1. What is a prairie?

2. Definition of a Prairie
Large communities covered with grasses and similar small plants
Occur in climates with a dry season
Contains few trees except for near water sources
Rich soils
Populated by grazing animals, and many species of insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals

3. Historical Range of Prairies
Short-grass
Mid-grass
Tall-grass
Historical range of prairies
Before European settlers, prairies covered much of the central US
Directly east of the Rocky mountains in the rain shadow where little precipitation occurs, are the short grasses
In the center where a bit more precipitation falls, is the mid grass prairie
And in the most eastern area are the tall grasses where precipitation is highest.
Unfortunately for the prairies, this area has some of the best soils in the world and is well suited for agriculture

4. Endangered Ecosystem
North American prairie is one of the most endangered ecosystems on earth--perhaps even more endangered than the South American rain forest
The area known as the Great Plains was once the greatest grassland on earth and covered over a quarter of the continental U.S.
The prairie stretched from the Rocky Mountains eastward for over 800 miles, and extended more than 3000 miles from north to south.
The Homestead Act was passed in 1860 and as a direct result, over 400 million acres of prairie were converted to farmland
In some areas, up to 99 percent of the prairie has been destroyed in just the last years

5. What makes a prairie?
Climate
Fire
Grazing

6. Climate Highly variable from year to year
Between 25 and 75 cm of precipitation annually
Three types of prairie created by differences in annual rainfall
Year
Avg. temperature (oC) 8 10 12 14
1960
1970
1980
1990
Avg. annual rainfall (mm)
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600

7. Fire
Without fire, tallgrass and midgrass prairie can become overgrown with woody vegetation
Prairies burn naturally due to lightening and were burned by Native Americans to attract bison (Bison bison)
Prairie fires destroy tree seedlings, but burn only the uppermost part of grass plants
Today, ranchers burn to encourage grass growth
Prairie sites can be managed with controlled burns

8. Post-Fire
The roots of grasses are unharmed, and in a short time, the plant will grow again
The ashes then act as fertilizer for the grass
Animals survive by retreating underground
Increases warm-season grasses but decreases cool-season grasses and species diversity

9. Grazing
Historically, large herds of bison, elk (Cervus canadensis), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and deer (Odocoileus sp.) grazed the prairies
Ranchers brought in cattle to replace bison
Grazing increases numbers of non-grass species (forbs and woodies)

10. Interactions among main factors affecting prairies
Variable plant growth from year to year and place to place
Variable weather patterns
Ungulate grazing and migration patterns differ from year to year and place to place
Conditions conducive to wide-spread fire differ from year to year and place to place
Interactions among main factors affecting prairies
Variable weather patterns
Variable plant growth from year to year and place to place
Ungulate grazing and migration patterns differ from year to year and place to place
Conditions conducive to wide-spread fire differ from year to year and place to place

11. Our Project
Schoolyard long-term ecological research (SLTER) and Prairies Across Kansas (PAK) in connection with Konza Prairie and K-State
Take samples and submit data from our prairie site to SLTER online database
Our work will become a part of research on prairies all over the state

12. References
1. Biology: The Dynamics of Life. s.l. : Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000.
2. Prairie Ecosystem. Black-footed Ferret Recovery Program. [Online] January 20,
3. Horne, Eva. Ecology of the Tallgrass Prairie: Research at the Konza Prairie Biological Station. [PowerPoint Presentation] June 2006.