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Prairies and Pastures of the Dissected Loess Plains of Central Nebraska
Author(s) -
Weaver J. E.,
Bruner W. E.
Publication year - 1948
Publication title -
ecological monographs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.254
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1557-7015
pISSN - 0012-9615
DOI - 10.2307/1948587
Subject(s) - citation , loess , ecology , geography , library science , archaeology , sociology , geology , biology , computer science , paleontology
Lvni-north of the great southward bend o[ the Platte River in central Nebraska but southeast of the sandhills, there are several thousand square miles of rugged uplands known as loess bluffs. They are quite unlike the sandhills with their typical cover, largely of postelimax tall grasses. They also differ widely from the Nebraska plain eastward and south-eastward where mid-grass or true prairie clothes the level or slightly undulating land. The vegetation of the sandhills has been studied only recently, by modern methods, in its relation to soils and climate (Tol-stead 1942). The mixed prairie southward has undergone extended examination throughout a complete But the excellent cover of grasses and forbs of the mixed prairie, which clothes and protects the highly erosive loess bluffs and furnishes sustenance for thousands of cattle, has thus far not attracted the attention of an ecologist. This preliminary survey is concerned with soil and aerial environment of the abundant undisturbed native vegetation, and its composition and behavior in the extensive range lands. It also includes a 3-year study of grazing types, of grazing patterns throughout the season, and of forage yield and forage con-sumli)tionl ill experimental pastures.