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Distribition

Before European settlement in the 1800's oak savannas were widespread in the central portion of the United States and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges of Californai and Oregon (Nuzzo 1996). The exact distribution of pre-settlement savannas is difficult to establish because of the transitional nature of the habitat. Nevertheless, oak savannas have been nearly eliminated from the central U.S. today because of fire supression and clearing for agriculture. According to Auclair (1976), 74% of a two county study area in south central Wisconsin was covered by oak savanna in 1833, but only tiny, degraded remnants remained by 1934. Most of the savanna area in the two counties (42%) was converted to cropland, 36% was converted to pasture, and 23% developed into oak-hickory forest. Nuzzo (1996) estimated that only 0.02% of the original savanna area in the Midwest (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio) remained as relatively high quality savanna in 1985.

Today, a search for savannas in the Midwest inevitably leads to specially managed natural areas owned by public agencies or private conservation organizations like The Nature Conservancy. Some of the best examples are given below:

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Last updated on January 12, 2006