BASKIN, JERRY M.* AND CAROL C. BASKIN. School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, 101 Morgan Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0225. - Vegetation of limestone and dolomite glades in the Ozarks and Midwest Regions of the United States: A review.
Literature on the vegetation of limestone and dolomite (cedar) glades
in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas and in the midwestern United
States is reviewed. Dominant plants in these glades are C4 perennial
prairie grasses, of which little bluestem (Schizachyrium
scoparium) is the most important. Without removal of invading
woody plants by fire or other means, succession in these rocky,
calcareous openings is to forest. They differ from cedar glades in
the southeastern United States, which are dominated by C4 annual
grasses (primarily Sporobolus vaginiflorus) and do not require
management or natural disturbances to maintain them.
Key words: biogeography, community ecology, vegetation