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Scientific and Natural Areas found in Minnesota major
biomes
"Biome" is a term used to describe a biological community. Usually, biomes occur over large areas and include many similar plant communities and the animals that live in them.
Minnesota Ecosystem
Coniferous Deciduous Prairie
MINNESOTA ECOLOGICAL
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
ECS
MINNESOTA BIOME PATTERNSAS INFLUENCED BY:
-TEMPERATURE
-PRECIPITATION
BIOMES
THE BIG PICTURE
PRAIRIE
Types of Prairies
There are three general types of prairie in Minnesota: wet, mesic (having moderately moist soil) and dry.
Wet Prairies occur in shallow wetlands that are dry enough to support prairie grasses like big bluestem and switchgrass. Prairie cordgrass and blue-joint are often the dominant species. Wetland wildflowers are abundant, including New England aster, giant sunflower and gay-feather. Wetland alterations such as draining and filling have made wet prairies extremely rare in the metro region.
Mesic Prairies are found on dark, rich soils prized for agriculture. They have a dense cover of tall grasses such as big bluestem and Indian grass along with forbs such as purple prairie clover and heart-leaved alexander. They were found along the Mississippi River from St. Anthony Falls to Anoka and Sherburne counties.
Dry Prairies are more sparsely vegetated grasslands, sometimes with exposed patches of bare sandy or gravelly soil. Dry prairies vary according to soil, substrate and topography, and they are divided into three major subtypes:
Barrens prairie is the least common type of dry prairie, mainly occurring on sand dunes in Anoka County. They have sparse cover of grasses and sedges scattered or in clumps. Sand reedgrass, porcupine grass, little bluestem, rigid sunflower and hairy puccoon are typical species.
Sand-gravel prairie is the most common type of dry prairie, occurring throughout the region but especially on mixed sand and gravel soil in southern Washington County, Anoka County and along Mississippi and Minnesota river terraces. Sand-gravel prairies have many species in common with mesic prairies such as big bluestem, little bluestem, butterfly milkweed, leadplant and purple prairie clover, but they are generally sparser and shorter in stature.
Bedrock bluff prairie is found on rocky bluffs and has often been called "goat prairie." It is most common in southern Washington County. Little bluestem, side oats-grama, hairy grama and plains muhly dominate particularly dry slopes and rock ledges.
BIG BLUESTEM
INDIAN GRASS
SIDE OATS GRAMMA
DECIDUOUS FOREST
CONIFER FOREST
WET CONDITIONS WITHIN EACH MAJOR BOME PRODUCE
WETLANDS
MINNESOTA WETLANDS
Bogs, or peatlands, are wetlands whose soils are made up of peat (the partially decomposed remains of plants and animals). Northcentral Minnesota has extensive peatlands.
Shallow and Deep marshes are the most familiar to us. These open areas provide food and resting areas for migratory birds and wildlife. In southern and western Minnesota these types of wetlands may be called prairie potholes.
Prairie potholes are shallow depressions formed by retreating glaciers. They provide excellent habitat and breeding grounds for migratory birds.
Shrub and Wooded swamps are shrubby or forested wetlands found along the edges of lakes, rivers, and streams. Common wooded swamps are the black ash and black spruce forests.
Seasonal Basins or flats are small, isolated wetlands that contain water only seasonally. Once the water recedes they can be cropped in agricultural areas or logged in floodplain forests. These wetlands are important places for amphibians to reproduce and provide habitat for rare plant species. Seasonal basins or flats are found throughout Minnesota.
Wet meadows are low-lying grassy areas with saturated soils often found near streams, lakes and marshes. They include low prairies, sedge meadows and rare calcareous fens.
NW edge of Red Lake
MINNESOTA BIOMES:
SPECIAL PLACES
ALGIFIC SLOPES
GOAT PRAIRIES
OAK SAVANNAS
GALLERY FOREST
ALGIFIC SLOPES
Take a trip to an Ice Age RefugePortions of Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois contain unusual geology. The karst region, referred to as the “Driftless Area” escaped the last glaciers leaving the Paleozoic age (500,000 year old) bedrock subject to erosion. In addition to the curious topography of steep slopes and cliffs, there are unique habitats, the algific (cold air) talus (loose rock) slopes. These slopes remain cool throughout the year and are home to rare species of plants and animals. Established in 1989, Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge is helping to recover two federally listed species: the endangered Iowa Pleistocene snail and threatened Northern monkshood. Although the Refuge was established to protect the snail and flower an entire rare community of plants and animals is preserved on these sites.
ALGIFIC SLOPES
The northern monkshood threatened species.
ALGIFIC SLOPES
GOAT PRAIRIES
GOAT PRAIRIES
OAK SAVANNAS
OAKSAVANNA
GALLERY FORESTS
MINNESOTA RIVERGALLERY FOREST
HOW ACCURATE ARE THE PRE-SETTLEMENT VEGETATION MAPS?
SOILS
