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Prairies


 What are prairies?

Prairies are a type of North American grassland with different grasses and flowers. The types of grasses are quite hardy and can survive harsh winters and more. Prairies have little trees around.  At the border of prairie and forest, there is a constant battle going on. Tree saplings start invading prairie but then fire comes and pushes the forest back. Before Christopher Columbus, prairie was as far south as Louisiana and as far east as Pennsylvania. It was because the Indigenous people of the Great Plains eliminated forest competition using fire. In turn, there was more bison so they had more food. 

Keystone prairie species

Bison are one of keystone prairie species as they graze on grass and keep it from overgrowing. Prairie dogs come with the same benefit and also they are prey for lots of animals. With out both of these species, a prairie would die out.

Their decline

After Columbus' discovery, colonization of North America happened and Native Americans got pushed out of their homes and prairie got replaced with farmland and cities. However, there were places that were spared. They exist all over America and give us a glimpse into how America's prairies looked like before colonization.

Restoration

However, there are restoration efforts in progress. Two elements are needed to restore a prairie. Those elements are keystone species and fire. However to reach the biodiversity of a remnant, centuries has to pass. 



Prairies vs Forests from a carbon standpoint

So, let's talk about prairies and how they store carbon. Prairie grass has a fast metabolism and because of that, they take carbon from the air and store it deep in the ground because their roots are deep. With forests, trees take carbon and use that to build their bodies. Most trees are not fire resistant and so the carbon they captured gets released into the atmosphere.

Bibliography

A lot of books and media have contributed to this post. Thank you!

 



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