KUCHLER TYPE VALUE AND USE
KUCHLER TYPE: Mosaic of bluestem prairie and oak-hickory forest



FORESTRY VALUES : 
Oak-hickory forests are highly valued for wood products.  See the
oak-hickory write-up (K100) for further information.


RANGE VALUES : 
Bluestem prairie is highly valued for range and pasture.  Bluestem
prairie sites are also heavily cultivated.  See the bluestem prairie
write-up (K074) for further information.


WILDLIFE VALUES : 
Structure and vegetation richness in the bluestem prairie-oak-hickory
mosaic is greater than in either type alone.  This variety may increase
the number of wildlife species in the mosaic.  Edge is important to a
number of wildlife species.  In many studies, wildlife numbers were
found to increase with increases in edge [63].  However, habitat quality
is related to patch size.  In recent years grassland bird populations
have been declining over much of North America, especially in the
midwestern corn belt [64].  Narrow grassy edges between row crops are
depauperate in nesting bird species compared to larger grassy plots or
grassy plots within forage crops [65].  Grassland birds in Illinois are
strongly influenced by patch size.  Small fragments less than 25 acres
(10 ha) are particularly impoverished [66].


OTHER VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONCERNS : 
Most of the original prairie-forest contact zone vegetation has been
lost due to clearing, grazing, and fire suppression.  Many savanna
stands have converted to closed forest, and much prairie has been
converted to cropland or developed for human habitation [42].

Reconstruction of historic vegetation patterns in Kansas from Land
Office Survey records indicated a dramatic expansion of gallery forests
from 1859 to 1939, and they continued to expand through 1978.  Increases
in woody vegetation were attributed to decreased fire severity and
frequency since European settlement [2,3].

Attempts to reestablish presettlement vegetation depend on availability
of local seed sources.  On the Grand Prairie, Illinois, a survey located
numerous characteristic prairie species in the woodland understory, but
only on narrow, well-drained ridgetops and on south- and west-facing
slopes.  These species could serve as a natural seed source, but only
for nearby plots.  Plots farther away would have to be artificially
seeded [42].

Related categories for Kuchler Type: Mosaic of bluestem prairie and oak-hickory forest