Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 10.32 Breaking prairie in the Great Plains.
Scenes
like this were common as settlement spread in the Great Plains
region in the late 1800s and early 1900s. By the 1930s most of
the native grassland had been plowed under and converted to
farmland.
Figure 10.33 Wheat field near harvest in the Great Plains.
Given that wheat is a type of grass, it is a perfect agricultural crop
for the grassland biome.
demand for old-growth timber in this region has controversial
overtones regarding habitat loss and species extinction, most
notably with respect to the spotted owl. Environmentalists fer-
vently believe that the remaining forests should be preserved
to protect important owl habitat. Logging firms, in contrast,
argue that further cutting is necessary to meet timber demand
and to protect jobs.
example, was covered by grass. Prior to European settlement of
North America, as much as 162,000 hectares (400,000 acres) of
the continental interior were grassland.
As you will learn in the next chapter, the soils in the mid-
latitude grassland biome are some of the most fertile in the
world. This fertility is ideal for the development of large-scale
agriculture, which began in this part of the United States during
the era of westward expansion in the middle and late 1800s.
Most of the settlers during this time were farmers who “broke”
the native grasslands with ox teams and plows. In the early
part of the 20th century agriculture became mechanized with
tractors that could turn soil over more quickly and effectively
(Figure 10.32). Today, large-scale agriculture dominates the
region today in the form of extensive corn, soybean, and wheat
operations (Figure 10.33). Although the benefit of this form
of intense agriculture to people is obvious, the impact on the
Agriculture in the Midlatitude
Grassland Biome
In addition to the tremendous impact that people have had on
global forests, another biome that has been severely modi-
fied by humans is the midlatitude grassland biome. You can
see the potential natural distribution of grassland on Earth in
Figure 10.6. Notice how much of central North America, for
Deforestation
The topic of deforestation is of particular concern to many
scientists. One way to monitor the rates and patterns of defor-
estation is through satellite remote sensing. To see some exam-
ples of how this kind of monitoring occurs, select the animation
Deforestation
. This interactive module illustrates the kind of
patterns that geographers observe when they study deforestation
around the world. As you work your way through the animation,
you will be asked to identify deforested and uncut areas using
both true-color and infrared satellite imagery. A short animation
also illustrates the rate of rainforest deforestation in the Amazon
and Borneo. After you complete this exercise, be sure to answer
the questions at the end of it to test your understanding of this
concept.
