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tallgrass prairie were ideally suited to row crop agriculture, nearly all prairies have been plowed,
<br />or otherwise lost to development. A few very small fragments of mesic prairie still remain in
<br />Roseville. Some of these are found in Reservoir Woods Park, and along the railroad right -of-
<br />way that parallels County Road C, extending to the south adjacent to Highway 280 and to the
<br />north near Lake Owasso.
<br />Wet Prairies - An open community where the water table is frequently near the surface, wet
<br />prairies are characterized by a mix of forbs grasses and sedges 36 inches or more in height.
<br />Although infrequent, shrubs found in wet prairie include prairie willow, pussy willow and
<br />meadowsweet. Forbs include prairie and meadow blazingstar, pale- spiked lobelia, Culver's root,
<br />bedstraws, sawtooth sunflower, asters, and tall meadow rue. Common grasses include big
<br />bluestem, prairie cordgrass, blue joint, and sedges. Common bird species include song sparrow,
<br />red -wing blackbird, and American goldfinch. Animals frequent to wet prairies include shrews,
<br />voles, mice, and a variety of frogs, toads and salamanders. Nonnative pasture grasses such as
<br />bluegrass, redtop, and reed - canary grass have often been introduced, or invaded wet prairie and
<br />can become dominant in disturbed areas. In the absence of fires, shrubs may dominate some
<br />areas, and changes in hydrology or water quality with urban development or adjacent agriculture
<br />degrade wet prairies and encourage domination by exotic and aggressive plant species. Today,
<br />almost all wet prairies have been lost in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
<br />FOREST COMMUNITIES
<br />Dry Oak Forest - A deciduous forest dominated by pin, bur, and less frequently white oak
<br />mainly under 50 feet. There are few subcanopy trees, a dense shrub layer, and patchy ground
<br />layer of moderate diversity. Typical canopy trees include pin oak, bur oak, and white oak, with
<br />black cherry, trembling aspen and paper birch as second - growth trees. The shrub layer typically
<br />includes hazelnut, gray dogwood, gooseberry, and raspberries.
<br />The ground layer includes wild sarsparilla, pointed - leaved tick trefoil, bracken fern, wild
<br />geranium, Pennsylvania sedge, and pale bellwort. Typical animal species include woodpeckers,
<br />chickadees, vireos, chipmunk, squirrels, and white -tail deer. Past logging and /or fire may be
<br />indicated by absence of larger, single -stem trees and woody debris. Grazing and fragmentation
<br />by roads and trails often reduce diversity of shrub and ground species in these forest
<br />City of Roseville 15
<br />Parks Natural Resource Management
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