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Social and Behavioral Sciences

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Loess Hills

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Artists' Depictions Of Catsteps In The Loess Hills Of Iowa: Evidence For Mid-Nineteenth Century Climate Change, Kimberly R. Dillon, Steven H. Emerman, Pamela K. Wilcox Jan 2006

Artists' Depictions Of Catsteps In The Loess Hills Of Iowa: Evidence For Mid-Nineteenth Century Climate Change, Kimberly R. Dillon, Steven H. Emerman, Pamela K. Wilcox

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Catsteps are the staircase-like features common on hillslopes of the Loess Hills of western Iowa. The record of artistic depictions of the Loess Hills was examined to determine when catsteps appeared. George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, and John James Audubon traveled up the Missouri River m 1832, 1833 and 1843, respectively, and between them, produced 31 works of art depicting either the Loess Hills or the loess bluffs on the Nebraska side of the river. Only three works by Bodmer of Blackbird Hill on the Nebraska side possibly show catsteps. The Assistant State Geologist, Orestes St. John, produced six sketches of …


Distribution And Abundance Of Prairie Plant Species In The Loess Hills, Thomas R. Rosburg Jan 1997

Distribution And Abundance Of Prairie Plant Species In The Loess Hills, Thomas R. Rosburg

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

The species composition of grassland and ecotonal communities throughout the Loess Hills was studies between 1990 and 1993. Information pertaining to the latitudinal distribution of species in the Loess Hills, the abundance of species among community types (i.e., habitats), species persistence under woody encroachment, species associations, and resource partitioning among species is provided for the majority of grassland species occurring in the Loess Hills. The most abundant species on extant prairie in the Loess Hills include Bouteloua curtipendula (side-oats grama), Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem), Cornus drummondii (rough-leaved dogwood), Aster ericoides (heath aster), Carex heliophila (sun-loving sedge), …