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Northern Tall Grasslands
The Northern tall grasslands is one of 867 terrestrial ecoregions defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. This ecoregion largely follows the Red River Valley in the Canadian province of Manitoba and the American states of North Dakota and Minnesota. Climate The Northern tall grasslands have a humid continental climate with moderate precipitation, usually between 450-700mm. Winters here are very cold, with a mean winter temperature of , and summers are warm, with a mean temperature of . The ecoregion's mean annual temperature is . Flora Dominant grasses include big bluestem ('' Andropogon gerardi''), switchgrass (''Panicum virgatum'') and Indiangrass (''Sorghastrum nutans''). In wetter areas, trembling aspen (''Populus tremuloides'') and bur oak (''Quercus macrocarpa'') can be found. Fauna Like other North American prairie ecoregions, the Northern tall grasslands once supported large herds of bison (''Bison bison'') and elk (''Cervus canadensis''), which were hunted by the gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve
The Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve is located in southeastern Manitoba near Gardenton and Vita, this is about south of Steinbach, Manitoba. It is one of the last remaining stands of tallgrass prairie in Manitoba and is part of the Tallgrass Aspen Parkland conservation area in Manitoba and Minnesota. Several groups and organizations help in land preservation in the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Nature Manitoba, Environment Canada, Manitoba Conservation and the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation. Manitoba tallgrass prairie Only about 0.5% of the original tallgrass prairie in Manitoba remains. The area is characterized by a mosaic of habitat types, including tallgrass prairie, aspen woodland, sedge meadow wetlands, riparian woodland, and oak savannah. Over 1,000 species depend on this diverse habitat and 16 species that are on provincial or national endangered species list reside within the area. The ecological significance of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced to New Zealand, all the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ..., Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico), and some countries in Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Romania and Serbia. In the Americas, it is the most widely distributed wild ungulate. In North America, the species is widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains as well as in southwestern Arizona and most of Mexico, except Baja California peninsula, Lower California. It is mostly displaced by the black ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gray Wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly understood, comprise wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest extant member of the family Canidae. It is also distinguished from other ''Canis'' species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller ''Canis'' species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The banded fur of a wolf is usually mottled white, brown, gray, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white. Of all members of the genus ''Canis'', the wolf is most specialized for cooperative game hunting as demonstrated by its physical adaptations to tackling large prey, its more social nature, and its highly adva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plains Bison
The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone Park bison herd consisting of an estimated 4,800 bison) and multiple smaller reintroduced herds of bison in many places in the United States as well as southern portions of the Canadian Prairies. Near-extinction and reintroduction of herds At one time, at least 25 million American bison were spread across the United States and Canada. However, by the late 1880s, the total number of bison in the United States had been reduced to fewer than 600. Most of these were collected onto various private ranches, and the last known free-roaming population of bison consisted of fewer than 30 in the area which later became Yellowstone National Park. Although farmers and ranchers considered bison to be a nuisance, some people were concerned about the dem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Macrocarpa
''Quercus macrocarpa'', the bur oak or burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'', and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub oak. The acorns are the largest of any North American oak (thus the species name ''macrocarpa'', from Ancient Greek "large" and "fruit"), and are important food for wildlife. Description ''Quercus macrocarpa'' is a large deciduous tree growing up to , rarely , in height, and is one of the most massive oaks with a trunk diameter of up to ; reports of taller trees occur, but have not been verified. It is one of the slowest-growing oaks, with a growth rate of per year when young. However, one source states that a well-established tree can grow up to per year. A 20-year-old tree will be about tall if grown in full sun. Naturally occurring saplings in forests will typically be older. Bur oaks commonly get to be 200 to 300 years old, and ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Populus Tremuloides
''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name aspen. It is commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, mountain or golden aspen, trembling poplar, white poplar, and popple, as well as others. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 meters (82 feet) tall, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden to yellow, rarely red, in autumn. The species often propagates through its roots to form large clonal groves originating from a shared root system. These roots are not rhizomes, as new growth develops from adventitious buds on the parent root system (the ortet). ''Populus tremuloides'' is the most widely distributed tree in North America, being found from Canada to central Mexico. It is the defining species of the aspen parkland biome in the Prairie Provinces of Canada and extreme northwest Minnesota. Description Quaking a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorghastrum Nutans
''Sorghastrum nutans'', commonly known as either Indiangrass or yellow Indiangrass, is a North American prairie grass found in the central and eastern United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains and tallgrass prairies. Description Indiangrass is a warm-season perennial bunchgrass. It is intolerant to shade. It grows tall, and is distinguished by a "rifle-sight" ligule where the leaf blade attaches to the leaf sheath. The leaf is about long. It blooms from late summer to early fall, producing branched clusters (panicles) of spikelets. The spikelets are golden-brown during the blooming period, and each contain one perfect floret that has three large, showy yellow stamens and two feather-like stigmas. One of the two glumes at the base of the spikelets is covered in silky white hairs. The flowers are cross-pollinated by the wind. The branches of pollinated flower clusters bend outwards. At maturity, the seeds fall to the ground. There are about 175,000 seeds per p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panicum Virgatum
''Panicum virgatum'', commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55th parallel north, 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species of the central North American tallgrass prairie and can be found in remnant prairies, in native grass pastures, and naturalized along roadsides. It is used primarily for soil conservation, forage production, game cover, as an ornamental grass, in phytoremediation projects, fiber, electricity, heat production, for biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and more recently as a biomass crop for ethanol and butanol. Other common names for switchgrass include tall panic grass, Wobsqua grass, blackbent, tall prairiegrass, wild Agrostis, redtop, thatchgrass, and Virginia switchgrass. Description Switchgrass is a hardy, deep-rooted, Perennial plant, perennial rhizome, rhizomatous grass that begins grow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andropogon Gerardi
''Andropogon gerardi'', commonly known as big bluestem, is a species of tall grass native to much of the Great Plains and grassland regions of central and eastern North America. It is also known as tall bluestem, bluejoint, and turkeyfoot. Taxonomy ''Andropogon gerardi'' was formally named in 1792 by Fulgenzio Vitman. It was named for French botanist Louis Gérard, who had first described the plant from specimens that had been cultivated in Provence, France. Kew's International Plant Names Index and USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network reject the spelling ''gerardii'' and provide reasoning for ''gerardi'' as being the correct spelling for the specific epithet of this taxon. ''Andropogon gerardii'' still makes appearances in various literature, including other USDA publications. Description Big bluestem is a perennial warm-season bunchgrass. It is tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions. The main roots are deep, and the plants send out strong, tough rhizomes, so it ... [...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] |
Summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, with day length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The date of the beginning of summer varies according to climate, tradition, and culture. When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. Timing From an astronomical view, the equinoxes and solstices would be the middle of the respective seasons, but sometimes astronomical summer is defined as starting at the solstice, the time of maximal insolation, often identified with the 21st day of June or December. By solar reckoning, summer instead starts on May Day and the summer solstice is Midsummer. A variable seasonal lag means that the meteorological centre of the season, which is based on average temperature pattern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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