Weston Mickelsen & Nathanael Baker Great Plains Weston Mickelsen & Nathanael Baker

Geographic Region The Great plains take up parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.

Tall Grass Praries The dominant plants in the tall grass region are big bluestem and Indian grass. The tall grass prairies are super productive because of the fertile soil, which is why only about 5% of the tall grass region still remains, while the rest of the prairie is now cropland. The Konza Prairie in Kansas is one of the largest remnants of the tallgrass prairie. This region receives 20 to 30 inches of precipitation each year, usually only during the spring and summer. Without fires or droughts, the tall grasslands are quickly taken over by woody plants. Since grasses are well adapted to fire, prescribed fires are used as an important management tool for tallgrass prairies.

Mixed Grass Prairies Since there are different types of grasses in the mixed prairies, the land can appear patchy in areas. Most plants in these mixed grass prairies are adapted to grazing, because of the bison that frequented the area. Precipitation on these Plaines ranges from 14 to 20 inches per year from spring and summer rains. Because the soils in the mixed prairies aren’t as fertile, they are not plowed into farmland, which leaves wetlands for migratory waterfowl.

Short Grass prairies As you can probably guess, short grasses that are adapted to low precipitation are the dominant plant in this area, and the Native plants in the region are Blue Grama and Buffalograss. This region receives 12 to 20 inches of precipitation. This region is also heavily grazed by bison.

Post test What type of animals historically ran on the great plains? What two types of plants grow on the tall grass prairies? How are the woody plants managed? What three types of prairies are in the great plains? Why is there only 5% of the tall grass region left.

Works Cited https://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm tallgrass link https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/14614585141 mixed grass prairie link http://range.altervista.org/Grasslands/shortgrassprairie.html Shortgrass prairie link Rangelands [Pamphlet]. (2014). ID: Idaho rangeland resuirce commission