Grassland Abiotic Factors

• Forms a triangular area from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba through the Great Plains to southern Texas and Mexico, and approximately 1,000 miles from western Indiana westward to the Rocky Mountains.
• They cover about 1.4 million square miles.
• As you move from east to west, the rainfall in the prairies decreases.
• Precipitation in the prairies can reach from about 12.6 inches in the shortgrass prairie to 21.7 inches in the tallgrass prairies.
• Every 30 years or so there is a long drought period which lasts for several years.
• Every one to five years fire would spread across any given area of land.
• The soil under a prairie is a dense mat of tangled roots, rhizomes, bulbs, and rootstock.
• The soil is very fertile, with the long roots decomposing.