Northern short grasslands

Northern short grasslands
Prairie in southeastern Alberta, Canada
Ecology
Biome	Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Borders	Montana Valley and Foothill grasslands Northern mixed grasslands Western short grasslands Nebraska Sand Hills mixed grasslands Wyoming Basin shrub steppe South Central Rockies forests Colorado Rockies forests
Bird species	231
Mammal species	78
Geography
Area	638,400 km2 (246,500 sq mi)
Countries	United States and Canada
States/Provinces	Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Alberta and Saskatchewan
Conservation
Habitat loss	28.690%
Protected	14.8%

The Northern short grasslands is one of 867 terrestrial ecoregions defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. This ecoregion includes parts of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the American Great Plains states of Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) further breaks this ecoregion into the Northwestern Glaciated Plains and Northwestern Great Plains.

The Northern short grasslands have a semi-arid climate, with annual average precipitation ranging from 270mm to 450mm. Winters here are cold, with a mean winter temperature of −10 °C (14 °F), but chinook winds, most common in the western part of the region, closest to the Rocky Mountains, ameliorate the cold temporarily when they pass over. Summers range from warm to hot, with a mean temperature of 16 °C (61 °F).

Dominant grasses include blue grama, needlegrass and spear grass. Big sagebrush is common in the southwest of the region, but almost non-existent in the north, northeast and east, where silver sagebrush is very common. Prickly pear and yellow cactus can be found in drier areas, especially in the badlands areas that can be found across the ecoregion. In the wettest areas, along water bodies, plains cottonwood, trembling aspen, willows and other trees can be found, along with various aquatic plants.