Central Dissected Prairie
As one goes west in Kansas, tall grasses slowly give way to mid- and shortgrasses which are more drought tolerant. Central Kansas is dominated by mixtures of bluestems and gramas. The gently rolling to flat topography of the region has blue grama and little bluestern as the primary dominants. More mesic sites, such as the Dakota Sandstone Prairie, may contain a fairly high percentage of tallgrasses. Those areas still left in prairie support domestic livestock, primarily a cow-calf type. Heavy grazing on the area causes buffalograss to dominate and usually reduces forb populations. Soils of the region with lime to the surface usually have little bluestem as a dominant, but clayey soils have buffalograss, blue grama, and western wheatgrass. Areas with limestone outcropping generally support many more wildflowers than the clayey regions.
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