Grasslands dominate the central regional landscape of the North America, extending from the Canadian prairies through the Chihuahuan Desert. We discuss common forms of ecological classification and highlight grassland diversity as described with the International Vegetation Classification. Most severe declines in grassland extent have occurred in tallgrass prairie types, followed by mixed-grass, shortgrass, and semi-desert grasslands. We report on a recently completed a Landscape Conservation Design for temperate grassland conservation. That process identified Potential Conservation Areas and type-specific representation varied from a low of just 1% of historic extent for Texas Blackland Tallgrass Prairie to a high of 27% for Western Great Plains Sand Prairie.
North American Temperate Grasslands: Conservation at the Center of the Continent
Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes
Citation
Comer, P.J., & Hoagland, B. (2019). North American Temperate Grasslands: Conservation at the Center of the Continent. Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes. Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.12039-1