Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

JEFF PRINTZ, USDA-NRCS
JEFF PRINTZ, USDA-NRCS
Grasslands of central North America 231
Plate 6.7
Mixed-grass prairie – west side of the Missouri river, just south of Mandan,
North Dakota.
Plate 6.8
Mixed-grass prairie – north-central North Dakota, USA .
diversity of the mixed prairie is highest of all grassland types in the USA (not
unusual for vegetation often considered an ecotone ). Two major grass dominants
of short-grass (Plate 6.10) vegetation are blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis )
(Plate 6.11) and buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides ). Many forb species are also
common in the grassland. Thus, the term “grassland” may be somewhat mis-