The barrens, like the tallgrass prairies to the west, were most likely maintained by fires intentionally set by Native Americans, by lightning fires and grazing or trampling by herds of herbivores such as bison, elk and deer. The grasslands were very important to the Native Americans for food grains, grazing, and for hunting. The usefulness of grasses is thought to have played an important role in man's evolution and domination of the world. Most civilizations developed in the grassland regions of all the continents. Grasses have provided man with a major food source, shelter and essential material for clothing and housing.
Grasses inhabit the earth in greater abundance than any other group of plants.
The domestication of native grasses began at least 10,000 years ago in three independent areas of the world - the Near East, South and Central America and North America. The grains of grasses from these regions, such as wheat, rice, corn, barley, rye, and oats, were found to provide a staple food supply for the human race and are major crop plants today. Rice, originating in Asia, feeds more people in the world than any other plant product. Wheat, barley, rye and oats originated in the Near East. Corn originated in Mexico and South America and spread into North America during prehistoric times.