North America is one of the world’s most geographically diverse regions. Due to its size and position across multiple environmental zones, North America provides ecologists and environmentalists with many case studies to analyze and from which to learn. Unfortunately, some of these natural habitats have been destroyed or harmed before scientists can gather crucial information needed to protect certain regions.
The Great Plains area is largely flat with some rolling hills of prairie. The Great Plains is marked by expanses of grassland that range from short grass in the West to tall grass in the East. Because there are no precise boundaries of the Great Plains and the region is subject to massive environmental changes, ecological uniformity is impossible to pin down.
The Great Plains plays a large part in American culture, providing a large economic base and great literary merit, as well. The famous novel "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck depicts an American family’s struggles in the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl. Slaughterhouses in the Great Plains caused uproar among labor unions and animal rights activists for a good part of the 20th century and remain controversial today.
Because of the unpredictable nature of the fragile Great Plains environment, many tribes and cultures attempted to populate the region but failed. As European interests reached west, French, English and Spanish governments fought over the Great Plains, as they believed whoever could control this area would control the land further west, as well. Explorers Lewis and Clark helped map out the land.
The Great Plains are in central North America, stretching about 2,400 miles from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba down through Texas to Mexico. The region covers around 1,000 miles from the southern part of the Rocky Mountains all the way to Indiana. Many draw the line for the Great Plains where the environment changes drastically enough to be considered a different zone.
According to the Canada Grains Council, The Great Plains provides 25percent of the world’s total production of “wheat, oats, barley, rye, sorghum and corn.” Around 10 million people populate the area, which places it among the least-populated agriculture regions on earth. The Great Plains has also served as a beneficial area for those invested in livestock and ranging, but overuse of the land resulted in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
