The Prairie Wedge

By: James Martinsen

Introduction

• The Prairie Peninsula is a wedge of prairie that extends from western Iowa to western Indiana.

• Which covers much of the middle of Illinois.

• The land in this area is flat to gently rolling, a result of glacial activity.

• What makes this vegetation region unique to me, is that this grassland is surrounded by mid-latitude deciduous forest.  

Quick Question

• The Prairie Peninsula has been studied for many years. One of the questions puzzling researchers is why this region of the United States supported grasslands, even though annual precipitation is high enough to support forest.

• Why do you think this grassland region occurs in the middle of mid-latitude deciduous forest?

Answer One of the answers was found to be in prairie fires. Frequent

prairie fires slowed down invasion by forest.

In addition, prairie vegetation becomes extremely flammable every fall, which encourages

widespread fires. 

American Indians repeatedly set fires to move buffalo and

also improve their habitat. 

Native Americans

• The Tribes which inhabited the land were:

• Puants[Winnebago]

• Outagamis [Fox]

• Kicapoux [Kickapoo]

Pah-me-cow-ee-tah, or Man Who Tracks, a Peoria Illinois Chief

Ah-tee-wat-o-mee, a Kickapoo woman

•These Native Americans were the first people to use the prairie's vast resources.

•The prairie provided them with plants that could be used as food and medicine.

• By burning the prairie, Native Americans could drive bison and elk during a hunt.

• The fires also kept the land an open grassland with few trees.

Wildlife

• Many mammals have strived on the Prairie due to its abundant supply of food and cover. Like the Elk and Prairie Vole

• By the 19th century, many mammals disappeared because their habitats were turned into farmland, and they were over-hunted. Like the Bison.

• Many mammals were able to adapt and still live on the prairie. Like the badger, Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel, and the Coyote

Farming• Increasing numbers of people settled in Illinois and

plowed much of the land. • By the 1880s, Illinois inventors were coming up with

designs for disc plows, disc harrows, and barbed wire that made it easier for farmers to plow fields and fence their pastures.

• By the middle of the nineteenth century, The diverse habitat that once supported thousands of plant and animal species almost disappeared.

• It was replaced by soybeans, corn, and grazing cattle. A domesticated farmland replaced the wild prairie.

Discussion Questions• Today, most of Illinois is covered by farms and pastures

that produces food resources for the world. • Do you think the settlers went overboard on farming, and

exceeded the limit?• How are the choices made back in the 18th century effect

us in the 20th century?

• My views are more conservative and yes I think we consumed more then we need. In our society it is more important to make money then to look into the future and see the consequences.

• In effect we have depleted many nutrients out of the soil and today there are only little pieces, of prairie left. Totaling just one tenth of one per cent of the original size of the prairie of Illinois.

My Opinion