Browse Map

Explore away

Explore Map Collection

Check out our basemaps

Print a Map Plus

Generate a high-quality PDF

Field Guide

Discover local flora, fauna, geology, and more

Local Flora & Fauna

Learn the ecology of your area

Local Geology

Learn the geologic formation at your feet

Get Started or Sign In

Welcome

Continue with Apple

Already have an account? Sign In

Measure

Topo

Ecoregions

Public Lands

...

BASEMAPS

Default Weather

Temperature

Smoke

...

WEATHER

Red Prairie

Ecoregion on Great Plains in TX, OK

Print Map

Generate High-Quality PDF

The Red Prairie is nearly level to rolling and underlain by Permian sandstone, shale, gypsum, and siltstone. It is physiographically distinct from the flatter Red River Tablelands (27m) and the more irregular Broken Red Plains (27i). Ecoregion 27h has greater rainfall variability, warmer summer temperatures, less precipitation, and more evaporation than the topographically similar Prairie Tableland (27d). Upland native vegetation is mostly mesquite – buffalograss, but shinnery is native on sandy areas; natural vegetation is distinct from Ecoregions 27d, 27l, 27o, 27q, and 29. Gypsum ledges and escarpments occur and have distinctive flora. Today, cropland is extensive, but rangeland is found in less favorable areas. Wheat is the main crop, grain sorghum is found on sandier soils, and alfalfa is grown for use as winter feed. Overall, cropland is more common than in Ecoregion 27q, but irrigated cotton is not as extensive as in Ecoregion 27m. Highly mineralized springs are locally common. Streams originating in or flowing through the Flowerpot Shale have very high sodium chloride concentrations, whereas those from the gypsum karst of the Blaine Formation are high in calcium sulfate. The fauna and microflora of the two spring types are distinctly different. The Red River pupfish is adapted to live in the saline, warm, slowly moving water of southwestern Oklahoma; through accidental introduction, it is spreading northward through western Oklahoma.

— EPA

Plants

Lace Hedgehog Cactus Echinocereus reichenbachii (species), “Lace Cactus”, “Black Lace Cactus”, “Classen's Cactus”, “Bailey's Hedgehog Cactus”, “Chicken Pox”, “Fitch's Hedgehog”, “Merry Widow Cactus”, “Purple Candle Cactus”, “Reichenbach's Hedgehog Cactus”

Red Prairie

Classified As