The Northern Mixed Grasslands
is one of 867 terrestrial
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
s defined by the
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
. This ecoregion includes parts of the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
, and
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
, north-central and eastern (except extreme eastern)
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
, most of east
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...
, and north-central
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
in the
American Great Plains. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines this ecoregion as the
Northern Glaciated Plains
The Northern Mixed Grasslands is one of 867 terrestrial ecoregions defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. This ecoregion includes parts of the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, north-central and eastern (except extrem ...
.
Setting
This is a transition zone between the ecoregions of the
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 of the North, Red River Valley in the Canada, Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, ...
to the east and the
Northern short grasslands to the west, while to the north lie the cooler Canadian boreal forests and a much shorter growing season.
Environment
;Flora
The Mixed Grass prairie was recognized as a mixture of the
tallgrass and
shortgrass prairies. The dominant grasses found here include grama (''
Bouteloua gracilis''), little bluestem (''
Schizachyrium scoparium
''Schizachyrium scoparium'', commonly known as little bluestem or beard grass, is a species of North American prairie grass native to most of the contiguous United States (except California, Nevada, and Oregon) as well as a small area north of ...
''), needle-and-thread grass (''
Stipa comata''), wheatgrass (''
Agropyron smithii
''Pascopyrum'' is a monotypic genus of grass containing the sole species ''Pascopyrum smithii'', which is known by the common names western wheatgrass and red-joint wheatgrass, after the red coloration of the nodes. It is native to North America. ...
''), ''
Carex filifolia'', junegrass (''
Koeleria cristata''), and ''
Poa secunda
''Poa secunda'' (variously known by the common names of Sandberg bluegrass, alkali bluegrass, big bluegrass, Canby's bluegrass, Nevada bluegrass, one-sided bluegrass, Pacific bluegrass, pine blugrass, slender bluegrass, wild bluegrass, and curly ...
''.
Further north in the ecoregion, the transitional grassland ecoclimate supports a vegetation of
quaking aspen
''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, tr ...
(''
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, tr ...
''), bur oak (''
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 oa ...
'') groves, mixed tall shrubs, and intermittent
fescue grasslands. Generally, quaking aspen and shrubs occur on moist sites while bur oak and grass species occur on increasingly drier sites. The southeast portion of the ecoregion tends to be warmer and drier. Remaining native vegetation in this portion of the ecoregion is dominated by
spear grass and
wheat grass
Wheatgrass is the freshly sprouted first leaves of the common wheat plant (''Triticum aestivum''), used as a food, drink, or dietary supplement. Wheatgrass is served freeze dried or fresh, and so it differs from wheat malt, which is convecti ...
. In addition, local saline deposits support
alkali grass,
wild barley
''Hordeum spontaneum'', commonly known as wild barley or spontaneous barley, is the wild form of the grass in the family Poaceae that gave rise to the cereal barley (''Hordeum vulgare''). Domestication is thought to have occurred on two occasio ...
,
red samphire, and
seablite. In the separated
Cypress Upland, fescue and wheatgrass grow below 1000 m, and mixed montane forests of
lodgepole pine
''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...
,
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
trees and shrubs grow at higher elevations. Larkspur (''
Delphinium
''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The genus was erected by Carl Linn ...
'' sp.), death camas (''
Zigadenus elegans''), and wild lupine (''
Lupinus
''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...
'' sp.) are found here and nowhere else in the prairies.
;Fauna
The topography is broken by many glacial pothole lakes, making this ecoregion the most productive breeding area for waterfowl in the U.S. Other wildlife characteristic of the moist mixed grassland are
black-tailed and
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 t ...
(''Odocoileus hemionus'' and ''O. virginianus''),
pronghorn antelope
The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...
(''Antilocapra americana''),
coyote (''Canis latrans''), short-horned lizard (''
Phrynosoma douglassi''), western rattlesnake (''
Crotalus viridis
''Crotalus viridis'' (Common names: prairie rattlesnake, Great Plains rattlesnake, Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1,105 ...
''),
rabbit (''
Sylvilagus
Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus ''Sylvilagus'', found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this ...
'' sp.) and
sage grouse
Sage-grouse are grouse belonging to the bird genus ''Centrocercus.'' The genus includes two species: the Gunnison grouse (''Centrocercus minimus'') and the greater sage-grouse (''Centrocercus urophasianus''). These birds are distributed throug ...
(''Centrocercus urophasianus'').
Yellow-rumped warbler (''Dendroica coronata'') is also found only in this part of the prairies. Bison were once a common feature of this ecoregion.
Threats and preservation
The ecoregion provides significant waterfowl production for the continent and is a major staging area. It is estimated that up to 80 percent of the wetlands, however, have been lost or degraded. The
Cypress Uplands (Alberta/Saskatchewan), which are believed to have escaped the last glaciation, are located in this ecoregion.
No completely intact blocks of habitat remain. Restoration of some areas is just beginning. Few sites are protected.
See also
*
List of ecoregions in Canada (WWF)
The following is a list of ecoregions in Canada as identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Terrestrial ecoregions
The terrestrial ecoregions of Canada are all within the Nearctic realm, which includes most of North America. The Nearc ...
*
List of ecoregions in the United States (WWF)
The following is a list of ecoregions in the United States as identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The United States is a megadiverse country with a high level of endemism across a wide variety of ecosystems.
Terrestrial ecoregi ...
*Alternative classification framework
**
List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)
This list of ecoregions in the United States provides an overview of United States ecoregions designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). The CEC was established in 1994 by ...
References
External links
World , Wildlife Fund (WWF), Northern Mixed grasslandsThe Nature Conservancy (TNC)
{{coord , 31, N, 100, W, type:grassland_region:US_scale:5000000, display=title
Grasslands of the North American Great Plains
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands in the United States
Ecoregions of the United States
Nearctic ecoregions
Ecozones and ecoregions of Alberta