Prairie Vegetation
What is the dominant vegetation in a prairie?
Different types of grasses including Big Bluestem, Blazing Star, Purple Prairie Clovers, Prairie Dropseed, and Leadplant.
What is the Bisons main food source?
grass
What is the biggest cause of succession in the prairies?
Fires
Why do plants thrive in the prairie?
Because of the nutrients in the soil.
What is the biggest factor in the destruction of prairies?
conversion to row crop agriculture.
What can the vegetation do after a wildfire?
survive or regenerate.
What habitat do Prairie Falcons prefer?
wide open spaces for hunting
Fire improves the growth of what specifically?
Wildflowers and grasslands.
What makes the soil soft?
The grass found in prairies.
How many square miles of prairie are there in Minnesota?
29,500 square miles
Fill in the blank: The prairie can usually not support this plant.
Any type of tree.
What is the biggest factor for the decrease in Bison numbers?
Habitat loss
How do Bison cause succession?
The eat the woody vegetation
What layer of soil has the best structure in the prairie?
The topsoil
What are the four biggest impacts on the prairies?
Urbanization, farming, hunting and fishing, and livestock
Which grass can survive wildfires?
a. Blazing Star
b. Big Bluestem
c. Prairie Dropseed
d. Leadplant
b. Prairie Bluestem
What is one feature that both males and females have?
Horns
What specific factor determines where fires burn?
the interaction with climate
what are three adjectives that describe prairie soils?
rich, deep, and soft soil
What have Bison numbers reduced to?
130 Bison
Why does vegetation usually do so well in prairies?
Because of the way the grass grows.
Minnesota
What are the benefits of drought?
Plants grow quicker after drought.
Which element is most common in prairie soils?
calcium
What are the four biggest factors to a functioning prairie?
1. Cycles, transforms and stores elements and nutrients (e.g., carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus) 2. Transfers energy between trophic levels 3. Filters and stores water 4. Anchors and builds soil