Introduction:
What is a prairie?

Trees are absent or scarce on the prairie. When they do occur, they are limited to areas of broken topography (hillsides and bluffs) and the margins of streams and rivers that traverse them. Timber also occurs in groves; isolated and sometimes extensive ‘islands’ of trees surrounded by prairie. Scattered oak openings or savannas are also a common occurrence within or bordering the prairies of the Midwest.