Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Today, we can only imagine how the sea of grass looked. Much of the prairie has been plowed to produce crops. Shelterbelts, farmsteads, and powerlines now interrupt the formerly endless horizon.
Some prairies have survived better than others. Prairies on rocky, sandy, or hilly areas are sometimes left intact. Many of these are used for grazing livestock. The Red River Valley, however, has few prairie remnants left because the flat topography and fertile soil make it valuable cropland.
Few grasslands have survived man's impact: cattle now graze where buffalo once did; fires that rejuvinated prairie grasses and fortes are almost nonexistent. Many exotic species such as Kentucky bluegrass have suppressed native plants. Some of the plants and animals of the prairie are adaptable enough to survive the changes. Some are not. The species listed below could not adapt to these changes.
Black-footed Ferret: Historically, the black-footed ferret was never abundant. Probably because of its rareness, it was valued by Plains Indians, who used the pelts as ornamental dressings or ceremonial objects. The few North Dakota reports in this century (30 since 1910) have been restricted to counties south and west of the Missouri River. Most sightings have been in the vicinity of prairie dog towns near the Little Missouri and Cannonball rivers. The ferret's original range extended from Texas to Alberta.
Peregrine Falcon: Only two records of nests or dependent young of this magnificent predator have been documented since 1920. Professional egg collectors who sold eggs to museums or private collectors greatly reduced the North Dakota population by the early 1900s. The pesticide DDT nearly eliminated the population in the lower United States during the 1950s and 60s. Recent restrictions on DDT use have allowed slight population recovery in some areas. Most nests in North Dakota were on ledges or in crevices on the sides of steep buttes in the western part of the state.
Greater Prairie Chicken: This grouse likely followed agriculture into North Dakota during the pioneer period and then became very abundant during the first three decades of this century. Since the 1930s the species has been in steady decline and remnant populations occur only in or near the Sheyenne National Grasslands in Richland and Ransom counties and in Sargent County. The bird is an inhabitant of tracts of tall grass prairie that are not heavily grazed or otherwise disturbed.
Long-billed Curlew: This large shorebird inhabits short or mixed-grass prairie, but it suffered tremendous decreases in numbers as the prairies of North Dakota were converted to agricultural fields. Only a few pairs now reside in southwestern counties, but there too, the native grassland is being lost to agricultural and energy development.
McCown's Longspur: Near the turn of the century, this sparrow-like bird abandoned large areas of the Dakotas for unknown reasons. Some speculate it was harmed by lack of suitable shortgrass nesting sites as the prairies lay idle after the bison were extirpated. A few McCown's longspurs remain in extreme western North Dakota where they nest in stubble fields and a few tracts of shortgrass prairie.
Sage Grouse, Poor-will, Brewer's Sparrow
Sagebrush Lizard, Prairie Skink
Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, Upland Sandpiper, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Burrowing Owl, Sprague's Pipit, Baird's Sparrow
Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii): The original range of this species was the same as that of the tall grass prairie. Much of what was tall grass prairie has now been plowed. This species now occurs in Cass and Richland counties in tall grass prairie remnants along railroad right-of-ways and roadsides. Both of these habitats are quite vulnerable to degradation and the species has little ability to survive in degraded habitats.Aster Family:
Fleabane (Erigeron ochroleucus): This species is known in only the Killdeer Mountains in Dunn County. It occurs in gravelly soils in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota.Rockrose Family:
Frostweed (Helianthemum bicknellii): Frostweed occurs in sandy soil of open woodlands and prairie areas in Pembina and Ransom counties. The plant reaches its western limits of distribution in North Dakota. It is known from Maine west to North Dakota, south to Kansas and North Carolina.Adder's-tongue Family:
Beach Heather (Hudsonia tomentosa): This species is only known from the sandhills in Ransom County, where it occurs in dune areas. The only known collection of this plant in North Dakota was made in August 1900. The plant has been collected recently in the sandhills near Fertile, Minnesota and similar habitat certainly exists in the sandhills in southeastern North Dakota.
Pinweed (Lechea stricta): Pinweed is known from Bowman and Richland counties in North Dakota. It grows in sandy soil of open woods and prairies and is known from North Dakota south to northeastern Nebraska, east to New York and Ontario, Canada.
The genus Botrychium, has at least three endangered species in North Dakota. Dr. Warren H. Wagner of the University of Michigan, a specialist on this group, has recognized three species in the Lunaria group of Botrychium species. These are found north and east in North America and the populations in North Dakota are extremely small and endangered.Buckwheat or Smartweed Family:
Moonwort (Botrychium campestre): This species was collected by Dr. Dennis Disrud of Minot State College on coal mine spoils in Ward County and is the only known record in North Dakota.
Moonwort - A species, yet to be named by Dr. Wagner, was collected in a prairie meadow in McHenry County.
A specimen thought to be Botrychium multifidum was collected in Cavalier County. The specimen consisted of a single leaf and was determined by Dr. Wagner. Further investigation into the status of this species in North Dakota will be worthwhile.
Dakota Buckwheat (Eriogonum visheri): This species is known to occur in Grant, Sioux, and Mountrail counties in North Dakota where it grows in dry upland prairies. It is only known from western South Dakota and central North Dakota and is being considered for the federal endangered species list.Phlox Family:
Prairie Phlox (Phlox pilosa): The prairie phlox is known from only Cass and Richland counties, in tall grass prairie areas. The occurrence of tall grass prairie is endangered by agricultural practices and therefore, this species is endangered also. It is known from eastern North Dakota east to New York and south to Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida.Buttercup or Crowfoot Family:
Clematis (Clematis occidentalis): The purple clematis grows on rock outcrops in the Killdeer Mountains in Dunn County, and is known from the Black Hills in South Dakota and the mountains of Wyoming and Montana.Rose Family:
Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata): This species is recorded from only Billings and Cavalier counties, where it grows in upland prairie. It ranges from Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, south to North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, New York and Georgia. The populations in North Dakota are small.