Temperate Grassland (Prarie)

Description

It has been said that it is most difficult to describe things you know most intimately. If this is true, I'll have real trouble describing the praries, because I grew up in them. I was born on the praries, I grew up there... so I certainly know what they're like. Now to describe.

Imagine standing in the center of a field: but this is no ordinary field. The waving grasses you are standing amongst stretch off to the horizon in every direction. At the horizon, the grass meets the sky: an enormous bowl of sky towering above you, the clouds looking as though they're painted on.

In the wind, the prarie comes alive. Waves of grass chase one another across the landscape, following low swells of earth, speeding away to the horizon where they blend into the vast expanse of land.

Grass is not all that's there, however. Wildflowers of all shapes, colors, and types provide sprays of color throughout the landscape. Insects buzz, birds circle overhead, buffalo race through the oceans of grass, the ground trembling beneath their feet as they pass.

Below the grass lives an entire world, unseen from above. Mice scurry to their holes, avoiding coyotes and other small predators. Ants and beetles swarm buzily, small frogs make their way, doing enigmatic frog things.

Then autumn comes, the grass turns golden brown, and the snow falls. Soon the entire landscape is covered in a thick layer of snow, covering the grass, which re-emerges in spring. Bird and deer tracks dot the clean white snow, dazzling in the sun.

Yep, I lived there. Now I live in a massively urbanized temperate broadleaf forest biome. But nothing can replace the praries for me.

Oh, sorry. Was that not impartial? I'll try to do better next time.

Notes

Climate

General Notes

The prairie is the home of hot summers and cold winters. Snow falls in the winter and melts in the summer.

Year

Summer

Winter

Flora (Plant life)

General Notes

Common Species

• Grasses: purple needlegrass, blue grama, buffalo grass, galleta
• Flowers: asters, blazing stars, coneflowers, goldenrods, black-eyed susans, sunflowers, clover, psoraleas, wild indigos

Uncommon Species

• Trees: cottonwood, oak, willow, poplar

Rare Species

Fauna (Animal life)

General Notes

Common Species

• antelope, deer
• Insects: grasshoppers, leafhoppers, spiders
• Small mammals: mice, jack rabbits, prairie dogs, weasles
• Birds: hawks, sparrows, quails, owls, blackbirds, grouses, meadowlarks

Uncommon Species

• skunks
• badgers
• polecat

Rare Species

• wolves
• coyotes
• foxes