Animals of the PrairieThe Zoologist Section by Marlena

Animals of the Prairies

Herbivores

Bison

Antelope

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison http://a-z-animals.com/animals/antelope/ http://prairieecologist.com/2014/01/28/assessing-prairie-restoration-through-the-eyes-of-small-mammals-part-1/

Mice

Omnivores

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/prairie-dog/http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/9328843/1/ http://www.maine.gov/ifw/education/wildlifepark/wildlife/coyote.htm

Prairie Dog

Coyote Swift Fox

Carnivores

Badger

Bald Eagle

Bobcat

http://owenslaterphotography.com/2013/09/10/badgers-hunting-prairie-dogs/ http://www.silentlandscapes.com/bald-eagle http://www.cilfm.com/2015/01/12/quinn-vetoes-bill-to-allow-bobcat-hunting-in-il/

Decomposers• The dungbeetle is a decomposer on the prairie. Decomposers are very important

because they eat decaying plant and animal material and then return the nutrients back into the air, water and soil. Dungbeetles have three main jobs among them, the rollers, tunnelers and dwellers. The rollers roll the balls of dung. The tunnelers then bury it by tunneling under a dung pile. The dwellers then live in the dung pile. Using and collecting the dung is good for the prairies because the nutrients from the dung helps fertilize the plants. Having it in large collections is good for this. Most things come to the plants in the prairies, as shown in the food chains, and helping fertilize the plants is important.

http://www.ralphmag.org/FT/letters2.html http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/dung-beetle/ http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep11b.htm

Food Chain

Producer Primary Consumer Secondary Consumer Tertiary Consumer

http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/symbols/grass.html http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/prairie-dog/ http://gfp.sd.gov/wildlife/critters/amphibians-reptiles/snakes/prairie-rattlesnake.aspx http://owenslaterphotography.com/2013/09/10/badgers-hunting-prairie-dogs/

Grass

Prairie DogPrairie Rattlesnake Badger

Food Chain

Producer Primary Consumer Secondary Consumer Tertiary Consumer

http://www.reflectiveimages.com/PrairieGrass.htm http://www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com/wildlife/black-tailed-jackrabbit-lepus-californicus http://carnivoraforum.com/topic/9328843/1/ http://www.maine.gov/ifw/education/wildlifepark/wildlife/coyote.htm

Grass Jackrabbit

Swift FoxCoyote

Biotic Factors

• The prairies are flat areas that have little shelter and lots of grass. Because of this, many grass eating animals that can run fast, like antelope and buffalo, live there. They have long legs and hooves to help them run fast. They also usually live in large herds. These animals living in the prairie have predators, which also live in the prairies because of their prey living there.

Abiotic Factors

• The grasslands are large and open with lots of grass. The animals that live there like antelope can run quickly with their long legs and hooves. This is because the prairie is large and open, meaning fast running predators as well.• The soil in prairies is usually is the mollisols soils type. This soil is darker

brown in color usually, and has a good amount of clay and decomposed plant and animal matter, making it very fertile. This soil grows lots of different types of grasses, which encourage grass eating animals and their predators. Clay, which has fine particles and isn’t very soft will therefor make the soil type of mollisols firm. This could be good for burrowing animals in order for them to have burrows that won’t cave in.

Adaptations

• The prairies have seasons which include cold and snowy winters. Because of this, bison and buffalo have thick, furry, well insulated coats.• The white tailed jackrabbit, which lives in the prairie, turns white in winter• The swift fox is much faster and smaller that other foxes for a few reasons.

This will help them catch their fast running prey, running across the open prairie, and run from their predators which include the eagle and coyote.• The swift fox has large ears. This could be for the fact that their main prey is

prairie dogs, and they will need to hear them both about in the grass and in their burrows.

Credits

• http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/grassland.html • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/grassland/grassland.shtml • http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/wildlife/programs/projectwild/pdf/PPT_pdfs/Prairies%

20&%20Prairie%20Food%20Webs%20PowerPoint.pdf • http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/prairie_animal_page.htm • http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/american-bison/?

source=A-to-Z • http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/portraits/jackrabbit.htm#.VQRsEvnF-So • http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep11b.htm • http://

plantandsoil.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1130447032&topicorder=7&maxto=16&minto=1