The protected grasslands of North America consist of prairies, with a dominant vegetation type of herbaceous plants like grasses, sedges, and other prairie plants, rather than woody vegetation like trees. Grasslands were generally dominant within the Interior Plains of central North America but was also present elsewhere. The protected areas for this ecosystem include public nature reserves managed by American, Canadian and Mexican wildlife management agencies, Native American tribes and Canadian First Nations, state wildlife management agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private nature reserves.[1]
Generally speaking, these regions are devoid of trees, except for riparian or gallery forests associated with streams and rivers. The tallgrass prairie, with moderate rainfall and rich soils, were ideally suited to agriculture so it became a productive grain-growing region. The tallgrass prairie ecosystem covered some of North America. Besides agriculture, much of the shortgrass prairie became grazing land for domestic livestock. Short grasslands occur in semi-arid climates while tall grasslands are in areas of higher rainfall. Although much of the grasslands are in the Great Plains ecoregion, protected grasslands can be found in other areas of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Desert (arid) grasslands are composed of sparse grassland ecoregions located in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome. Temperature extremes and low amounts of rainfall characterise these kinds of grasslands. Therefore, plants and animals are well adapted to minimize water loss.[2] Shrub-steppe is also a type of low-rainfall natural grassland. While arid, shrub-steppes have sufficient moisture to support a cover of perennial grasses or shrubs, a feature which distinguishes them from deserts. The shrub-steppes of North America occur in the western United States and western Canada, in the rain shadow between the Cascades and Sierra Nevada on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east.
The expanses of grass once sustained migrations of an estimated 30 to 60 million American bison which maintained grazing pressure as a keystone species. Once bison could be found across much of North America. While they ranged from the eastern seaboard states to southeast Washington, eastern Oregon, and northeastern California, the greatest numbers were found within the great bison belt on the shortgrass plains east of the Rocky Mountains that stretched from Alberta to Texas.[3] Grazing is important to soil, vegetation and overall ecological balance. The ecosystem was maintained by a pattern of disturbance caused by natural wildfire and grazing by bison, a pattern which is called pyric herbivory.[4] The indigenous peoples of the Plains occupied the land, hunting bison and pronghorn. The expansion of the United States onto the frontier decimated the population of the indigenous people and the bison.[5] Bison occupy less than 1% of their historical range with fewer than 20,000 bison in conservation herds on public, tribal or private protected lands. Roughly 500,000 animals are raised for commercial purposes.[6]
The plowing of the tallgrass prairie to plant crops destroyed the natural habitat. Less than 4 percent of the prairie is left according to most estimates.[7] Intensive farming, urbanization, and the spread of trees - that were formerly limited by periodic fires - continue to contribute to habitat loss.[8] Studies estimated in 2018 that grasslands in the U.S were being lost at a rate of more than 1e6acres.[9]
| Name | Location | Operator | Bison | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akin Prairie | ||||
| American Prairie Foundation | Yes | |||
| Utah | Utah State Parks | Yes | ||
| Badlands National Park | South Dakota | National Park Service | Yes | |
| Kansas | ||||
| Alberta | Yes | |||
| Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park | Ohio | Yes | ||
| Bear Butte State Park | South Dakota | Yes | ||
| Yes | ||||
| Kansas | ||||
| Texas | ||||
| Blackburn State Park | Iowa | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | ||
| Texas | ||||
| Minnesota | Yes | |||
| Broken Kettle Grasslands Preserve | Iowa | Yes | ||
| South Dakota | ||||
| Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area | Missouri | Missouri Department of Conservation | ||
| Yes | ||||
| Texas Parks and Wildlife Department | Yes | |||
| Catoosa Wildlife Management Area | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Chippewa Cree Tribal Buffalo Pasture | Yes | |||
| Kansas | ||||
| Kansas | ||||
| Texas | ||||
| Colorado | ||||
| Indiana | ||||
| The Nature Conservancy, Bureau of Land Management, Ducks Unlimited, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Water Resources, Sacramento County Department of Parks and Recreation, and the state Wildlife Conservation Board | ||||
| Crane Trust | Nebraska | Crane Trust | Yes | |
| Oregon | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes | Yes | |||
| Custer State Park | South Dakota | Yes | ||
| Alberta, Saskatchewan | Alberta Environment and Parks and Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport (Saskatchewan) | |||
| Daniels Park | Yes | |||
| Dorsett Hill Prairie Conservation Area | Missouri | Missouri Department of Conservation | ||
| Washington | ||||
| Oregon | ||||
| Alberta | Yes | |||
| Illinois | U.S. Department of Energy | Yes | ||
| Kansas | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | |||
| Nebraska | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Yes | ||
| South Dakota | ||||
| Fort Peck Indian Reservation | Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes | Yes | ||
| Minnesota | ||||
| Nebraska | Yes | |||
| Kansas | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Illinois | The Nature Conservancy, Northeastern Illinois University, the Natural Land Institute | |||
| Missouri | ||||
| Minnesota | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | |||
| Missouri Prairie Foundation | ||||
| South Dakota | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Grant-Bradbury Prairie Preserve | Shawnee County Parks and Recreation | |||
| Grasslands National Park | Saskatchewan | Yes | ||
| Colorado | ||||
| Alberta | Yes | |||
| New York | ||||
| Utah | Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Bureau of Land Management | Yes | ||
| Iowa | ||||
| Iowa | Pottawattamie County Conservation Board | |||
| Nebraska | ||||
| Indiana | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Alaska | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Yes | ||
| Ivan Boyd Prairie Preserve | Kansas | Douglas County Public Works | ||
| Janos Biosphere Reserve | Chihuahua | Yes | ||
| Oklahoma | Yes | |||
| Indiana | Yes | |||
| Kansas | ||||
| Kingston Prairie Preserve | Greenbelt Land Trust | |||
| New Mexico | ||||
| Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park | ||||
| Knob Noster State Park | Missouri | Missouri Department of Natural Resources | ||
| Kansas | The Nature Conservancy, Kansas State University | Yes | ||
| Kentucky | U.S. Forest Service | Yes | ||
| Lynx Prairie | Ohio | |||
| Maderas del Carmen | Coahuila | Yes | ||
| Kansas | Yes | |||
| Texas | ||||
| Illinois | U.S. Forest Service | Yes | ||
| Yes | ||||
| Land Trust of Napa County | ||||
| Vermont | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | |||
| Illinois | The Nature Conservancy | Yes | ||
| Iowa | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Yes | ||
| Nebraska | ||||
| Ontario | ||||
| Saskatchewan | Yes | |||
| Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park | Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Yes | ||
| North Carolina | ||||
| Texas | ||||
| California | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Prince Albert National Park | Saskatchewan | Yes | ||
| Kansas | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | |||
| Riding Mountain National Park | Manitoba | Yes | ||
| Texas | ||||
| Rockefeller Prairie | University of Kansas | |||
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Yes | |||
| Washington | ||||
| Saeger Woods Conservation Area | Missouri | Missouri Department of Conservation | ||
| Sandhill Wildlife Area | Yes | |||
| Kansas | Yes | |||
| Searles Prairie Natural Area | Arkansas | Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission | ||
| Searls Park Prairie | Illinois | Illinois Department of Natural Resources | ||
| Yes | ||||
| South Dakota | ||||
| Kansas | Yes | |||
| Oklahoma | Yes | |||
| Yes | ||||
| Wyoming | ||||
| Pennsylvania | Yes | |||
| Nebraska | ||||
| Valles Caldera National Preserve | ||||
| New Mexico and Colorado | Yes | |||
| Saskatchewan | Wanuskewin Heritage Park Authority | Yes | ||
| Waterton Lakes National Park | Alberta | Yes | ||
| North Dakota | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Yes | ||
| Oklahoma | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Yes | ||
| Illinois | Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park | |||
| Willa Cather Memorial Prairie | Nebraska | |||
| Yes | ||||
| Yes | ||||
| Wood Buffalo National Park | Alberta and Northwest Territories | Yes | ||
| Yes | ||||
Cemetery prairies are remnants of native North American prairie.