloua-Agropyron Faciation . . . . . . 150 Stipa-Bouteloua Faciation . . . . . . . 152 Bouteloua-Agropyron Faciation . . . . . . 153 Agropyron-Koeleria Faciation . . . . . . 155 FORBS AND SHRUBS . . . . . . . . . 156 COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS CLASSIFICATIONS . . . 158 SUCCESSIONAL COMMUNITIES . . . . . . 159 Primary successions . . . . . . . . 160 Secondary successions . . . . . . . . 163 RELATION TO COMMUNITIES IN THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES. . . . 164 SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . 165