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

Phryma leptostachya American lopseed 0.3
Pilea pumila dwarf clearweed 1.4
Poa sylvestris woodland blue grass 0.8
Podophyllum peltatum May-apple 0.1
Quercus borealis northern red oak 0.4
Sambucus canadensis American elderberry 0.9
Sanicula odorata fragrant sanicle 0.3
Smilax lasioneura Blue Ridge greenbrier 0.1
Smilax tamnoides bristly greenbrier 0.4
Solidago ulmifolia elm-leaf goldenrod 0.3
Staphylea trifolia American bladdernut 6.4 5.0
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus coral-berry 0.5
Toxicodendron radicans poison-ivy 0.4
Ulmus americana American elm 0.3
Ulmus rubra slippery elm 0.1
Uvularia grandiflora large-flower bellwort 0.1
Viola pratincola meadow violet 0.4
Vitis cinerea gray-bark grape 0.3
Bare ground 70.0
Total 52.1 102.5
Herbaceous Communities
Herbaceous communities are dominated by graminoids and forbs (broadleaf, non-woody plants),
which generally form at least 25% of the cover. Trees, shrubs, and dwarf shrubs constitute less
that 25% of the cover (Lauver et al. 1999). Freeman et al. (1997) reported a Bulrush-Cattail
Marsh of approximately 6 ha (15 ac) between the Missouri Pacific Railroad right of way and
Chief Joseph Loop Road, extending from near the intersection of Chief Joseph Loop Road and
Warehouse Road north to where Chief Joseph Loop road turns southeast onto the floodplain.
Recent construction along the railroad has altered that area and has destroyed this already
degraded community. It is likely that Bulrush-Catttail Marshes were fairly common along the
Missouri River floodplain prior to construction of levees.
Glaciated Tallgrass Prairie. One herbaceous natural community type, Glaciated Tallgrass
Prairie, was confirmed. In Kansas, this community occurs on level to steep slopes on uplands in
the Glaciated Region, essentially that area north of the Kansas River and east of the Little Blue
River. Soils generally are deep, somewhat poorly drained to well drained, and silty to loamy,
having formed from loess, glacial till, or colluvium (Lauver 1989). Prairie was the dominant
vegetation type in northeast Kansas when Public Land Surveys were conducted in the mid-1850s.
However, there is no evidence that prairies ever were abundant on FLMR. Brumwell (1951)
reported that prairie surrounded Merritt and Smith Lakes in 1939 and 1940, but most of this area
now is developed as part of the golf course. The few tracts of remaining prairie are less than 0.2
ha (0.5 acre) in size, isolated within the White oak-Shagbark hickory Forest, and moderately to
severely degraded due to woody plant encroachment resulting from fire suppression. They may
indicate that some upland areas once supported woodlands or savannas—natural communities in
which there were large, open-grown trees with crowns not usually touching and understory
vegetation dominated by prairie plants(Lauver et al. 1999).
NATURAL AREAS INVENTORY OF FT. LEAVENWORTH II 33