The ecology of the Great Plains is diverse, largely owing to their great size. Differences in rainfall, elevation, and latitude create a variety of habitats including short grass, mixed grass, and tall-grass prairies, and riparian ecosystems.[1]
The Great Plains extend from Mexico in the south through the central United States to central Canada. Many sub-regions exist within the area.
The region is home to many animals, including American bison, pronghorn, mule, and white tailed deer, and birds such as ducks, hawks, and sparrows, along with many invertebrate species.
Settlement of "America's breadbasket" led to ecological destruction. Widespread agriculture led to the near-complete extermination of the American bison in the late 1800s and the reduction of the tallgrass prairie to less than 1% of its former extent.[2] The plains are now largely agricultural, with large ranches and farms. However, restoration efforts in some areas, like American Prairie in Montana, are leading to the gradual expansion of the threatened ecosystem.
^Hultman, G. Eric. (1978). Trees, shrubs, and flowers of the Midwest. Chicago: Contemporary Books. ISBN 0809276933.
^"Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve". National Park Service.
and 19 Related for: Great Plains ecoregion information
little ecological effect on the GreatPlainsecoregion. The Indiana bat is an important predator within the GreatPlains. The Indiana bat perpetuates biodiversity...
and Boreal Plains ecozones in Northern Canada. GreatPlains or Western Plains is also used to describe the ecoregion of the GreatPlains, or alternatively...
that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife Fund, and the Central Basin and Range ecoregion defined by the U.S. Environmental...
Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of Bangladesh and India. The ecoregion covers an...
river and creeks is prohibited. Great Salt Plains State Park Central GreatPlains (ecoregion) The GreatPlainsEcoregion "National Natural Landmarks - National...
area. The corresponding Level II ecoregion of the US Environmental Protection Agency is the GreatPlainsEcoregion. Following Alberta's border with British...
Victoria Plains tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia. The ecoregion lies...
grasslands are a prairie ecoregion of the Midwestern United States, part of the North American GreatPlains. This ecoregion covers a large area of southern...
The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia. In 1875,...
Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of northern India. It lies on the alluvial plain of...
the American GreatPlains. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines this ecoregion as the Northern Glaciated Plains. This is a transition...
ecoregion Eurasian Steppe. Beside the Great European Plain, there are other, smaller European plains such as the Pannonian Basin or Mid-Danube Plain,...
The term Cross Timbers, also known as Ecoregion 29, Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains, is used to describe a strip of land in the United States that runs...
lava plains, rolling hills, alluvial fans, valleys, and scattered mountain ranges in the northern part of the Great Basin. Although arid, the ecoregion is...
GreatPlains habitat for American bison Buffalo Hunters' War Conservation of American bison GreatPlainsEcoregion List of animals with humps Plains hide...
and the American GreatPlains states of Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska. One of 844 terrestrial ecoregions defined by One Earth...
provinces and five U.S. states, and within Palliser's Triangle and the GreatPlainsecoregion of Canada. Along the northern shore is the village of Chaplin, Chaplin...
are in the GreatPlains, Level I region. Level IV ecoregions (denoted by numbers and letters) are a further subdivision of Level III ecoregions (denoted...
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