Best Shortgrass
Black Mesa Preserve is a nature reserve located in the Oklahoma panhandle, managed by The Nature Conservancy. The preserve protects a basalt mesa formed by ancient lava flows and contains the highest point in the state of Oklahoma at 4,973 feet. The area is ecologically significant for its mix of sh...
Grasslands National Park protects a significant expanse of shortgrass and mixed-grass prairie within Saskatchewan, Canada. Established in 1981, it’s notable for representing one of the largest remaining intact prairies on the continent. The park provides vital habitat for diverse plant and animal sp...
Smoky Valley Ranch is a nature preserve located in the Smoky Hills region of western Kansas, managed by The Nature Conservancy. Encompassing thousands of acres of mixed-grass and shortgrass prairie, the protected area safeguards a vital ecosystem for native wildlife and migrating birds. The ranch al...
The Southern Great Plains is a vast, semi-arid shortgrass prairie ecoregion located in the United States, primarily spanning across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The landscape is dominated by drought-resistant grasses such as buffalo grass and blue grama. Historically, the region served as the he...
The Northern Shortgrass Prairie is an ecoregion in the western Great Plains of the USA and Canada, notable for its semi-arid climate and its dominance of drought-resistant blue grama grass.
Pawnee National Grassland is a significant prairie ecosystem within Colorado’s northeastern plains. Established following the devastating 1930s Dust Bowl, it preserves a unique shortgrass habitat. The grassland provides critical breeding grounds for numerous bird species and supports diverse plant l...
The Central Shortgrass Prairie is an ecoregion in the US Great Plains, notable for its semi-arid climate and historical role as the primary grazing habitat for massive herds of American bison.
The Comanche National Grassland is a 125,000-acre prairie located in southeastern Colorado. Managed by the US Forest Service, it preserves significant paleontological resources including over 1,300 dinosaur tracks and ancient rock art sites. This shortgrass grassland provides habitat for diverse wil...
Located in northeastern Wyoming, Thunder Basin National Grassland is a vast protected area covering over half a million acres of public land. Managed by the United States Forest Service, it serves as an important ecological transition zone between the Rocky Mountains to the west and the central Grea...
Soapstone Prairie Natural Area is an 18,000-acre municipal property managed by the City of Fort Collins, Colorado. Opened to the public in 2009, it protects shortgrass prairie habitat at the intersection of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. The site contains the Lindenmeier Archaeological Site,...
The Cimarron National Grassland is a protected area spanning over 108,000 acres in southwestern Kansas, managed by the United States Forest Service. Established on lands devastated during the 1930s Dust Bowl, it is characterized by its shortgrass prairie ecosystem and native wildlife. The grassland...
Located in northeastern New Mexico, Kiowa National Grassland spans approximately 137,000 acres of shortgrass prairie and managed by the USDA Forest Service as part of the Cibola National Forest. The grassland features deep canyons along the Canadian River, including Mills Canyon, where early settler...
Rita Blanca National Grassland is a United States Forest Service area located in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. It preserves shortgrass prairie habitat characteristic of the southern Great Plains. The grassland supports populations of grassland birds and other wildlife adapted to the semi-arid p...
Located in the Texas Panhandle, this 1,449-acre United States Forest Service site is the smallest national grassland and surrounds Lake McClellan, offering significant recreational areas.
The white-whiskered grasshopper is among the most abundant acridids on North American shortgrass prairies, widely studied in rangeland pest management research.
The velvet-striped grasshopper is a North American acridid found in grasslands from the Great Plains eastward, notable for its velvety dark stripes along the pronotum.
A North American grasshopper distributed across the central and western United States prairies, belonging to the highly diverse Melanoplus genus and inhabiting dry grassland habitats.
The obscure grasshopper is a small North American acridid inhabiting shortgrass prairies of the Great Plains, where it is frequently encountered in rangeland surveys.
