Information about Prairie

Prairie refers to an area of land of low topographic relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with few trees, and having generally a mesic (moderate or temperate) climate.

In North America

Lands typically referred to as "prairie" tend to be in North America. The term encompasses much of the area referred to as the Great Plains of the United States and Canada. In the U.S., the area is constituted by most or all of the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, and sizeable parts of the states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Canadian Prairies occupy vast areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. French explorers called these areas prairie, from the French word for "meadow". Geobotanically, the North American prairies constitute a floristic province of the North American Atlantic Region. Sometimes, in the United States and Canada, a distinction is made between the shortgrass vegetation of the High Plains west of the 100th meridian and the midgrass and tallgrass vegetation to the east (from central Texas to southern Manitoba). When this distinction is made, it is common to limit the word "prairie" to the midgrass and tallgrass area. Almost all of this area has been converted into farmland in the last two hundred years (the shortgrass area can be considered to be a steppe).

The term may also apply to the Coastal prairie in California and Oregon.

Ecosystem

Drought

In spite of long recurrent droughts and occasional torrential rains, the grasslands of the Great Plains are not subject to great soil erosion. The deep, interconnected root systems of prairie grasses firmly hold the soil in place and prevent run-off. These deep roots also help prairie plants to reach water in even the driest conditions. The prairie evolved to survive in extreme conditions and suffers less damage from dry conditions than the farm crops which have replaced many former prairies.

Fire

Fire is an important part of prairie ecology; natural and human-induced fires were common in historic prairie areas, rejuvenating the herbaceous species, and top killing trees and brush. Grazing by animals such as the American Bison and Prairie dogs also helped maintain the original prairie ecology. Small areas of prairies also exist in eastern North America, and it is possible that these were created by Native Americans by periodic burning. One such area was along the southeastern shore of Lake Erie in what is now Pennsylvania and New York; another was between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake in present New York.

Preserved prairies

Significant preserved areas of prairie include:

• Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan
• Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta and Saskatchewan
• Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, in Will County, Illinois
• Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Iowa
• Konza Prairie, Manhattan, Kansas
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas
• Tallgrass Prairie Preserve 32,000 acres (130 km²), Oklahoma
• Nine-Mile Prairie, Nebraska
• Zumwalt Prairie, Wallowa County, Oregon
• Richard Bong State Recreation Area, in Kenosha County, Wisconsin
• Hoosier Prairie, Lake County, Indiana
• Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, Pennsylvania
• Clymer Meadow Preserve, Hunt County, Texas

Virgin prairies

Virgin prairie refers to prairie land that has never been plowed. Small virgin prairies exist in the American Midwestern states and in Canada. Restored prairie has been reseeded after plowing or other disturbance.

In the world

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Other temperate grasslands regions include the Pampas of Argentina, and the steppes of Russia and Ukraine and Western Germany.

See also

• Buffalo Commons
• Coastal plain
• Coastal prairie
• Field
• Flooded grasslands and savannas
• Flood-meadow
• Grassland
• Meadow
• Pasture
• Plain
• Prairie madness
• Prairie restoration
• Rangeland
• Savanna
• Shortgrass prairie
• Steppe
• Tallgrass prairie
• Water-meadow
• Wet meadow
• Veld

External links

• Prairie Plains Resource Institute
• The Native Prairies Association of Texas
• Terraformers Canadian Prairie Conservation Foundation