Mapping Kansas Ecosystems

Cool Season Grasses

In early spring, the brome fields of Kansas begin greening up, often the first green seen across the landscape. White-footed mice travel through hidden grassy tunnels that protect them from the hungry hawks hunting overhead. Though brome fields are common in the modern Kansas landscape, brome is a grass native to Europe and Asia. Unlike native prairie grasses, which flower in late summer, brome and other cool-season grasses, such as fescue, grow and flower in the spring and early summer. These cool- season grasses are important sources of forage and hay to the cattle industry. The plant diversity found in cool-season grasslands depends upon land management practices; some are essentially a grass monoculture while others can be dotted with wildflowers and shrubs.

Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie

In spring, the Flint Hills are on fire, literally. Ranchers burn away old vegetation to provide fresh green growth for their cattle. The Flint Hills soils are shallow and rocky compared to other tallgrass prairies. Along the hilltops, exposed limestone juts out, leaving plows useless for tilling the land. Thus, their rocky nature saved the Flint Hills from the fate of most of the tallgrass prairie, conversion to cropland. The Flint Hills remains the largest intact tallgrass prairie in the world, where bison herds once roamed through the diverse grasslands filled with pale purple coneflowers and dozens of other wildflower species. Tallgrass prairies are known for their incredibly high plant species diversity, some with over 300 plant species in a few acres.

Visit the Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie at  Konza Prairie. 

Smoky Hills Tallgrass Prairie

The early morning haze of the Smoky Hills in northcentral Kansas lifts to reveal magnificent, towering grasses and wildflowers of all shapes and hues of one of the most diverse grasslands in the world, the Tallgrass Prairie. With hundreds of grass and flower species, the tallgrass prairie is impressive from the surface. However, the prairie holds its secrets underground, where the roots of big bluestem, indian grass, purple coneflower, and others plants reach down over 6 feet into the soil, seeking water and nutrients. The rich, fertile soil created by these roots and their associated mycorrhizal fungi has been the downfall of the Tallgrass Prairie. Plowed under for cropland, today less than 1% of the historic prairie remains intact. The remnant patches of prairie are important habitat for the regal fritillary butterfly. Their caterpillars eat the leaves of the bird’s-foot violet, which grows only in the Tallgrass Prairie.

Visit the Smoky Hills Tallgrass Prairie at  Wilson State Park .

Arkansas River Tallgrass Prairie/Pasture

Kansans depend upon the prairie for food. Much of the remaining prairie is grazed by cattle, resulting in Prairie-Pasture. Here the soil has not been tilled under for crops, but the grazing cattle alter the composition of the plant community. Native diversity is reduced as cattle selectively graze out “tasty” forbs such as lead plant and purple prairie clover leaving behind less desirable foods such as black-eyed Susan and ironweed. Prairie pastures tends to have more non-native species found in them such as fescue, brome, thistles and yellow sweet-clover. Overgrazing can also result in invasion of woody species into grassland areas, as cattle avoid eating them and through time the woody plants, such as eastern red cedar, can take over. The Arkansas River Tallgrass Prairie Pasture is found in the Arkansas River Valley in southern Kansas. These grasslands are important habitat for wildlife like deer, coyotes, and grassland birds like the dickcissel.

Visit the Arkansas River Tallgrass Prairie Pasture at  Pawnee Prairie Park .

Mixedgrass Prairie

Each spring, a strange booming sound echoes across the Mixedgrass prairie in central Kansas. The sound is made by male lesser prairie chickens, who sing and dance in hopes of attracting a mate. Under their dancing feet, the prairie soil supports a rich mixture of grasses and wildflowers, such as dotted blazing stars. The Mixedgrass prairie extends from South Dakota to Texas, cutting a swath through central Kansas. A mix between the shortgrass prairies to the west and the tall grass prairies to the east, the mixedgrass prairie is a unique ecological system, dominated by western wheat grass and little bluestem.

Visit the Central Mixed Grass Prairie at  Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge .

Western Lowland Grassland

Lush grasslands meander along the waterways of Western Kansas. A native bee collects pollen from the bright purple flowers of hoary vervain. In the Western Lowland Grassland, the moist floodplain soils support denser grassland vegetation compared to the drier uplands. The extra water and nutrients encourage wildflowers to bloom, providing important floral resources for pollinators. Warm season grasses, such as switchgrass and side oats grama can be found here, though non-native cool season grasses are also common.

Visit the Western Lowland Grassland at  Prairie Dog State Park .

Sandhills Prairie

Among the sand bluestem and sand milkweed, a six-lined racerunner runs about hunting for insects and other invertebrates in the Sandhills Prairie. Near Great Bend, Kansas the Arkansas River, flowing out of the Rocky Mountains, takes a sharp turn south. Through millennia, the Arkansas has deposited the sands that are the foundation of the Sandhill Prairie. The undulating hills and dunes are covered with plants specially adapted to live on the sandy soil. The sandy soils are fragile and susceptible to erosion, especially where over-grazing by cattle causes blowouts. Sandhills prairie can also be found in the southwestern corner of Kansas.

Visit the Western Great Plains Sand Prairie at  Sand Hills State Park .

Crosstimbers Woodland

In southeastern Kansas, the prairies give way to hilltop woodlands of diminutive black-jack and post oak trees. These unique forests, called the Crosstimbers, form a thin band from southern Kansas into northern Texas. The oaks are stunted by drought, but their short stature hides their age.  Many of these oaks are over 300 years old. The Crosstimbers grow on coarse, sandy soils. The understory is dominated by the flowers and grasses of the nearby prairies, distinguishing the Crosstimbers from forests found further east. Turkeys, white-tailed deer, and racoons live in the Crosstimbers woodlands. This ecosystem has historically been maintained by a combination of drought, fire, and grazing. Fire suppression has allowed the invasion of juniper trees that threaten the Crosstimbers.

Visit the Cross Timbers at  Cross Timbers State Park .

Ozark Woodland and Forest

Walking amongst the oak and hickory trees, a bright red cardinal flower catches your eye. If you are lucky, overturning a nearby log may reveal the secretive coal skink living in the undergrowth. In Kansas, the Ozark Woodland and Forest is found only in the south-east corner of the state, though they extend eastward into Missouri and Arkansas.

Visit the Ozarks Woodland a  Buffalo Hills Natural Area , south of Neosho, Missouri.

Mixed Chinquapin Oak-Bur Oak Ravine Woodland

Within the ravines of the Flint Hills, oak woodlands cling to the rocky hillsides, dominated by bur and chinquapin oaks. On a sunny spring day, a great plains skink basks on a rock while bright pink redbud trees in full bloom dot the forest understory. The moisture from the creek and the rocky hillside protected the trees, allowed them to survive the fires that periodically swept through the prairie.

See the Mixed Chinquapin Oak-Bur Oak Ravine Woodland at  Milford State Park .

Smoky Hills Oak Woodland

The early morning mist lifts from the valleys of the Smoky HIlls in central Kansas. Along the creeks and streams of the region, the Smoky Hill Oak Woodlands are found. In late summer, a warbling vireo hops along the branches of an elderberry, snacking on the dark purple fruits and eating insects. These woodlands provide food and shelter for wildlife.

Visit the Smoky Hills Oak Woodland at  Kanopolis State Park .

Green Ash-Elm-Hackberry Canyon Bottomland Woodland

In the dappled light of the forest's edge, a "rap-tap-tap" is heard as a red-bellied woodpecker searches for dinner. The bird probs for insects among the crevices of the knobbly bark of a hackberry tree. The Green Ash-Elm-Hackberry Canyon Bottomland Woodland is found growing in the breaks and bottomlands of central Kansas. In addition to hackberries, green ash and elm trees dominate the woodlands.

See the Green Ash-Elm-Hackberry Bottomland Woodland at  Jewell Lake State Park .

Mixedgrass Breaks Redcedar Woodland/Shrubland

In the soft light of dusk, a coyote darts between the cedar trees of the Mixedgrass Breaks Redcedar Woodland. Here, where the prairie is dramatically broken by rocky cliffs and bluffs, eastern red cedar trees dominate the woodlands, where they can form dense patches. Prairie grasses and wildflowers grow in the opening between the trees.

See the Mixedgrass Red Cedar Breaks Woodland/Shrubland at  Lovewell State Park. 

Eastern Floodplain Ruderal Grassland

A dragonfly alights on the tip of a cattail growing along the edge of a farm pond in eastern Kansas. The surrounding floodplain grassland is managed as a pasture, grazed by cattle. The rich soils of floodplains in Eastern Kansas has primarliy been converted to crop fields, but much of it remains as managed grasslands.

Eastern Wetlands

A Green Heron quietly wades through the water, hunting fish and bullfrogs among the cattails and arrowheads. The glossy elegant leaves of prairie cord grass wave in the breeze, a signature of wet meadows and prairies. In Kansas, Eastern Wetlands are found adjacent to waterbodies or in low-lying areas where water accumulates and may be man-made or natural. Wetland soils are often water-logged and lack oxygen in the upper soil layers. These hydric soils present special challenges for plants, and many have special air-filled tissues called aerenchyma to bring oxygen from the leaves to the roots. Animals such as muskrats and turtles can be found in persistent marshes.

Visit Eastern Wetlands at the  Marais de Cygne Wildlife Area .

Western Floodplain Forest

Cottonwoods and willows form a fringe of trees along the bank of a river, breaking up the sea of grass of the surrounding prairie. The wind blowing through the leaves creates a shimmery canopy as the leaves flutter and tremble. Look up to the forest canopy, and you may see a porcupine eating the young cottonwood buds. The Western Floodplain Forest is found along the rivers and streams in central Kansas. Although trees dominate, grasses such as big bluestem and switch grass are important components of the understory. The hydrology of the western rivers is driven more by snowmelt from the mountains in the west than by rainfall in Kansas.

Visit the Western Floodplain Forest at the  Cheney Wildlife Area .

Western Wetland

A rustle of the floating broad leaves of water smartweed reveals a teal wing duck emerging from her underwater foraging. The western wetland is concentrated in south-central Kansas. The vegetation found in western wetlands is varied, ranging from native wetlands to highly managed grasslands.

Experience the Western Wetland at  Quivira National Wildlife Refuge .

Saline Grassland and Marsh

An American avocet probes into the mud for food as a flock of gulls flies overhead. Not the typical view of Kansas, but common each year at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. The Saline Grasslands and Marshes hold a secret that a quick taste of the water will revel. Unlike other wetlands in Kansas, those at Quivira are salty. Salts from the soil seep into the water, forming a unique ecosystem. The plants living in these wetlands, such as marsh aster, are specially adapted to living in these salty soils. The vegetation varies through space and time, depending upon the salinity of the water. In wet periods, the salt is diluted, but when drought hits, the salt becomes concentrated in the water. Saline Grasslands and Marshes are important for migratory bird species such as the whooping crane.

Visit the Saline Grassland and Marsh at  Cheyenne Bottoms .

Western Floodplain Shurbland/Young Forest

Floodplain Shurblands and Young Forests occur in the floodplains with intermediate levels of disturbance. Thickets of coyote willow provide hiding places for common water snake to hunt from. The vegetation compsition of this ecosystem depends upon past dsturbances and flooding patterns.