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FIRE DEPENDENT ECOSYSTEM MAP |
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* Roll over a region and click to see information |
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Common in Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas and the Ohio Valley. |
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Natural Fires in this ecosystem usually occur in five- to ten-year cycles. |
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Primarily made up of grasses and forbs, with some shrubs and trees. |
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Growth of native species such as big bluestem, little bluestem, and Indian grass all increase significantly following a fire. |
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Fire in tallgrass prairies acts to burn aboveground biomass, killing woody plants, allowing sunlight to reach the soil, and changing the soil pH and nutrient availability. |
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Because grass provides a low quality of fuel, grassland fires usually are not intense. |
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When fire is removed from a prairie ecosystem, woody shrubs and trees eventually replace grasses and forbs. |
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