Great Plains ecoregion
The region is home to many animals, including American bison, pronghorn, mule, and white tailed deer, and birds such as ducks, hawks, and sparrows, along with many invertebrate species.
Widespread agriculture led to the near-complete extermination of the American bison in the late 1800s and the reduction of the tallgrass prairie to less than 1% of its former extent.
The climate is very unique due to the many different wind patterns that flow throughout the region, traveling from east to west and north to south.
Due to the fact that this region is geographically positioned in the center of the United States and Canada, there are many different air mass types that pass through and affect the constantly shifting weather patterns.
The areas nearest the Gulf of Mexico, where the atmospheric moisture is greatest, will receive more than forty inches of precipitation annually.
This shows how there is consistent precipitation over the region during the winter months, while in the heat of summer there is more chance for drought with sporadic heavy rains.
In turn this will increase the intensity of already problematic droughts across the region as well as creating the potential for flooding in the wetter north.
Extreme droughts could kill vegetation, potentially causing the collapse of agriculture in some areas increasing the risk of erosion.
This loss of growing medium, nutrients and moisture retention could prove to be a devastating blow to any ecosystem that may try to reclaim the land as well as leaving the barren areas susceptible to more stress tolerant invasive species.
Originally massive glaciers that formed in Canada moved southward over the central and low-elevation plains located in the United States.
These glaciers and their deposits had great effects on the surface of the land they covered, with biggest changes occurring between the Missouri and Ohio Rivers.
One key abiotic factor that affects Great Plains is weather in relation to the low- relief topography as result of glacial smoothing.
Low relief landscapes, such as the various types of grasslands found throughout the Great Plains, have an effect on rainfall distribution.
In tall grass prairies, water is less scarce and the soil contains more moisture resulting a smaller root biomass.
The Great Plains ecoregion comprises a number of water bodies which play an integral role in its unique hydrology.
These, as well as the wetlands in the Nebraska Sandhills, serve as major breeding, staging, and nesting habitat for migratory waterfowl.
The environmental threats that pose the most harm toward the Great Plains include water depletion, land degradation, and increasing temperature change.
[3] The effects of this increase in temperature is predicted to cause more frequent extreme events such as heat waves, droughts, and heavy rainfall.
However, according to the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, farmers are not very likely to change their ways, leaving the outcome questionable for the Great Plains.
"Prairie conservation requires: 1) New technology...to prioritize and set context to save prairie, 2) ecologically based initiatives to reverse significant losses in area and condition of native grasslands, 3) rethinking of standardized tools in the range management profession, and 4) a new natural resource agency.
A strong characteristic of keystone species is their ability to create and modify other organism's habitats and it is evident that the prairie dog does this.
Its close link to the ecology and structure of the Great Plains make it the defining keystone species of the ecoregion.
The bison's large influence as a grazer, a major converter of plant to animal biomass, and a key link in nutrient recycling have been lost.
[10] Their grazing habits were pivotal in allowing for the establishment of much of the biodiversity observed today in the region, including the prairie dog.
[10] With the accumulation of dead plant material, seed germination is greatly hindered and biodiversity is held stagnant.
This bat sleeps in abandoned caves and mines during the winter months for hibernation and under tree bark during the warmer seasons.
Besides showing hospitality to these bats, gates are going up to prohibit visitors from entering the caves and mines during the hibernation months.
Invasive species and land conservationists have equally played a part in demolishing this population; as well as people plucking these flowers.
