Prairie/Grasslands

Ana, Robert, and Brianna

Where is ecosystem located?

Canada to Texas

Prairies are in North America, Europe, Asia,

South America, Africa

Describe the abiotic factors of your ecosystem It is dry but not dry enough to be a desert

Rich soil helps farmers grow crops

The sun rises and sets about the same time every year

Producer: Grass. How does your producer rely on other organisms in the grasslands to survive?

Rich soil from fires

Fire clears saplings and bushes

Wind spreads seeds

Sun

Water

How do other organisms of your ecosystem rely on your producer to survive?

Grass provides camouflage from predators for

grasshoppers and other insects

A lot of food is on the ground –small shrubs for herbivores

Insects sip nectar from flowers to provide food for bees

Dry grass provides nest material for birds

Black birds, grouse, meadow larks, quail,and other birds nest in grass

How do humans affect your ecosystem? Hunt animals like burrowing owls

Farmers plow the ground to plant seeds

Shopping malls and wheat fields replaced the wild grasses

People want to protect grasslands

People turn the grasslands into parks

Choose one biotic or abiotic factor in your ecosystem & describe how a change in one of these could affect your ecosystem.

Change: people clearing for buildings

Removing the grass from the grasslands is going to affect the animals

Some of the animals could die without grass

It is going to affect the farms because they will not have wheat, rye, barley and corn

Some of the animals will have to migrate to another place

If you don’t have grass you wont have any wild flowers

If wild flowers don’t grow they won’t provide any nutrients

Other interesting facts: Temperatures in prairies can drop more than 100

degrees from summer to winter.

The United States has 20 National Grasslands.

The first lighting strikes of rainy season often set the grass on fire.

Average rainfall is 10-30 inches (25-80 cm) per year

By 1890, hunters had killed almost all of the bison in North America’s grasslands.

Sources Used

Howard, Fran. Grasslands. Edina, MN: ABDO, 2007. Print.

Lundgren, Julie K. Grassland Buffet. Vero Beach ,FL: Rourke, 2009.Print.

Morgan, Ben. Tropical Grasslands. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 2003. Print.