There are Hundreds of Native Plant Communities Recognized in Minnesota

In their natural state native plants always grow in association with other native plants to create plant communities that are essentially associations of indigenous species that have evolved over thousands of years and adapted to the specific geography, hydrology and climate of a particular area. The resulting “communities” are really groups of plants that exist together because of the given conditions.

There are hundreds of native plant communities - forests, prairies, wetlands and savannas are just the four basic Midwestern types; they can be further divided into many unique and specific sub-types.

Individual species may be found in just one specialized community, several communities or even many communities. Some species are incredibly adaptable while others are extremely specialized.

Restoration projects are always modeled after some native plant community. Good efforts pay close attention to matching the desired result to existing site conditions. After all, it is hard to create a wetland on top of a sand dune. Prairie restoration is particularly successful because much of today’s landscape is disturbed and relatively treeless, making it a good match for the sun loving, adaptable plants of the North American grassland. Wetland restoration has also been widely and successfully implemented and serious efforts to restore savannas, woodlands and other less common plant communities are underway throughout the Midwest.