MICHIGAN BOTANICAL SOCIETY

SOUTHWESTERN CHAPTER PROGRAM

History and Future of Michigan Prairies

 Dr. Tyler Bassett

Conservation Associate - Botanist

Michigan Natural Features Inventory

  Monday January 19, 2026 @ 7:00 PM(Socializing begins at 6:30)

Western Michigan University, 2708 Wood Hall,

1903 West Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49009

I will discuss the history and future of Michigan prairies and other native grasslands. Grasslands are open natural communities where grasses and wildflowers dominate, and trees are either completely absent or sparse. Prairies are grasslands with no trees, while savannas have scattered oaks and pines. Historically, Indigenous peoples in Michigan and elsewhere set fires that played a key role in maintaining these natural communities by encouraging native plants and slowing the encroachment of trees and shrubs. Prescribed fire continues to be a critical management tool for conserving grasslands. 

In Michigan, tallgrass prairies were historically restricted to the southwest corner of the state, part of a region known as the “Prairie Peninsula”, an extension of the tallgrass prairies from the Great Plains, while other prairies had a wider distribution. While many tallgrass prairies today are restored on former farmland, they rarely support the full range of species that were once found in Michigan’s original prairies. Tallgrass prairies once existed alongside oak savannas, forming a patchwork across southern Michigan. These savannas occurred on rich loamy soils with bur and white oak in the canopy to droughty sandy soils with white and black oak in the canopy. The drier prairies associated with sand savannas were found across southern Michigan. Pine savannas were prevalent further north. Additional grasslands formed in wetter areas, where seasonal flooding and fire prevented trees from taking over. These include lakeplain prairies, mostly found on the flat lakeplains of southeast Michigan and Saginaw Bay.

I will discuss the full range of grasslands that historically occurred in Michigan, their conservation and management, and some of the rare species that rely on them.

Tyler Bassett is a Botanist and Plant Ecologist with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory. He has 25 years of experience studying the plants and plant communities of the Upper Midwest. His work, in part, aims to document and conserve these species, and to restore, expand, and reconnect the diminishing fragments of habitat that they require for persistence. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Western Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology, and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior from Michigan State University.

All indoor programs are at Western Michigan University, 2708 Wood Hall, 1903 West Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo MI 49009. Socializing begins at 6:30 pm and the programs begin at 7:00 pm. Non-members are always welcome to join us for programs and fieldtrips.