In simple form, historic Midwest habitats consisted of prairie, savanna and woodland (Figure 2 above). Most of these communities were expressed in wet, mesic and dry conditions. The numerous plants and animals that once thrived across the hundreds of thousands of square miles of these habitats throughout the Midwest were ordered according to the amount of precipitation that falls on the land, the lay of the land including soil type, fire, and the force of gravity. Today, these environmental relationships inform us about ecological patterns that can be replicated for the restoration or creation of a healthy habitat in the Midwest, or beyond.