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Bell Bowl Prairie
Bell Bowl Prairie is a remnant natural area, remnant dry gravel prairie located on public land in Rockford, Illinois (Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago County). It is considered a Category I Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI) site due to its high quality natural community of native flora and fauna. It is currently owned by the Greater Rockford Airport Authority (GRAA), a public taxing agency in Winnebago County. According to GRAA, the prairie is "one of the best-preserved prairies in northern Illinois – a glimpse of the Rockford area prior to colonization". Assessed in 2018, 5 acres of the approximately 22-acre prairie were considered high quality (roughly corresponding to the INAI area), and 4.2 acres were considered "moderate quality". In 2021, most of the prairie was expected to be demolished as part of the Chicago Rockford International Airport's expansion plans and the northern part of the prairie was irreversibly disturbed by construction activities. Environmenta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and the steppe of Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Lands typically referred to as "prairie" (a French loan word) tend to be in North America. The term encompasses the lower and mid-latitude of the area referred to as the Interior Plains of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It includes all of the Great Plains as well as the wetter, hillier land to the east. From west to east, generally the drier expanse of shortgrass prairie gives way to mixed grass prairie and ultimately the richer and wetter soils of the tallgrass prairie. In the U.S., the area is constituted by most or all of the states, from north to south, of North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
