TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS: TALL GRASS PRAIRIES

CLIMATE

• Temperate Grasslands
• Hot summers and cold winters
• 10in - 35in of precipitation a year
• Seasonal droughts and occasional wildfires help maintain the grasslands.

CLIMATE

• Tall-grass Prairie
• Summer gets as high as 80 degrees Fahrenheit
• Winter can get as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit
• 76% of rainfall is during growing season

SOIL

• Temperate Grasslands
• Soil is nutrient-rich and varies in types and depth

SOIL

• Tall-grass Prairie
• Clay soil and is usually damp
• Very fertile

LOCATION

• Temperate Grasslands
• North of the Tropic of Cancer
• South of the Tropic of Capricorn
• Africa, the Pampas of South America, the Steppes of Eurasia, and the Plains of North America

LOCATION

• Tall-grass Prairie
• It once covered 170 million acres of North America
• Only 4% remains in the Kansas Flint Hills

PLANTS

• Temperate Grasslands
• Mostly grass, some types of flowers and hardly any trees or shrubs

PLANTS

• Tall-grass Prairie
• Plants include big bluestem, indian grass, switch grass, lead plant, prairie rosinweed, and coneflowers which can grow up to eight feet.

ANIMALS

• Temperate Grasslands
• Low diversity
• High abundance

ANIMALS

• Tall-grass Prairie
• Grazing animals: bison, elk, deer, and antelope
• Predators: grizzly bears, and wolves
• Rodents: pocket gophers and mice
• Birds: owls, Hawks, sparrows, and woodpeckers

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SOLUTIONS

• We have already stopped plowing the land and preserve what is left
• We can try to control wildfires and population

Links
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/04/tallgrass-prairie/klinkenborg-tex...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallgrass_prairie
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/ecosystemconservation/tallgrass_prairie.html

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