Little remains of the tallgrass prairies that blanketed millions
of acres of America's heartland just 170 years ago. These prairies were
part of a vast grassland complex that ranged from the Gulf of Mexico
north into Canada. The tallgrass prairie was... |
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...a sea of grass sometimes taller than a horse and rider |
...a carpet of wildflowers presenting a stunning spectrum of colors | ...a foundation of black, loamy soil that seemed boundless. |
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Almost all of these vast prairies are gone—but some people are trying to preserve and restore them. Can you build a tallgrass prairie? |
To
the west were shorter, mixed-grass prairies, which had adapted to
lower rainfall. To the east, the tallgrass prairie mingled with deciduous
woodlands. Throughout the Midwest, tallgrass prairies dominated the
landscape in the era before European settlement.