The Extreme Grasslands of North America By: Mrs. Smith-Michel Period 6 Biology/ACHS

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Description Referred to as: – Prairie in America –Steppe in Asia –Pampas in S. America Grassland biomes are large, rolling areas of grasses, flowers and herbs. –Very little rain –Droughts and Fires prevent forest from growing

Latitude/Location 25 to 50 Degrees Latitude Usually found in the interior uplands away from the ocean They form a triangular area from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba down through the Great Plains to southern Texas and Mexico They cover about 1.4 million square miles in North America

Elevation Usually 4,000 to 8,000 feet… Fire on the Prairie - one to five years these fires moved rapidly across the land and kill most saplings, and removed the dead grasses, allowing early flowering spring species to grow.

Precipitation Average rainfall per year ranges from about 12.6 inches in the short grass prairie to 21.7 inches in the tall grass prairies.

Temperature In the winter - temperatures can be as low as -40° F In the summer - temperatures can be as high 70° F Two Real Seasons: –a growing season: when there is no frost and plants can grow –dormant season: nothing can grow because its too cold.

Vegetation Producers - hundreds of species of plants. There are two different types of grasslands –tall-grass, which are humid and very wet – short-grass, which are dry, with hotter summers and colder winters than the tall- grass prairie.

Producers of the Prairies The most common types of plant life on the North American prairie are Buffalo Grass, Sunflower, Crazy Weed, Asters, Blazing Stars, Coneflowers, Big Blue Stem, Indian Grass, Goldenrods, Clover, and Wild Indigos.

Animals The prairies contained more than 80 species of animals and 300 species of birds Consumers –herbivores –carnivores –omnivores complex-language-in-the-animal-kingdom

Herbivores Consumers Dung Beetle Bison Deer Horses Buffalo Elk Rabbit

Carnivores Consumers Coyotes Eagles Bobcats Gray Wolf Hawks Ferrets rattlesnakes National-Park/ _uA7Hc/1/ _6rftU# _6rftU

Omnivores Consumers Fly Catcher Canadian Geese Crickets Wild Turkey Prairie Chicken Bear Rodents

Food Chain

Food Webs in The Prairie Producers Primary level consumers 2 nd Level 3 rd Level

Ecological Problem

Endangered Species

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