Threatened Colorado

Shortgrass Prairie

Eastern Plains

By Threatened Colorado , Two Colorado natives , About us

Last reviewed , Checked against USFWS, CPW, NPS sources , Sources (8)

White wildflowers blooming in shortgrass prairie at Pueblo Chemical Depot, Colorado, under a cloudy sky
Photo: Dana Shellhorn / USFWS, Public domain

About 3,450–6,500 ft

Short grasses such as blue grama dominate Colorado's eastern plains. It is the most altered of Colorado's major ecological systems: nearly half of the state's shortgrass prairie was converted in the past century, according to 2011 data from the Colorado Natural Heritage Program.

Why it matters

The defining grasses are short and tough. At Bent's Old Fort on the Arkansas River, the National Park Service describes shortgrass prairie where "grama and buffalo grasses predominate."

Prairie dog towns hold the system together. CPW calls prairie dogs "a keystone species integral to the health of ecosystems across Colorado and beyond," and the endangered black-footed ferret eats mostly prairie dogs and lives in their burrows, according to USFWS.

Plants

  • blue grama

Who lives here and why

Open ground and other animals' burrows. CPW says the burrowing owl lives in dry, open country with short grass and no trees, and in Colorado never digs its own burrow: it nests underground in holes dug by prairie dogs, ground squirrels and badgers, arriving from March to May and leaving from August to October.

Grass tall enough to hide a nest. The plains sharp-tailed grouse once nested over much of the northern two-thirds of the eastern prairie, CPW says; it now lives mainly in northern and central Weld County, almost entirely on Conservation Reserve Program grasslands. From March to June the males dance at dawn on leks, patches of short vegetation.

Under pressure

  • Plowing and development. The Colorado Natural Heritage Program called shortgrass prairie "by far the most altered of any of Colorado's major ecological systems," down 48% from its historic extent in its 2011 report. Habitat Loss & Fragmentation
  • Plague. CPW says prairie dog declines "have been caused by plague, a fatal bacterial disease," and that insecticides and a vaccine can prevent colonies from collapsing. Sylvatic Plague

Where to see it

Species in this habitat (24)

See shortgrass prairie in the explorer

Sources (8)

Photo credits

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