Male tarantula (Aphonopelma hentzi)
Dolomite glades are communities of plants and animals that are quite characteristic of the Ozarks, and are well represented at Shaw Nature Reserve. These are grassy, flowery openings occurring within upland woods, on outcrops of dolomitic rocks on south- and west-facing slopes. The combination of shallow soil and direction of slope produces a hot, often extremely dry environment with thin, rocky soil which inhibits tree growth. However, after nearly a century of fire suppression, eastern red cedar did make significant inroads into Shaw Nature Reserve glades. These invasive cedars were removed in the late 1990s, allowing sunlight to trigger the natural glade vegetation. Glades are dominated by herbaceous flora, including breathtakingly beautiful wildflowers. They have been compared to deserts, but are actually ecologically similar to drier versions of the tallgrass prairie, with many species or closely related species pairs in common. Birdsfoot violet, scarlet paintbrush, Missouri evening primrose, the rare Fremont's leather flower, and glade coneflower bloom in waves of color from April to early July. The plains scorpion and tarantula spider are both found in the warm, dry conditions of the glades.