Page 44 - SST Class 05

Grasslands are vast flat land with a few trees. They
extend from the middle of Canada towards the
mid-west of the United States and Mexico. They
are irrigated by two big rivers : Mississippi and

Missouri. In America, the important states having
prairies are North Dakota, South Dakota,
Nabraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. In Canada, the
states of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
constitute parts of the prairies.

Climate

Being located in the interior of the continent, the
climate in the prairies is extreme type; that is,

summers are hot and winters are cold, with a
moderate rainfall. There occurs a heavy snowfall in

winters. This type of climate is favourable for Not to scale
grasses, but not trees.

Vegetation
The prairies can be divided into three main regions : ‘tallgrass’, ‘mixed’ and
‘shortgrass’ prairies. In the tallgrass prairie, there prevails a moderate climate which
has resulted into tall grasses spread over hundreds of kilometres. This type of climate
is also suitable for crops, especially cereals, so a large area has been cleared for wheat

cultivation. You can find very large wheat farms in the prairies. Due to their vast size,
machines and modern techniques are used for farming. Only some trees are found
along the banks of the two major rivers, Mississippi and Missouri. The important
varieties of trees include willow, alder and poplar.

The mixed prairie region is also good for farming and irrigation has made this region
into a fine farming region, where cereals are grown on an extensive scale.

The shortgrass prairie was once not so fertile, but water availability and use of modern
machines have made this region a very fine source of agriculture. Now, extensive
farming is conducted in this region.

Wildlife

With abundant availability of grass, we can find a large number of herbivores , like
bisons, zebras, antelopes, deer, horses, rabbits etc. These herbivores are the favourite
food of carnivores , which are attracted by their large numbers, so there are found a
large number of them too, like wolves, lions, leopards, tigers, jackals etc. Other animals
include python, prairie dog, rattlesnake etc.

44 Contemporary Social Science-5