Prairies

Prairies Latest News

Recent efforts—including a newly launched database—aim to ensure that the prairies are restored much more comprehensively.

About Prairies

• Prairies are flat, temperate grasslands found in North America.
• Most North American prairies are in locations with a low amount of annual
• rainfall.
• Prairie vegetation is maintained by grazing, fire, drought, and low temperatures. 
• Although grasses dominate, lichens, mosses, forbs, and low- to mid-size shrubs also comprise prairie vegetation. 
• Taller shrubs and trees, mostly willows and poplars, including aspen and cottonwoods, are found in depressions and valleys where there is sufficient moisture and nutrients.
• Prairie, like other temperate grasslands, is among the most productive and diverse of earth’s terrestrial ecosystems.
• Grasses, the predominant cover in prairie vegetation, have the following adaptations:
• Deep or extensive roots.
• Growing points at or near the soil surface that are tucked in the crown of the plant.
• Narrow leaves.
• Small flowers in dense heads that are pollinated by wind.
• Tough stems and leaves hardened with silica phytoliths (plant stones).
• Strategies to optimize photosynthesis without losing moisture.
• Wildlife species living in prairies have adapted to a semi-arid, windy, open environment. 
• Species found here include elk, deer, coyote, bobcat, Badgers, jackrabbits, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, etc
• Similar temperate grasslands in South America are called Pampas, while in Africa they are described as velds  and in Asia are known as steppes.

Source: PHY

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