Best Oak Savanna

Montado is a traditional oak agroforestry system characteristic of southern Portugal, particularly the Alentejo region. It is defined by scattered cork oak (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Quercus ilex) trees growing on managed land where livestock such as pigs, sheep, and cattle graze beneath the cano...

The Willamette Valley Prairie is a grassland and savanna ecosystem in Oregon's Willamette Valley, historically maintained by Indigenous peoples through regular burns. Prior to agricultural conversion, it was dominated by bunchgrasses such as Roemer's fescue and included diverse forb species. Today,...

Stone State Park, located on the border of Iowa and South Dakota near Sioux City, preserves a tract of the Loess Hills, a landform of wind-deposited silt that rises steeply along the Missouri River valley. The prairie portions of the park support native tallgrass species such as big bluestem and Ind...

The Midwestern Oak Savanna is a transitional grassland ecosystem of the upper Mississippi Basin, occurring where periodic fire maintained a low density of oak trees—chiefly bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa), white oak (Q. alba), and black oak (Q. velutina)—above a prairie understory. Historically it cove...

The Prairie Peninsula is an ecological and geographic region characterized by an eastward extension of North American tallgrass prairies into the Midwestern United States. First mapped by botanist Edgar Transeau in 1935, the peninsula extends from the Great Plains into states like Illinois, Indiana,...

The Willamette Valley oak savanna is a grassland ecosystem in western Oregon characterized by scattered Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) trees with a grass and forb understory. Historically maintained by indigenous burning, it once covered significant portions of the valley. Estimates suggest tha...

The Puget Trough Oak Savanna is a grassland and woodland ecosystem found in the Puget Sound lowland region of Washington state, extending south into Oregon's Willamette Valley. The plant community is dominated by Garry oak, also called Oregon white oak, growing in open stands over native grasses on...

Oregon White Oak Savanna is a fire-adapted ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest dominated by Quercus garryana, the Oregon white oak, scattered over grasslands and shrubs. Historically maintained by frequent low-intensity fires set by Indigenous peoples as well as by natural ignition, it once occupied...

The Cross Timbers Savanna is an ecoregion consisting of a narrow band of transitional forest and grassland stretching from central Texas through Oklahoma into southern Kansas. It is botanically defined by dense, scrubby stands of post oak and blackjack oak trees, which historically formed a difficul...

A black oak savanna is an open woodland and grassland community in which black oak, Quercus velutina, is a characteristic canopy tree. Periodic fire limits woody undergrowth, maintains open spaces between the trees, and supports grasses and other sun-loving plants. The habitat occurs in parts of eas...

The Cross Timbers is a broad ecological region extending through parts of Texas and Oklahoma and reaching into southern Kansas. It consists of alternating woodland, savanna, and prairie, with post oak and blackjack oak as characteristic trees and native grasses occupying more open areas. The region...

Somme Prairie Grove in Cook County, Illinois, is a notable preserve distinguished by its ongoing ecological restoration of rare oak savanna habitat.