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Different Habitats in a Prairie Ecosystem

The prairie ecosystem covers a large portion of the United States from the Rocky Mountains to the west to the Mississippi River to the east. Prairie ecosystems feature two main types of habitats: the tallgrass prairies to the east and the shortgrass prairies to the west. The two habitats are both separate and similar in many ways.

  1. About the Prairie

    • The prairie is a diverse and complex ecosystem that has shrunk from its size of 140 million acres at the time of the Civil War, when it stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River, and from the northern to the southern borders of the United States. Prairie land is shrinking due to its growing use for crop production. Prairies are too wet for a desert, yet too dry to support a forest, which is why most prairie habitats completely lack any sort of tree cover.

    Tallgrass Prairies

    • Tallgrass prairies are the wetter of the two prairie habitats, receiving 30 to 40 inches of rain yearly, and are most commonly found in the eastern prairies. Some tallgrass species include Indian grass and switch grass, which can grow up to 8 feet tall. At one point, between 30 and 60 million bison grazed in tallgrass prairies, as well as elk, deer and antelope. Grizzly bears and wolves hunted the grazers, and birds and pocket gophers thrived.

    Shortgrass Prairies

    • Shortgrass prairies grow in the drier western United States, such as in Colorado, where it covers 27 million acres alone. Shortgrass only grows to about ankle deep, and is considered one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. Because these prairies get only about 15 inches of rain per year, they feature drought-resistant plant species, such as blue gamma and buffalo grass. Farmers use shortgrass prairies for cattle grazing today.

    Conservation

    • Government agencies are making attempts to preserve prairies by designating reserve areas and replanting areas that have been wiped out from farming. The Colorado Department of Transportation, for example, has been invested in a number of conservation projects. However, conservation groups argue that not enough is being done and prairies are still disappearing at an alarming rate.

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