ANIMALS
- Predators
- coyotes
- eagles
- bobcats (lynxes)
- gray wolf
- Birds
- wild turkey
- flycatcher
- white pelican
- Canada geese
- Insects
- crickets
- water bugs
- dung beetle
- Endangered
- bison (not anymore)
- prarie chicken
- pronghorn sheep
Not until the late 19th century did settlers moving west discover that grasslands were much more than just dry, flat areas of land. Indeed, the prairies contained more than 80 species of mammal, 300 species of birds, and hundreds of species of plants. Grasslands of Asia are called steppe, and those of North America are called prairie. The flora and fauna in each change as annual rainfall varies throughout the continents.
The prairie is divided into three categories - shortgrass (where grass grows below 20 inches tall), mixed grass (where grass grows 20 to 60 inches tall), and eastern tall grass (where grass grows as high as 10 feet).
The steppe is divided into eastern and western ranges, where the eastern steppe is higher and dryer. It can also be divided into western forest steppe (where oak, pine, and birch forests stand), open steppe (in central Russia where trees are scarce), and southern semi-desert (where desert vegetation begins).
Streams, scarp slopes, marshes, and rocky outcrops provide niches for various kinds of animals. Muskrat and water snakes can be in rivers and creeks, while shallow tidepools fill with cranes and geese feast on frogs, crickets, and water bugs.
