The prairie is a vast, flat, or gently rolling grassland ecosystem that once stretched from Canada south to Texas. Prairies are characterized by deep, fertile soils and a climate of hot summers and cold winters with average annual precipitation between 25 to 40 inches, though some prairies were drier. Tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, as well as mixed-grass prairies, once covered significant portions of the North American continent but today much of the prairie has been converted for agricultural use.

1. Prairie