Back The first European explorers found an endless sea of grass in the midwestern plains of the United

States. French explorers from Canada called these grasslands a prairie, a French word that means meadow. Some of the grasses on the prairie were over 2 meters tall! The grassland biomes in the United States receive between 25 and 75 centimeters of rain every year. The grasslands of the mid western plains are characterized by hot summers and cold winters. Grasses make up the main group of plants in a grassland biome. There are few trees because of the low rainfall. Fires, which often sweep over the grasslands, also preventing widespread tree growth. Today, most of the original grasslands in the United States have been replaced by farms and pastures. Wheat, corn, and other grains are now widely farmed in the mid western plains of the United States.

At one time, millions of bison could be seen grazing on the Great Plains, of the Central USA. Today, only a few scattered herds remain.

Gophers, prairie dogs, and other small animals live on the grasslands. Blackbirds, prairie chickens, and meadow larks are among the birds that feed on the grasshoppers, locusts, and other insects. Large plant eaters, such as elk and bison, were once common on the plains. They were hunted by wolves and cougars. Now that farms have replaced most of the original grasslands, however, most of the large animals live only in national parks and other protected areas. The greater prairie chicken is a comon resident of the grasslands. The round structure in its throat is its vocal sac, not an orange. One of his favorite foods is the grasshopper.       The grasshopper is a very familiar resident of the grasslands. I'll bet he hopes the prairie chicken can't see him!

At one time there were millions upon millions of acres of tall grasslands in the United States. Although most of the midwestern plains have been converted to wheat or corn fields, native grasslands have been restored in the Tall Grass Prairie National Park, just south of Council Grove, Kansas, in Chase County. The tall grass prairie is the most endangered of the world's biomes.

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