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Rolling Plains
The original prairie grasslands included tall and mid-grasses such as bluestems and gramas. Buffalo grass and other shortgrasses have increased under heavy, uncontrolled grazing. Much of the Rolling Plains today can be described as a mesquite-shortgrass savannah. Stream floodplains are dominated by various hardwood species, and juniper is common on steep slopes along rivers. Steep slopes, cliffs, and canyons occurring just below the edge of the High Plains Caprock comprise the Escarpment Breaks area of the Rolling Plains. The Breaks are an ecotone or transition zone between the High Plains grasslands and the mesquite savannah of the Rolling Plains. Crop and livestock production are the major agricultural industries in this region.
Dirty Dozen Terrestrial Invasive Species
These plants have been identified as particularly worrisome terrestrial invasive species in the Rolling Plains ecoregion. Click on their scientific names to go to the Invasive Plant Database and learn more.
Chinese tallow tree -
Triadica sebifera
Japanese privet -
Ligustrum japonicum
Salt cedar -
Tamarix ramosissima
Johnson grass -
Sorghum halepense
Japanese honeysuckle -
Lonicera japonica
King Ranch bluestem -
Bothriochloa ischaemum var. songarica
Giant reed -
Arundo donax
Nutgrass -
Cyperus rotundus
Dallisgrass -
Paspalum dilatatum
Bermudagrass -
Cynodon dactylon
Russian thistle -
Salsola tragus
Siberian elm -
Ulmus pumila
