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Red Prairie

Ecoregion on Great Plains in TX, OK

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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

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