By: Alexandra, Kaitlyn, Melanie and Megan.

“A grassland is a region where the average annual precipitation is great enough to support grasses, and in some areas a few trees.”

General Information There are tall grass grasslands, which are very wet and humid, and short grass, which are dry with hotter summers and colder winters than the tall grass grasslands. Grasslands occur mostly in our prairie provinces (obviously) like Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, though there are some in southern Ontario, and more interior parts of British Columbia.

The grassland biome is located by the Canada- United States border and arcs through Alberta, through Saskatchewan and into southern Manitoba, although there are some in the southern parts of Ontario and more interior parts of British Colombia.

Abiotic Factors (for a temperate, prairie –long grass- grassland) Precipitation : 50.8 – 88.9cm or inches per year. Temperature : Range is large, from 38 degrees Celsius in summer to -40 degrees Celsius in winter. Climate : Usually hot and dry in summer and cold in winter. Generally humid.

Abiotic Factors (for a temperate, steppes -short grass –grassland) Precipitation : 25.4 – 50.8 cm or 10– 20 inches per year. Temperature : Also a large range, 35C+ to -30+ Climate : Less prone to moisture and therefore there is smaller vegetation and more fires. Most precipitation falls as snow. Cold winters and Hot summers.

Mixed Grass (a temperate grassland that occurs between the long and short grass) Rainfall : 38 – 63 cm or inches per year Climate and Temperature is the same range as long and short grass. Just in between. Not an official ‘type’ of grassland.

Abiotic Factors (for a general, temperate grassland area) Precipitation : cm a year. A point of grasslands is that they do not have enough rain to support forest growth. The precipitation is so erratic that drought and fire prevent large forests from growing.” More precipitation falls in the summer than in the winter. Temperature : Dependent on latitude. Usually between -20C to 30C

Weather : Lightning storms in summer play a big role in plant life. Grasslands easily catch on fire, and spread quickly. It helps return nutrients to the soil and the heat from the fire helps seeds grow. Small vegetation are able to survive fires because they just grow back from their base underground. “Grass seemingly killed off by drought and fire has deep roots full of nutrients and springs up as soon as the rains start.” Small trees will die though.

Soil quality:.... Soil is deep and dark, with fertile upper layers..... Contains moisture.... The soil is full of nutrients from the dying off of plants that then give nutrients to the soil..... The dead roots also hold the soil together and provide a food source for living plants.....Grasslands have the most fertile soil of any biome..... The growing season for the grasslands is 90 to 120 days or 3 months to 4 months.

Biotic Factors The main types of plants that can be found in the Grassland biome are: Grasses : the grassland biome has thousands of different types of grasses. Including, big bluestem grass, buffalo grass, Indian grass and blue grama grass,

Fleabane: Blooms from April through June. It looks like a daisy and has either white or pinkish petals. The centres are yellow. They can grow in clusters and can grow to be 4-30 inches high.

Besides grasses and trees there are also flowering perennials. The flowers arrive when the season's rainy weather kicks in. Some examples of the flowers that grow in the grasslands are milkweeds, goldenrods, asters, the blazing star, sweet coneflower, and purple coneflower. These plants survive cold winters and fires through underground storage organs and thick stem bases. Blazing star

Poison Ivy: is found at the edge of the prairies. There are a few trees except along streams and where there are cracks in the soil. Shrubs are not common in the grassland biomes. Poison Ivy

The major life forms that are found in grasslands are : Black tail prairie dogs: They eat vegetation, mainly grasses and roots, though occasionally they will feed on insects. They are preyed upon by rattle snakes, short horned lizards, black widow spiders, eagles, badgers, foxes, hawks and coyotes. Mule deer : feed on a variety of vegetation including green plants, nuts and corn, and trees and twigs. it falls prey to a number of animals including the cougar, domestic dog, wolf, coyote, lynx, bobcat and bear. Black Tail prairie dogs

White-tailed deer: Their diet consists leaves, twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and even lichens and other fungi. They are preyed upon by are bobcats, mountain lions, and coyotes. Badgers : its usual foods are earthworms, insects, slugs, and frogs, a wide variety of roots, plants, and fruits, and small mammals such as rabbits, moles, and rats-- especially their young. Any predator larger than the badger has the capability to eat it, but badgers are very fierce and ferocious with wickedly sharp claws, so they don't get eaten very often. Badger

Coyote: Coyotes will eat almost anything such as rabbits, rodents, insects, fruit, grass and fish. Coyotes are preyed upon by wolves, cougars and bears. Burrowing owl: Burrowing owls love to eat grasshoppers. They also eat beetles, mice, voles, ground squirrels, toads, small birds, and carrion. They are preyed upon by badgers, skunks, foxes, weasels, racoons, snakes, owls, hawks, coyotes, and falcons Coyote

Some other animals found in the grasslands are: Richardson’s Ground Squirrel Skunks Bobcats Wolves Gophers Wolf

Hares Elk Bison Golden eagle Voles Canadian geese Red Foxes Red Fox

Small size: animals such as the black tail prairie dog are small and can easily hide in the tall grass. Strong front legs and sharp claws : allow animals to burrow into the ground. Animals travel in large packs: allows them to remain better protected then if they traveled alone in the grasslands.

Grasslands have no cover from predators and have plenty of grass so most of the animals are herbivores. Some animals like horses and deer have long legs so that they can outrun predators.

Plant life in the grassland biome also has many adaptations: They have underground storage structures and have their points slightly below ground surface for when fires start. Some trees have thick bark to resist fires

Soft stems allow the grass to bend in the wind. The shrubs in the grasslands resprout quickly after fires.

One third of Canada’s endangered species are found in the grasslands An interesting fact about the animals that live in the grasslands have adaptations that enable them to survive in the grasslands.

Grasslands are VERY dry 14% of Alberta are Grasslands Grasslands can have grass that grows up to 2 to 3 feet high It was originally just short grass prairies, now we have short and tall grasslands

SUN ---- GRASS ---- VOLE ---- COYOTE SUN---GRASS--- GRASSHOPPER---PRAIRIE DOG--BADGER SUN---WILD OATS--- BUFFALO--- WOLVES

references ndsecosystems.htm slands/grasslands.htm es/grasslands.php assland3.html components.htm

#ecozones 5/biome/grassland.html #ecozones 5/biome/grassland.html mes.htm mes.htm

d-images.htm and.htm

video iM iM DRtWeY7Y DRtWeY7Y

THE END