Flowering big bluestem, a characteristic tallgrass prairie plant
The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroachment of trees, recycling soil nutrients, and facilitating seed dispersal and germination. Prior to widespread use of the steel plow, which enabled large scale conversion to agricultural land use, tallgrass prairies extended throughout the American Midwest and smaller portions of southern central Canada, from the transitional ecotones out of eastern North American forests, west to a climatic threshold based on precipitation and soils, to the southern reaches of the Flint Hills in Oklahoma, to a transition into forest in Manitoba.
They were characteristically found in parts of the upper Mississippi River Valley, in the central forest-grasslands transition, the central tall grasslands, the upper Midwest forest-savanna transition, and the northern tall grasslands ecoregions. They flourished in areas with rich loess soils and moderate rainfall around 30-35 inches (700–900 mm) per year. To the east were the fire-maintained eastern savannas. In the northeast, where fire was infrequent and periodic windthrow represented the main source of disturbance, beech-maple forests dominated. In contrast, shortgrass prairie was typical in the western Great Plains, where rainfall is less frequent, and soils are less fertile. Due to expansive agricultural land use, very little tallgrass prairie remains.
The tallgrassprairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals...
Williams TallgrassPrairie Preserve, in Osage County, Oklahoma near Foraker, Oklahoma, is the largest protected tract of tallgrassprairie in the world...
TallgrassPrairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City. The preserve...
into the easternmost tallgrassprairie, the westernmost shortgrass prairie, and the central mixed-grass prairie. Tallgrassprairies receive over 30 inches...
The Midewin National TallgrassPrairie (MNTP) is a tallgrassprairie reserve and similarly preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the...
The Northern TallgrassPrairie is one of 844 terrestrial ecoregions defined by One Earth. This ecoregion largely follows the Red River Valley in the Canadian...
The Konza Prairie Biological Station is a 8,616-acre (3,487 ha) protected area of native tallgrassprairie in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. "Konza"...
The Osage. The name refers to the broad rolling hills and rolling tallgrassprairie and Cross Timbers encompassing Osage County and surrounding areas...
savannas, and shrublands Great American Desert "A Complex Prairie Ecosystem - TallgrassPrairie National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)". Hill, R...
west side of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It comprises Ojibway Park, TallgrassPrairie Heritage Park, Black Oak Heritage Park, and the Spring Garden Natural...
A mixed-grass prairie is an ecotone located between the tallgrassprairies and shortgrass prairies. The mixed-grass prairie is richer in botanical diversity...
of downtown Lincoln) is a 230-acre (0.93 km2) tract of conserved tallgrassprairie in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. Except for one small...
The Hayden Prairie State Preserve is a 240-acre (97 ha) tallgrassprairie located in Howard County, Iowa. It is a National Natural Landmark managed by...
main grassland types occur in the Canadian prairies: tallgrassprairie, mixed grass prairie, and fescue prairie (or using the WWF terminology, northern tall...
as a distinct region because it has the densest coverage of intact tallgrassprairie in North America. Due to its rocky soil, the early settlers were unable...
American prairie grass found in the Central United States, the Eastern United States, and Canada, especially in the Great Plains and tallgrassprairies. Indiangrass...
the Homestead Act on immigration, agriculture, native tribes, the tallgrassprairie ecosystem, and federal land policy. The roof line of the center resembles...
The Nachusa Grasslands is a 3,800 acres (1,500 ha) restored tallgrassprairie near Franklin Grove in Lee County and Ogle County, Illinois. It is managed...
The tallgrassprairie ecosystem covered some 170 million acres (690,000 km2) of North America. Besides agriculture, much of the shortgrass prairie became...
tallgrass in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Tallgrass most frequently refers to the native North American grasslands Tallgrassprairie. Tallgrass may...
Edward Smith, who championed its creation. It seeks to restore the tallgrassprairie and oak savanna ecosystems that once covered most of Iowa. It has...
dominated by prairie grasses, the loss of the tallgrass extensive fibrous root system left the soil exposed and unbound. Ecologically, prairie restoration...
by Professor Edith Roberts in 1921. The first tallgrassprairie restoration was the 1936 Curtis Prairie at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum...
of the American bison in the late 1800s and the reduction of the tallgrassprairie to less than 1% of its former extent. The plains are now largely agricultural...
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