Almost by accident, environmentalists discovered that an untouched 25-acre plot in the cemetery was one of the last bits of the prairie that, till the early 19th century, covered most of the site of present-day St Louis.A detailed study found more than 130 species of native prairie plants, from the tallgrass that towered over the first settlers to the smallest, most delicate wild flowers.
Tracts of tallgrass savanna also occur.
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (established 1990) is about 15 miles (25 km) to the southwest at Prairie City and is the site of a large-scale restoration of the region's original tallgrass and oak savanna environment.
Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), often more than 2 metres (6.5 feet) tall, is the characteristic plant species of the North American tallgrass prairie.
Sheyenne National Grassland, near Lisbon, preserves one of the state's last remaining areas of tallgrass prairie.
The best soils for crops are the dark brown to black soils of the tallgrass and parkland zone, the area of Canada that is famous for wheat cultivation.
American badgers (Taxidea taxus) create localized disturbances in tallgrass prairies by digging for their rodent prey; digging produces mounds of dirt 0.2 0.3 square metre (2.2 3.2 square feet) in size.
The state's original vegetation may be divided into three general categories: needleleaf forest, hardwood forest, and tallgrass prairie.
South and west of the hardwood forest lay the tallgrass prairie.
Great Bend, city, seat (1872) of Barton county, central Kansas, U.S. Great Bend lies on the Arkansas River where the High Plains begin to shade into tallgrass prairie.
One alternative involves the use of highly diverse mixtures of species, with the North American tallgrass prairie as a specific example.
