I’ve just always puzzled over if Centex can grow nearly 100% forest of cedar, oak and elm over NO dirt - just limestone - and hardly any water why the Plains can’t figure out a way.
I believe a lot of it was the Indians modifying the environment to suit their purposes. They routinely used fire to keep the prairies open and to hunt with. If the seedlings get burned up, areas where trees grow slower never get trees. I notice that most of the plains have trees along the creeks and rivers.