Old Field Succession and Schizachyrium Scoparium at Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak Nature Preserve, Mason County, Illinois (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION In pre-settlement times dry sand prairies were common on the upper slopes and ridges of dunes and other dry areas throughout the Illinois River sand deposits. Soils of dry sand prairie communities lacked a dark A horizon, and the grasses, most of which were bunchgrasses, rarely exceeded 1 m in height. In the absence of recurring fires dry sand prairies developed into dry sand savannas (White and Madany 1978). Gleason (1910) was the first to quantify the species composition of the Mixed Consocies of the Bunch-Grass Association, a classification that corresponds to the dry sand prairie community of White and Madany (1978). Gleason (1910) described this association as being dominated by native bunch-grasses and sedges with most other species restricted to the areas of bare sand between bunch-grasses.