BIOtheNUMBERS

48 - The number of bird species that nest in U.S. grasslands, including ducks, grouse, hawks, and songbirds

48 and 55 - The percent of grassland birds that are of conservation concern and percent showing significant declines.

2 - Percent of the tallgrass prairie that still remains in North America

4 - Number of grassland bird populations that are federally endangered

8 - Number of sparrow species out of 12 that are listed as of conservation concern

38-77 - Percent of Eastern and Western meadowlarks, Bobolinks, Shorteared Owls, and Northern Bobwhites that have declined since 1968

6 - Number of species that breed in the Great Plains of the United States and Canada and that winter in Mexico’s Chihuahuan grasslands that are showing steep declines of 68–91%

Data: State of the Birds 2009

Photo by South Dakota Tourism

The Great plains of United States has witnessed 70% of its area fragmented, by roads and highways, into parts smaller than 385 square miles. Grasslands hold an estimated 33% of the carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems.

Tallgrass prairie in the USA as of 2000: 19% has been converted to urban area, 71% converted to agriculture, and 10% remains as grassland.

“Tallgrass prairie once covered 140 million acres of North America. Within a generation the vast majority was developed and plowed under. Today less than 10% remains, mostly here in the Kansas Flint Hills.”  National Parks Service

According to the Nature Conservancy, “The Oklahoma Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is the largest protected remnant of tallgrass prairie left on earth.”  Prior to urbanization and agriculture the tallgrass prairie once stretched from Texas to Minnesota and its grasses grew within the borders of 14 states.