Tallgrass prairie
Encyclopedia
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
native to central
Central United States
The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States and Western United States as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the Southern United States; the term is also sometimes used...
North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairie
Prairie
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...
s covered a large portion of the American Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, just east of the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
, and portions of the Canadian Prairies
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
. They flourished in areas with rich loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
soils and moderate rainfall of around 760 to 890 mm (29.9 to 35 in) per year. To the east were the fire-maintained
Fire ecology
Fire ecology is concerned with the processes linking the natural incidence of fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects of this fire. Many ecosystems, such as the North American prairie and chaparral ecosystems, and the South African savanna, have evolved with fire as a natural and necessary...
eastern savannas
Eastern savannas of the United States
The eastern savannas of the United States covered large portions of the east side of the continent until the early 20th century. These were in a fire ecology of open grassland and forests with low ground cover of herbs and grasses....
. In the northeast, where fire was infrequent and periodic windthrow
Windthrow
In forestry, windthrow refers to trees uprooted or broken by wind. Breakage of the tree bole instead of uprooting is sometimes called windsnap.- Causes :...
represented the main source of disturbance, beech-maple forest
Beech-maple forest
A beech-maple forest is a climax mesic closed canopy hardwood forest. It is primarily composed of American Beech and Sugar Maple trees which co-dominate the forest and which are the pinnacle of plant succession in their range...
s dominated. In contrast, shortgrass prairie
Shortgrass prairie
The shortgrass prairie ecosystem of the North American Great Plains is a prairie that includes lands from the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains east to Nebraska and Saskatchewan, including rangelands in Alberta, Wyoming, Montana, North, South Dakota, and Kansas, and extending to the south...
was typical in the western Great Plains, where rainfall is less frequent and soils are less fertile.
Ecosystem
As its name suggests, the most obvious features of the tallgrass prairie are tall grassGrass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
es, such as indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans
Sorghastrum nutans
Sorghastrum nutans, commonly known as Yellow Indiangrass, is a North American prairie grass found in the central and eastern United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains...
), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), which average between 1.5 and 2 m (4.9 and 6.6 ft) tall, with occasional stalks as high as 2.5 to 3 m (8.2 to 9.8 ft). Prairies also include a large percentage of forb
Forb
A forb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid . The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory.-Etymology:...
s, such as lead plant (Amorpha
Amorpha
Amorpha is a genus of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. All the species are native to North America, from southern Canada, most of the United States, and northern Mexico. They are commonly known as false indigo...
spp.), prairie rosinweed (Silphium terebinthinaceum), and coneflower
Coneflower
Coneflower is a common name of at least four genera of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae:*Dracopis*Echinacea*Rudbeckia*Ratibida...
s.
The tallgrass prairie biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
depends upon prairie fires, a form of wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
, for its survival and renewal. Tree seedlings and intrusive alien species without fire-tolerance are eliminated by periodic fires. Such fires may either be set by humans (for example, Native Americans used fires to drive bison and improve hunting, travel, and visibility) or started naturally by lightning. Researchers' attempts to re-establish small sections of tallgrass prairie in arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
fashion were unsuccessful until they began to use controlled burn
Controlled burn
Controlled or prescribed burning, also known as hazard reduction burning or Swailing is a technique sometimes used in forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. Fire is a natural part of both forest and grassland ecology and controlled fire can be a tool for...
s.
Technically, prairies have less than 5-11% tree cover. A grass-dominated plant community with 10-49% tree cover is a savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
.
Due to accumulation of loess and organic matter, parts of the North American tallgrass prairie had the deepest topsoil
Topsoil
Topsoil is the upper, outermost layer of soil, usually the top to . It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs.-Importance:...
recorded. After the steel plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
was invented by John Deere, this fertile soil became one of America's most important resources. Over 99% of the original tallgrass prairie is now farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
land.
Remnants
Flint Hills
The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, are a band of hills in eastern Kansas stretching into north-central Oklahoma, extending from Marshall County, Kansas and Washington County, Kansas in the north to Cowley County, Kansas and Osage County, Oklahoma in the south...
, which run north to south through east-central Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
; the eastern fringe of the Red River Valley (Tallgrass Aspen Parkland
Tallgrass Aspen Parkland
The Tallgrass Aspen Parkland is a Conservation area located in southeastern Manitoba/northwestern Minnesota. The area is characterized by a mosaic of habitat types, including tallgrass prairie, aspen woodland, sedge meadow wetlands, riparian woodland, and oak savannah...
) in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Minnesota; the Coteau des Prairies
Coteau des Prairies
The Coteau des Prairies is a plateau approximately 200 miles in length and 100 miles in width , rising from the prairie flatlands in eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa in the United States...
, which extends from South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
through Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and into Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
; and the far north portion of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. In Oklahoma, the tallgrass prairie has been maintained by ranchers, who saw the hat-high grass as prime grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
area for cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
.
The 158 km² (39,042.6 acre) Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, located in Osage County, Oklahoma near Foraker, Oklahoma, is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. It is protected as the largest tract of remaining tallgrass prairie in the world...
in Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
, and the somewhat smaller 44.1 km² (10,897.3 acre) Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City. The preserve protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem...
in Kansas, attempt to maintain this ecosystem in its natural form. They have reintroduced Plains Bison
Plains Bison
The Plains Bison or Common bison is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American Bison, the other being the Wood Bison . Furthermore, it has been suggested that the Plains Bison consists of a northern and a southern subspecies, bringing the total to three...
to the vast expanses of grass. Other U.S. preserves include Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a prairie reserve operated by the United States Forest Service. It is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion. It is located on the site of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant near Elwood, Illinois, and was established by federal law in 1996...
in Illinois, Broken Kettle Preserve
Loess Hills
The Loess Hills are a formation of wind-deposited loess soil in the westernmost part of Iowa and Missouri along the Missouri River.-Geology:The Loess Hills are generally located between 1 and east of the Missouri River channel...
and Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Konza Prairie
Konza Prairie
The Konza Prairie Biological Station is a 3,487-hectare preserve of native tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. It is located south of Manhattan, Kansas and its southern boundary parallels Interstate 70...
in Kansas, and Prairie State Park
Prairie State Park
Prairie State Park is a state park in the US state of Missouri consisting of located in Barton County. It is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion....
in Missouri. In eastern North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
is Sheyenne National Grassland, the only National Grassland
United States National Grassland
National Grasslands are authorized by Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. For administrative purposes, they are essentially identical to U.S. National Forests, except that grasslands are areas primarily consisting of prairie. Like National Forests, National Grasslands may be open for...
on the tallgrass prairie. There are also several small tall grass prairie reservations in Cook County
Cook County
- Counties :*Cook County, Georgia, US*Cook County, Illinois*Cook County, Minnesota, US*Cook County, New South Wales, Australia*Cook County, New Zealand, one of the former counties of New Zealand on the North Island...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, including the National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
, Gensburg-Markham Prairie
Gensburg-Markham Prairie
The Gensburg-Markham Prairie, also known as Markham Prairie, is a high-quality tallgrass prairie located in Markham in the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
.
The original extent of Tallgrass Prairie in Canada was the 6000 km² (2,316.6 sq mi) plain in the Red River Valley
Red River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...
, southwest of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
(see map). While most of Manitoba's tallgrass prairie has been destroyed through agricultural development, relatively small areas persist. One of the largest blocks of remaining tallgrass prairie in Manitoba is protected by several conservation partners in a conservation area called the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland
Tallgrass Aspen Parkland
The Tallgrass Aspen Parkland is a Conservation area located in southeastern Manitoba/northwestern Minnesota. The area is characterized by a mosaic of habitat types, including tallgrass prairie, aspen woodland, sedge meadow wetlands, riparian woodland, and oak savannah...
. The Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve
Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve
The Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve is located in southeastern Manitoba near Gardenton and Vita, this is about south of Steinbach, Manitoba. It is one of the last remaining stands of tallgrass prairie in Manitoba and is part of the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland conservation area in Manitoba and...
, which occupies small portions of the rural municipalities of Stuartburn
Stuartburn, Manitoba (rural municipality)
Stuartburn is a rural municipality located in the Eastman Region of Manitoba, Canada. It had a population of 1,629 according to the Canada 2006 Census. It is home to the Ukrainian-Canadian village of Stuartburn...
and Franklin, Manitoba
Franklin, Manitoba
Franklin is a rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada. It is located in the southeastern part of the province, along the border with the state of Minnesota in the United States. The 2006 Census reported a population of 1,768 persons, a slight decrease from the 1,781...
, forms a part of the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland. This preserve contains about 4000 ha (9,884.2 acre) of tallgrass prairie, aspen parkland
Aspen parkland
Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections; the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area stretching from central Alberta, all across central Saskatchewan to...
and wetlands.
There is a small pocket (less than 5 km² (1,235.5 acre)) of tallgrass prairie in the southwest corner of Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, protected by Ojibway Park, and Spring Garden ANSI (Area of Natural Scientific Interest), along with the inter-connected parks: Black Oak Heritage Park, Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve, and the Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Park. Aside from the Provincial Nature Reserve, all are operated by the City of Windsor's Parks and Recreation.
Restoration
The Midewin National Tallgrass PrairieMidewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a prairie reserve operated by the United States Forest Service. It is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion. It is located on the site of the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant near Elwood, Illinois, and was established by federal law in 1996...
, founded in 1996 near Elwood, Illinois
Elwood, Illinois
Elwood is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,300 at the 2006 population estimation.-Geography:Elwood is located at . The nearest major highways are Interstate 80 to the north and Interstate 55 to the west. The former Route 66 highway passes through the...
, was as of 2006 the largest tallgrass prairie restoration area in the United States.
In Minnesota, Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge was created on October 12, 2004, the 545th National Wildlife Refuge in the United States. Its creation was the result of cooperation between at least 30 agencies or governmental entities. The creation of the refuge was spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy,...
was established in 2004. The core of the refuge is a preserved 5000 acres (20 km²) tallgrass prairie remnant, and an additional 30000 acres (121 km²) are either in the process of restoration or will be soon. According to The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
, so far 100 wetlands have been restored and 8000 acres (32 km²) of land have been seeded with native plant species.
External links
- Tallgrass Prairie Preserve on TravelOK.com Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma
- Tallgrass Ontario