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Hole In The Mountain Prairie
Hole in the Mountain Prairie is a preserved remnant of the tallgrass prairie in southwestern Minnesota. It is owned and administered by The Nature Conservancy. Geography Hole in the Mountain Prairie is located on Buffalo Ridge near the town of Lake Benton in Lincoln County, southwestern Minnesota. It spans a valley of about a half-mile in width, with a total area of . Flora The preserve is home to about 60 species of grasses and emergent vegetation, and about 200 species of wildflowers. Trees are a minor feature, with only about 10 species present. Fauna Whitetail deer, foxes, and numerous rodents are present, but The Nature Conservancy touts the butterflies of Hole in the Mountain as the most unusual and significant of its creatures. In 2017 an attempt was made by the Minnesota Zoo to reintroduce the nearly-extinct Dakota Skipper butterfly to Hole in the Mountain, from which it had disappeared in the previous decade. Geology The preserve is located in a valley of Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lincoln County, Minnesota
Lincoln County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,640. Its county seat is Ivanhoe. History During and after the American Civil War, the Minnesota legislature wanted to name a county after President Abraham Lincoln. Acts were proposed to effect this change in 1861, in 1866, and in 1870, but each time the effort failed by vote or was ignored by the county's citizens. The final effort was an act passed on March 6, 1873, dividing Lyon County into approximately equal halves, with the western half to be named Lincoln. The county voters approved this act in the November 1873 election, and Governor Horace Austin proclaimed the county's existence on December 5, 1873, with Lake Benton as county seat. In 1900 a new town closer to the county's center was platted, and in 1902 the county seat was moved to that settlement, Ivanhoe. Geography Lincoln County lies on Minnesota's border with South Dakota. The Lac qui Parle River flows nort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Benton, Minnesota
Lake Benton is a city in Lincoln County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 683 at the 2010 census. Lake Benton is also the name of the approximately seven-mile-long (11 km) lake adjacent to the city of Lake Benton. The town is on the Buffalo Ridge, and is the site for the radio tower of KKCK-FM in Marshall. The area is the site of Exelon Wind's Norgaard Wind Project. History A post office called Lake Benton has been in operation since 1873. Lake Benton was platted in 1879. The city took its name from nearby Lake Benton. The county seat was located at Lake Benton from 1882 until 1902. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. U.S. Highways 14 and 75 are two of the main routes in the community. Demographics 2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 683 people, 338 households, and 177 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 383 housing units a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tallgrass Prairie
The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroachment of trees, recycling soil nutrients, and facilitating seed dispersal and germination. Prior to widespread use of the steel plow, which enabled large scale conversion to agricultural land use, tallgrass prairies extended throughout the American Midwest and smaller portions of southern central Canada, from the transitional ecotones out of eastern North American forests, west to a climatic threshold based on precipitation and soils, to the southern reaches of the Flint Hills in Oklahoma, to a transition into forest in Manitoba. They were characteristically found in the central forest-grasslands transition, the central tall grasslands, the upper Midwest forest-savanna transition, and the northern tall grasslands ecoregions. They flouris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now partially cleared, farmed, and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Roughly a third of the state is covered in forests, and it is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" for having over 14,000 bodies of fresh water of at least ten acres. More than 60% of Minnesotans live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", the state's main political, economic, and cultural hub. With a population of about 3.7 million, the Twin Cities is the 16th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Other minor metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas in the state include Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has over one million members globally , and has protected more than of land in its history. , it is the largest environmental non-profit organization by assets and revenue in the Americas. History The Nature Conservancy developed out of a scholarly organization initially known as the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The ESA was founded in 1915, and later formed a Committee on Preservation of Natural Areas for Ecological Study, headed by Victor Shelford.Our History ". The Nature Conservancy. nature.org. Retrieved December 18, 2016. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buffalo Ridge
Buffalo Ridge is a large expanse of rolling hills in the southeastern part of the larger Coteau des Prairies. It stands 1,995 feet (608 m) above sea level. The Buffalo Ridge is long and runs through Lincoln, Pipestone, Murray, Nobles, and Rock counties in the southwest corner of Minnesota. Because of its altitude and high average wind speed, Buffalo Ridge has been transformed into a place for creating renewable energy. As of May 2022, over 1,000 wind turbines stand in the Buffalo Ridge area. Geology Buffalo Ridge is on a drainage divide separating the watersheds of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Buffalo Ridge is part of the inner coteau and is the highest point of the Coteau des Prairies in Minnesota.DNR, ''Minnesota DNR'', http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ecs/251Bc/index.html. Its bedrock is formed of Cretaceous shale, sandstone and clay that lie above the pinkish-red Upper Precambrian Sioux Quartzite.Anderson RR (1987) Precambrian Sioux Quartzite at Gitc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass. With around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, the Poaceae is the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. The Poaceae are the most economically important plant family, providing staple foods from domesticated cereal crops such as maize, wheat, rice, barley, and millet as well as feed for meat-producing animals. They provide, through direct human consumption, just over one-half (51%) of all dietary energy; rice provides 20%, wheat supplies 20%, maize (corn) 5.5%, and other grains 6%. Some members of the Poaceae are used as building materials (bamboo, thatch, and straw); others can provide a source of biofuel, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergent Vegetation
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that grows in or near water and is either emergent, submergent, or floating. In lakes and rivers macrophytes provide cover for fish, substrate for aquatic invertebrates, produce oxygen, and act as food for some fish and wildlife. Macrophytes are primary producers and are the basis of the food web for many organisms. They have a significant effect on soil chemistry and light levels as they slow down the flow of water and capture pollutants and trap sediments. Excess sediment will settle into the benthos aided by the reduction of flow rates caused by the presence of plant stems, leaves and roots. Some plants have the capability of absorbing pollutants into their tissue. Seaweeds are multicellular marine algae and, although their ecological i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the large superfamily (zoology), superfamily Papilionoidea, which contains at least one former group, the skippers (formerly the superfamily "Hesperioidea"), and the most recent analyses suggest it also contains the moth-butterflies (formerly the superfamily "Hedyloidea"). Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like most insects they undergo Holometabolism, complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minnesota Zoo
The Minnesota Zoo (formerly the Minnesota Zoological Garden), is an AZA-accredited zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota. It is one of two state-supported zoos in the United States, with the other being the North Carolina Zoo. When it opened on May 22, 1978 it was fairly revolutionary in its exhibit design. The zoo, built in a suburbanizing rural area, had more space to house exhibits and was one of the first zoos to organize its animals by their living environment as opposed to their species. The Minnesota Zoo is a state agency. This differs from other zoos in Minnesota and most others in the United States, which are run by municipalities or private organizations. The Minnesota Zoo charges admission and sells annual memberships. It is also home to a high school, the School of Environmental Studies. Exhibits and attractions Exhibits are arrayed in six themed areas, including three themed walking trails ranging from one mile (1.6 kilometers) to two miles (3.2 kilometers) in length: *Med ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dakota Skipper
''Hesperia dacotae'', the Dakota skipper, is a small to medium-sized North American butterfly. It has a wingspan of approximately one inch and the antennae form a hook. The male's wings are a tawny-orange to brown on the forewings with a prominent mark and dusty yellow on the lower part of the wing. The female wing is a darker brown orange and white spots on the forewing margin. Reproduction The adult Dakota skippers are active for only three weeks in June and July which is their total lifespan. Their eggs, which are laid on the underside of leaves, are hatched in July and the caterpillar larvae feed on native grass until they go dormant in late summer. The caterpillar larvae then winter in shelters very close to the ground. In spring they come out of dormancy in their adult form. They are found in healthy natural tall grass and prairie grass from Minnesota to Saskatchewan. They are now considered extirpated from Illinois and Iowa. The largest most stable population is now found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coteau Des Prairies
The Coteau des Prairies is a plateau approximately 200 miles in length and 100 miles in width (320 by 160 km), rising from the prairie flatlands in eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa in the United States. The southeast portion of the Coteau comprises one of the distinct regions of Minnesota, known as Buffalo Ridge. The flatiron-shaped plateau was named by early French explorers from New France (Quebec), ''coteau'' meaning "hill" in French; the general term ''coteau'' has since been used in English to describe any upland dividing ridge. The plateau is composed of thick glacial deposits, the remnants of many repeated glaciations, reaching a composite thickness of approximately 900 feet (275 m). They are underlain by a small ridge of resistant Cretaceous shale. During the last (Pleistocene) Ice Age, two lobes of the Laurentide glacier, the James lobe on the west and the Des Moines lobe on the east, appear to have parted around the pre-exist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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