Dry Prairie/Improved Pasture

Prior to European settlement, dry prairie covered large portions of Dinner Island, with scattered cypress domes and strands, pinelands, isolated freshwater wetlands and hammocks. Dry prairie is a flat, usually treeless expanse of native grasses and shrubs, including saw palmetto, fetterbush, staggerbush, gallberry, wiregrass and various types of bluestem grasses. Throughout history, lightning ignited fires were intense and frequent and likely the reason that natural prairies have few trees. Despite its name, summer rains can saturate this “dry” habitat. Before some wetlands were filled or drained at Dinner Island, rain accumulations slowly flowed across the land. Much of the dry prairie at Dinner Island was converted to pasture for cattle. Forage grasses such as bahia grass replaced native grasses and fire was no longer allowed to sweep across the terrain.

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