America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert.
America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert. The eastern portion of these grasslands receives the most rain and is known as the prairie pothole region. Each year, almost half of America’s breeding waterfowl raise their broods across flooded potholes, and millions of migrating songbirds stop here to rest and refuel. The grasslands from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky Mountains known as the Great Plains historically supported not only millions of bison, pronghorn, and elk but smaller unique grassland mammals (e.g., swift fox, Great Plains wolf, black footed ferret, Franklin’s ground squirrel), songbirds (e.g., Henslow’s sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, bobolink, short-eared owl), and reptiles (Eastern Massasauga, ornate box turtle).
Since European settlement, approximately half of all grasslands have been converted to cultivated cropland or other uses leading to extinctions of several sub-species (Badlands Bighorn sheep, Great Plains wolf) and the imperilment of many species (birds, Swift fox, Eastern Massasauga, Black-foot ferret).
Grasslands Research
Agricultural Practices
Evaluating the Possible Effects of Wind Power Development on Refuging Waterbirds in the Great Plains, Upper Midwest and East Front of Northern Rocky Mountains
New Approaches for Restoring Colorado Plateau Grasslands
Recent data (2020-2022) related to USGS grasslands research is listed below. A complete listing of USGS grasslands data is available from the button below.
Recent publications (2020-2022) related to USGS grasslands research are listed below. A complete listing of USGS grasslands publications is available from the button below.
Grasslands maintain stability in productivity through compensatory effects and dominant species stability under extreme precipitation patterns
Evaluating establishment of conservation practices in the Conservation Reserve Program across the central and western United States
U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2019–20 research activity report
Landscape characterization of floral resources for pollinators in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States
Balancing the need for seed against invasive species risks in prairie habitat restorations
Fire controls annual bromes in northern great plains grasslands—Up to a point
Quantifying plant-soil-nutrient dynamics in rangelands: Fusion of UAV hyperspectral-LiDAR, UAV multispectral-photogrammetry, and ground-based LiDAR-digital photography in a shrub-encroached desert grassland
A new decision support tool for collaborative adaptive vegetation management in northern Great Plains national parks
Management of remnant tallgrass prairie by grazing or fire: Effects on plant communities and soil properties
U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2018 research activity report
Vegetation sampling and management
Biological nitrogen fixation across major biomes in Latin America: Patterns and global change effects
America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert.
America’s grasslands are in the middle of the country where there is insufficient rain to support forests but too much to be a desert. The eastern portion of these grasslands receives the most rain and is known as the prairie pothole region. Each year, almost half of America’s breeding waterfowl raise their broods across flooded potholes, and millions of migrating songbirds stop here to rest and refuel. The grasslands from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky Mountains known as the Great Plains historically supported not only millions of bison, pronghorn, and elk but smaller unique grassland mammals (e.g., swift fox, Great Plains wolf, black footed ferret, Franklin’s ground squirrel), songbirds (e.g., Henslow’s sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, bobolink, short-eared owl), and reptiles (Eastern Massasauga, ornate box turtle).
Since European settlement, approximately half of all grasslands have been converted to cultivated cropland or other uses leading to extinctions of several sub-species (Badlands Bighorn sheep, Great Plains wolf) and the imperilment of many species (birds, Swift fox, Eastern Massasauga, Black-foot ferret).
Grasslands Research
Agricultural Practices
Evaluating the Possible Effects of Wind Power Development on Refuging Waterbirds in the Great Plains, Upper Midwest and East Front of Northern Rocky Mountains
New Approaches for Restoring Colorado Plateau Grasslands
Recent data (2020-2022) related to USGS grasslands research is listed below. A complete listing of USGS grasslands data is available from the button below.
Recent publications (2020-2022) related to USGS grasslands research are listed below. A complete listing of USGS grasslands publications is available from the button below.