The Western short grasslands is a temperate grassland

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome whose predominant vegetation consists of grasses and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and semi-arid to semi-humid....

 ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Setting

This ecoregion largely corresponds with the geographical region known as the High Plains

High Plains (United States)

The High Plains are a subregion of the Great Plains mostly in the Western United States, but also partly in the Midwest states of Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota, generally encompassing the western part of the Great Plains before the region reaches the Rocky Mountains...

. It is located in southeastern Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, western Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 (the Nebraska Panhandle

Nebraska Panhandle

The Nebraska Panhandle is an area in the west of the state of Nebraska. A panhandle is an area extending from the rest of a political unit; the Nebraska panhandle is two-thirds as broad as the rest of the state. It is approximately 100 miles east to west and 125 miles north to south...

), eastern Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, western 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...

, western 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...

 (the Oklahoma Panhandle

Oklahoma Panhandle

The Oklahoma Panhandle is the extreme western region of the state of Oklahoma, comprising Cimarron County, Texas County, and Beaver County. Its name comes from the similarity of shape to the handle of a cooking pan....

), eastern New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, western Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 (the Texas Panhandle

Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

 and parts of West Texas

West Texas

West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....

) and a very small portion of southwestern 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...

. The Western short grasslands are characterised by a semi-arid climate, with low precipitation, warm temperatures and a long growing season relative to other Nearctic 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...

 ecoregions.

Flora

The two dominant grasses of this ecoregion are blue grama

Blue grama

Blue Grama, Bouteloua gracilis, is a long-lived, warm season, C4 perennial grass native to North America. It is most commonly found from Alberta east to Manitoba and south across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and Midwest states to Mexico...

 (Bouteloua gracilis) and buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides).

Fauna

Mammals of this ecoregion include 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...

 (Bison bison bison), mule deer

Mule Deer

The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...

 (Odocoileus hemonius) and coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

 (Canis latrans). Birds include the Lesser Prairie Chicken

Lesser Prairie Chicken

The Lesser Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, a species in the grouse family, is slightly smaller and paler than its near relative the Greater Prairie Chicken...

, greater prairie chicken

Greater Prairie Chicken

The Greater Prairie Chicken or Pinnated Grouse, Tympanuchus cupido, is a large bird in the grouse family. This North American species was once abundant, but has become extremely rare or extinct over much of its range due to habitat loss. There are current efforts to help this species gain the...

, dickcissel

Dickcissel

The Dickcissel is a small American seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is the only member of the genus Spiza, though some sources list another supposedly extinct species...

 and loggerhead shrike

Loggerhead Shrike

The Loggerhead Shrike is a passerine bird. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related Northern Shrike occurs north of its range but also in the Palearctic....

. This ecoregion is home to a very diverse assortment of butterflies, birds, and mammals, due in part to its proximity to the subtropics

Subtropics

The subtropics are the geographical and climatical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S...

.

Threats and preservation

Most of this ecoregion is occupied by farms and ranches, and cattle grazing has affected 75% of the Western short grasslands, particularly the southern portion. This overgrazing has led to an invasion of desert scrub plants from the southwest, such as mesquite

Mesquite

Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...

. Despite this, 40% of the ecoregion is considered to be intact. Protected areas include Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Not to be confused with Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge Once buffalo grazed the shortgrass prairie seen today at Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Randall County of the Texas Panhandle. Once a lake reflected the clouds. The buffalo vanished. The lake has dried...

, in the panhandle

Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

 region of Texas, Cimarron National Grassland

Cimarron National Grassland

Cimarron National Grassland is a National Grassland located in Morton County, Kansas, United States, with a very small part extending eastward into Stevens County. Cimarron National Grassland is located near Comanche National Grassland which is across the border in Colorado...

 in southwestern Kansas, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located adjacent to Commerce City, Colorado, approximately northeast of downtown Denver...

 in central Colorado and Pawnee National Grassland

Pawnee National Grassland

Pawnee National Grassland is a United States National Grassland located in northeastern Colorado on the Colorado Eastern Plains. The grassland is located in the South Platte River basin in remote northern and extreme northeastern Weld County between Greeley and Sterling...

in northeastern/north-central Colorado.