Prairie facts for kids

A compass plant growing almost ten feet (3m) tall in a restored prairie in Illinois, USA.

A prairie is a special kind of habitat or natural home. It is mostly covered with grasses. You might also find pretty flowering plants, small bushes, and a few scattered trees. Prairies are found all over the world. They have different names, like steppes in Asia. But when we say "prairie," we usually mean the grasslands in North America.

Many animals live in prairies. Some animals, like the American bison (also called buffalo) and the pronghorn antelope, love living here. Birds like the bobolink and meadowlark also call the prairie home.

Tall Grass Prairies

A prairie in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. It has both tall and short grasses.

A tall grass prairie is a type of grassland where plants and grasses grow very high. They can reach three to seven feet (one to two meters) tall. Some plants might even grow taller! These prairies need a lot of rain to grow so big.

You can find tall grass prairies in places like Illinois (which is known as the prairie state), Indiana, and Iowa. The soil in these areas is very rich. This makes it great for farming. Sadly, much of the original tall grass prairie has been turned into farms. It has also been taken over by unwanted bushes and trees.

Why Trees Don't Grow Everywhere in Prairies

Trees can grow in these areas, but they were often stopped by natural fires. These fires would sweep across the prairie. Some trees, like oaks and hickories, could survive these fires. If there were scattered trees, the area was called a savanna. A place where trees grew closer together in a prairie was called a grove.

In the last 100 years, people have stopped many of these fires. This has allowed trees and bushes to grow where they normally wouldn't. Some of these plants were even brought by accident from places like Europe. In Illinois, less than 0.01% of the original prairie is left.

Bringing Prairies Back

Because so little prairie is left, conservationists are working hard. They are trying to bring the prairie back. This is called prairie restoration. They plant native grasses and flowers. They also use controlled fires to help the prairie grow healthy again.

Short Grass Prairies

A Western Meadowlark singing.

Short grass prairie is found in much drier areas. The plants and grasses here are usually only one to two feet (0.3 to 0.6 meters) high. There is also more space between the plants.

The American West is mostly short grass prairie. This area stretches from central Texas up into Canada. It is found east of the very dry semi-desert regions. Much of this land is now used as pastures. This is where cows and sheep graze. Areas near rivers are watered to grow crops. But many of the original native plants are still common in these areas.

Images for kids

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  Tallgrass prairie flora (Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie)

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  Prairie grasses

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  A wheatfield intersection in the Southern Saskatchewan prairies, Canada.

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  A prairie homestead in South Dakota (May 2010).

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  Sawgrass prairie in Everglades

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  Large, fertile soil areas are good homes for Prairie dogs.

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  Sand dunes and plants at Fossil Lake, with the Christmas Valley Sand Dunes (Feb. 21, 2017).

See also

In Spanish: Praderas de Norteam%C3%A9rica para ni%C3%B1os