A Natural Areas Inventory of the - Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory ...

with other considerations, including economics, land ownership, politics, and sociology.
Freeman et al. (1997) suggested use of a landscape approach to conservation planning at FLMR,
proposing that this method permits broader understanding of environmental, biological, and
cultural factors influencing multiple sites in the region. They suggest that this approach has the
advantage of identifying regional conservation issues and priorities, and developing conservation
strategies that could benefit multiple sites.
The landscape area considered here lies within the Glaciated Region of northeast Kansas. FLMR
is one of four large sites along the extreme eastern edge of this area (Freeman et al. 1997). The
other sites, all of which encompass floodplain and bluff habitats along the Missouri River from
the Nebraska border to Kansas City, are White Cloud Bluff Forest (Doniphan County), Mosquito
Bluff Forest (Doniphan County), and Wyandotte County Park Site (Wyandotte County).
Historically, the Missouri River Valley was a dynamic natural system exhibiting a range of
conditions. As described by Freeman et al. (1997), “…The river was characterized by a wide,
braided channel, rapid current, high turbidity, and wide seasonal fluctuation in flow volume.
Flooding and channel changes were frequent, creating numerous sandbars and islands and
rearranging the natural communities of the floodplain. A mixture of marshes, low prairies,
forests, oxbow lakes, and other natural features in the floodplain were shaped by the forces of the
river, and their boundaries and successional stages constantly were shifting. Other sources of
natural disturbance were fire and grazing, both of which maintained upland tallgrass prairie on
the bluffs and likely affected floodplain vegetation as well.”
Euro-American settlement and activity within the Missouri River Valley have disrupted natural
disturbance regimes in this landscape and fragmented and destroyed most natural communities
Freeman et al. (1997) explain that “natural hydrology of the Missouri River has been altered
greatly through the construction of large reservoirs and levees, which channelized the river and
controlled much of the seasonal flooding. Because of this, most native bottomland vegetation
long ago was converted to cropland. Similarly, most upland natural communities were altered by
humans during the past 150 years. These changes have fragmented many of the terrestrial
communities once used by wildlife. However, stream valleys and other areas exhibiting
moderate to high relief still support corridors essential to many species. Riparian forests are
especially significant. In addition to providing routes for the movement of wildlife, they help
maintain water quality and contribute to the aesthetics of FLMR by providing structural diversity
to the landscape.”
FLMR is an important contributor to regional biodiversity because it supports significant
remnants of several kinds of forests. This is in stark contrast to most areas of the Missouri River
valley where native communities have been greatly altered. The remnant communities at FLMR
remain largely because they were not suitable for other uses during the development of the
military facilities and activities. These native communities at FLMR are vulnerable to
destruction from a variety of direct, disruptive activities (e.g., construction and agriculture).
However, native communities also are vulnerable to degradation from a number of “indirect”
forces. Freeman et al. (1997) commented on the vulnerability of natural communities at FLMR
by stating that “Habitat degradation is a more insidious consequence of human alteration of the
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