Post on 01-Jan-2016
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.