Ozark Mountain Range: Habitat, Climate, and Disturbance Regimes

Ozark Mountain Range

Description:            

The Ozark Mountain range spans across three states, Arkansas, Missouri, and a small portion of Oklahoma. Millions of years ago this area was at the bottom of a prehistoric sea. Through millions of years of compression the detritus and sand was compressed to form sandstone and shale deposits throughout this range. The bluffs that are famously known throughout the Arkansas region are a result of years of erosion creating the magnificent cliffs. During the seasonal transitions Arkansas' climate undergoes a monsoon type season with heavy rains and significant storms that can lead to flooding in the valleys between the sloping Ozark mountains. The water dripping and flowing between cracks in the sandstone has formed many cave systems, outcrops, and ravines that are still changing everyday. the limestone composition of the sandstone and the water mix to create an acidic solution that aids in the erosion process as well. often large boulders can be found scattered across the landscape, it is hypothesized that these boulders are remnants of cavern cave ins. the outside weaker material is eroded away by wind and water leaving behind the sturdier and larger chunks of the previous cavern ceiling (Arkansas Archeological Survey, University of Arkansas System).  

Climate Graphs:

    These are the the climagraphs creates using locations within the specific geographical locations obtained from the NOAA National Center for Environmental Information

    

Soil Types:

    These are the soil compositions of the specified areas. (

Deer Ar, Boston Mountains (UC Davis, 2011).

Joplin Mo, Springfield plains (UC Davis, 2010).

Frederickstown, Mo, St François Mountains (UC Davis, 2008).

    When someone hears about the Ozark Mountains, they may think of the traditional rolling mountain range with varying heights covered in a varying pastel of colors. While that may be true for much of the Ozarks, there are often the low dips and flat spots that are not always sloping that will be left out of this imagery. The areas with deeper soils with a category higher on the soil horizons show evidence of more accumulation of topsoil. Soil accumulation on mountain tops and slopes have a more shallow soil profile than a topographically low area. This is known as a catena pattern. Deer, Arkansas, is within the Boston mountains region and it follows that pattern. As we see, this area is the only location examined with the bedrock being shallow enough to be seen. The climagraphs do not offer much of a difference between the three locations. but they offer a good amount of precipitation throughout the year, increasing during the spring and fall due to the change in average temperatures. the precipitations occurs when colder air coming from the northwestern interior of the US mixes with the warm humid air rising from the Gulf of Mexico. Not only does this area experience a lot of precipitation, but it does experience severe weather events capable of producing very large tornadic conditions. 

(United states geological survey, 2021)

    This picture indicates elevation with color, white, brown, and yellow are higher than the greens and the darker the green the lower the elevation. we see a slight rise in elevation exactly where the Ozark Mountains occur. The Boston mountains are a higher portion of the elevated Ozarks. The Springfield plains and St. François mountains are still higher than the surrounding area, but do not have peaks like the Boston mountains in Arkansas do. 

PART 2

Glades

Glades are open areas in the middle of forests. They can have tall or short prairie grasses. There are naturally occurring disturbances that prevent larger vegetation such as trees to encroach and close the open space. The most common disturbance would be fire caused by naturally occurring lightning strikes. Historically glades were spread thoroughly throughout the region. But since fire suppression became increasingly prevalent, the naturally occurring disturbances were minimized and as a result the glades are shrinking/disappearing (Missouri Department of Conservation, 2021).

Eastern collared lizard

The eastern collared lizard is a protected lizard that almost exclusively lives in the declining glades. Its bright markings allow it to be recognized by other of its species for identification and mate selection (USGS, 2020). Other than that it is not generally specialized to survive, hence why it is protected. 

Greater roadrunner

This is a ground dwelling bird, since it is a ground dwelling bird, yes it must have to learn to outsmart a coyote every now and then, it does not however make a ”meep meep” sound. Instead it relies upon other adaptations to help it successfully survive within this habitat. The coloration of the feathers are aimed to mimic the patterns of the grasses that grow within the glade. It is also adapted to open sunlight by a unique behavior of exposing a dark patch of feathers upon its back to absorb solar heat, increasing the body temperature to move faster to escape predators or catch food (audubon, 2021)

Forrest

The Ozark mountain range is mostly covered by forests consisting of shortleaf pine, cedar, and hardwoods. Areas that historically would experience natural disturbances like fire would often be associated with tree species like shortleaf pine. Forest dwelling organisms are very common. Squirrels, bobcats, black bear, white tail deer, raccoons, opossums and many others can be found throughout this region.  All of these organisms are really good generalist species that can adapt to many different regions. Forests offer a great buffer and great habitat with plentiful resources for all organisms and the variety of them really help Arkansas gain its nickname of being the natural state

       My photo of white tail deer on the edge of forest within the Ozark mountains

My photo of a Bobcat coming out at night on the edge of forest within the Ozark mountains

My photo of raccoons coming out at night on the edge of forest within the Ozark mountains

Caves

The combination between the geological composition and heavy rains create an ecosystem/biome that is very unique, caves. Cave systems are scattered all throughout the Ozark mountain range. Cave organisms must adapt to situations where light is scarce or even nonexistent. One organism of course, the grotto sculpin is one of these fish that are found in these caves. It is speculated to have be a branch off of the banded sculpin, also found in the Ozarks, that is in the middle of the evolutionary changes and adaptations to living within these caves. The coloration is very minimal and almost lost as well as the eyes being small. (USFWS, 2020).

(USFWS, 2020).

Another cave adapted species is the Ozark Cavefish. This is a good example of seeing how a species actually adapts to the environment. All pigmentation is lost, there is a complete lack of eyes. This fish living in a habitat with minimal resources has adapted to not waste energy on the production of meaningless features that do not help with its survival. 

(Missouri Department of Conservation, 2021).

Disturbances

    Three types of disturbances that affect each of these biomes are fire, severe weather events, and flooding. Sometimes all three can happen at once or in succession. Glades are often located at the top of mountains because a lightning strike hits the same peak regularly igniting wildfires that keep the woody plants at bay. However that fire can affect the forest surrounding the glade as well. If the fire starting storm happens to have the right conditions to form a front that carries strong winds or even tornadic conditions, the vegetation that make up the ecosystems in the Ozarks may experience damage. Paths of destruction from tornadoes can leave the forest, plains, and prairies scared for years. Lastly with severe rain events like we have been discussing, flooding is not uncommon. Even though the Ozark mountain range is elevated, there are still regions and ecosystems such as the caves that can be severely altered by these flood events. 

The burning of Jerktail Mountain within the Ozarks in Missouri (National Park Service, 2015).

 The EF 5tornado that hit Joplin Missouri in the Springfield plains (Lombardo, 2011).

A flash flood that recently occurred in Mountain View Arkansas 2021

Part 3

    

Anthropogenic stressors

An anthropogenic stressor of glades is fire suppression. Good intentions of suppressing large wildfires to save forest habitats during the 20th century have severely impacted the glade climates (templeton, Brazeal, and Neuwald, 2011). As a result, the woody secondary and tertiary plants began to encroach upon the clear sunny habitat. Glade size and numbers have decreased because of the suppression.

Deforestation is one of the easiest and most common anthropogenic stressors to describe. The goal of deforestation is to completely remove all of the trees and habitat to produce land for anthropogenic use, or to simply use the resources that are stripped away. Animals lose habitat. Soil and vegetation are stripped and polluted. Sometimes the forest is never recovered, such as when forests are cleared to create grazing pasture land for cattle. 

Caves are fragile ecosystems. They are often thought of living objects because of the geological changes they are experiencing with the formations occurring over time. This is no different for the biological aspect. Often underground springs act as a source for water within them, however when large rain events occur, they will fill with water as it tries to find the lowest place. This leads to pollution being a large problem for caves. Trash, chemicals, and other alien substances can alter the balance of minerals and makeup of the environment. Endemic organisms such as the fishes mentioned in the previous part are very susceptible to change. Another stressor is pollution from trash pits and septic tanks. (Nialus, and Graening, 2000). Old farms and settlements may have a sinkhole that they have been dumping their garbage in for generations because it just “magically disappears. Septic systems use leech lines and sometimes the waste can contaminate the groundwater changing the biochemical composition of the water.

Climate change

As climate change occurs due to increased temperatures. Glades are already adapted to increased temperatures and sunny areas. As the temperatures increase, we may actually see an increase in glade habitat due to the fact that there may be a decline in forest habitat. 

Forrest warmer tree species will increase, or fires will increase making a forest that is more fire adapted. 

Forests would be impacted in a way that would not necessarily cause a loss in wooded areas, but a change in the tree species present. As the temperature increases, species that would prefer the warmer climate will begin to move as their habitat expands, and vice versa for the trees that are less favored in the heat. (allen and Breshears, 1998). 

As the temperatures increase, we can expect more severe weather events. This can cause an increase in precipitation. In the Ozarks, we see that there is already a lot of precipitation. If there is an increase of precipitation, we can expect that the groundwater level may rise. This could fill the underground caves and change the natural caves into underwater caves. The organisms that cannot survive completely underwater will lose their habitat. As there is increased precipitation, there will be increased runoff. This could also lead to increased pollutants entering the caves and increased sedimentation backfilling the hollow spaces. 

Conservation techniques

As we mentioned in the anthropogenic stressors section, glades were negatively affected by fire suppression. One technique that can help conserve the glades would be prescribed burns. The methods would be similar to the methods for prescribed burns or UCA’s prairie. A collection of the natural grass seeds that occurred in the area would occur. From there a controlled burn would take back the vegetation and allow for new growth to occur. The seeds that were collected, would be spread onto the newly opened space to ensure the presence of previous species are not lost in the new cycle. 

Forests can also benefit from prescribed burns. Prescribed burns in a forest habitat does not have to burn the entire forest to the ground. A controlled burn is aimed at removing the undergrowth and favoring fire selected species such as shortleaf pines. However even in old growth hardwood forests it can keep the vines and other thick brush from choking out the larger hardwood species from below. Prescribed burns also can help maintain the fuel levels that naturally occur during the life cycles of habitats. This is good for lowering the intensity of fires and the potential for crown fires to occur. Crown fires devastate forests and are the most scarring for the environment. 

Because caves are underground and often unknown or unexplored, they may be hard to monitor. Environmental protection and conservation agencies must manage them and put protection orders out to conserve them. An example would be banning or limiting human contact with the underground systems to preserve the habitat for the endangered/endemic species that live there. Another great technique to help protect these habitat would be educating land owners. Teaching them that throwing a refrigerator into grandpa’s old trash pit does not make it disappear, but that it actually ends up in an underground stream along with all their other trash including potential toxic chemicals. Explaining to them that their well, that they get their drinking water from, is a part of the same source where they dump all their trash may help them think twice even if they do not care about the environment or a little fish that lives underground.