Prairies are habitats that ecologists classify as components of the temperate savannas, grasslands, and shrublands biome because they have common temperate environments, moderate rainfall, and a prevalent vegetation type of grasses, shrubs rather than trees. The Pampas of Argentina, as well as the steppes of Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan, are examples of temperate grassland regions.
The majority of “prairie” lands are found in North America. Life in the temperate grasslands refers to the region of Canada, the United States, and Mexico is known as the Interior Lowlands, which covers much of the Great Plains and also the wetter, hillier area to the east.
Where are Prairies Located or Where Prairies are Found in?
Much or most of the states of North Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Oklahoma, as well as large portions of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, and southern and western Minnesota, make up the territory in the United States and are the major places where prairies are found in. According to the prairies summary, it is known that Prairies are found in Washington’s Palouse and California’s Central Valley. So this paragraph gives us the explanation to the question ‘where are prairies located’.
In order to describe the climate of prairies, the Prairies are in the middle of the continent. As a result, the climate is continental, with hot and cold extremes. Summers are humid, with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius, and winters are bitterly cold, with temperatures around -20 degrees Celsius. This area is blanketed in snow throughout the winter.
Formation
The elevation of the Rocky Mountains around Alberta began the creation of the North American, the prairies temperate region. Downwind, the mountains formed a rain shadow, leading to reduced precipitation rates.
Most prairie soil’s parental content was dispersed throughout the last glacial advance, which started around 110,000 years ago.
The glaciers’ southward expansion scraped the earth, accumulating geologic material and levelling the ground. The material was accumulated in the manner of till as the glaciers melted around 10,000 years ago. Prairie soils rely heavily on wind-borne loess deposits mostly as the parent material.
With the disruptions of grazing and burning, tallgrass prairie developed over millions of years. Until the European invasion of the Americas, local ungulates including elk, bison, and white-tailed deer wandered the vast, varied grasslands. Native people have been using fire mostly as a tool for transportation, hunting, and defense for 10,000 to 20,000 years.
Humans, rather than lightning, are the most common causes of fire lighting in the tallgrass prairie. The prairie grassland creation as well as the development of the forbs species and diversity of graminoid were both aided by humans and grazing species.
The ash created by fire seems to have the ability to lessen trees, removing dying plant material, and modifying the supply of some soil nutrients. Since up to 75 percent (based on the variety) of the overall plant biomass is under the surface of the ground and can re-grow from its deep (over than 20 feet) roots, fire destroys the vascular tissue among trees and not prairie species.
Trees might expand on a cast shade and grassland, suppressing the understory if there is no disturbance. In the oak savanna biome, prairie and evenly dispersed oak trees have developed to cooperate.
Fertility
Despite long periods of drought and intermittent torrential rains, the Great Plains grasslands did not experience significant soil erosion. Native prairie grasses’ root systems closely bound the soil structure, avoiding soil run-off. The fungus and bacteria restored the nutrients from the soil when another plant expired.
Native prairie plants were capable of reaching water even in the driest of conditions due to their deep roots. The prairies summary tells us that Most farm crops are grown extensively and experience far less harm from drought than native grasses.
Climate of Prairies
To describe the climate of Prairies, let us take a look at the classification of these grasslands. In North America, the prairies temperate region are typically divided into three categories: rainy, mesic, and dry. Based on the soil condition and rainfall, these are classified as mixed prairie, tallgrass prairie, or shortgrass prairie. Describe the climate of prairies is given below:
Wet:
Due to low water drainage, the soil in wet prairies is normally very damp, even in the majority of the growing season. The stagnant water that results in encourages the growth of bogs and fens. The soil is wet and prairies are ideal for farming. The annual precipitation averages 10–30 inches (250–760 mm).
Mesic:
Mesic prairie has decent drainage throughout the planting season, but poor soil. This form of the prairie is among the most commonly transformed for agricultural purposes, making it one of the most endangered prairie varieties.
Dry:
Due to the proper drainage in the soil, the soil in the dry prairie is slightly wet and drier mostly during the growing season. This prairie is frequently located on uplands or slopes. Owing to a lack of moisture, dry soil seldom receives any vegetation. That’s the dominant biome termed Palliser’s Triangle, a southern Canadian agricultural and climatic area.
The Triangle, previously considered to be entirely uninhabitable, has become one of Canada’s most significant agricultural areas, due to advancements in irrigation technology. Palliser’s Triangle is becoming one of the world’s most valuable suppliers of wheat as a product of such advanced techniques of watering wheat fields, in response to increased local significance to Canada.
Environmental History
Bison Hunting:
For most of the fossil record, nomadic hunting seems to be the primary human occupation on the prairies. Indeed many now-extinct megafauna animals were once part of this. The plains bison were the most killed species on the prairies since the other extinctions. Native peoples would force bison towards fenced pens named buffalo pounds to ever be attacked using crossbows or spears, or push them off a cliff (named as buffalo jump) to kill or harm the bison en masse, utilizing loud sounds and big signals.
Farming and Ranching:
The dense soil caused problems for the early European settlers, who have been using wooden ploughs that were better suited to lose forest soil. The ploughs rolled about on the prairie, as well as the dirt stuck to them. This issue was fixed in 1837 by John Deere, an Illinois blacksmith who invented a steel moldboard plough which was better and removed the roots, allowing the rich soils to be harvested.
Biofuels:
“Biofuels designed for high mixtures from the prairies plants will mitigate climate change by eliminating atmospheric carbon,” according to David Tilman, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota. These could provide a significant share of the global energy requirements while leaving fertile land for agricultural production, even when produced on poor soil.