Historically, fire, drought, and plains bison were dominant ecological forces and had great influences on the vegetation from local to landscape scales. The Osage Plains and Flint Hills were dominated historically by tallgrass prairie with scattered groves of blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica) in the uplands and along drainages. A variety of wetland types, including wet prairie, marshes, and northern floodplain forests occurred along larger rivers.