Prairies and Pastures: The Disappearing Tallgrass Prairie Habitat

When we think of prairies and meadows, a certain image often comes to mind: tall, golden grasses waving gently in the wind. Even if you don’t know them by name, you have probably seen a few grasses pop up again and again: the cylindrical heads of Timothy Grass, bunched seeds of Orchard Grass, and swaying stems of Smooth Brome. All of these grasses were introduced to Canada to provide forage for domestic livestock. 

Prairies across the Oak Ridges Moraine used to look a little different. These habitats were called “tallgrass prairies,” thanks to the tall native grasses that dominated them. Tallgrass used to cover large expanses of southern Ontario, but now less than 3% of this habitat remains.

Unlike the introduced forage species described above, many native grasses are considered warm-season bunchgrasses. Timothy, Orchard Grass and Smooth Brome grow vigorously in the spring; native grasses like Big Bluestem and Yellow Prairie Grass do best later in the summer, thriving in hotter, dryer conditions. Furthermore, where many introduced species spread evenly across the ground, many tallgrass species grow in clumps (making them excellent garden ornamentals).

A tallgrass prairie would also have had a rainbow of colourful highlights from wildflowers such as Wild Bergamot, Lanceleaf Coreopsis, and Butterfly Milkweed.

A lot of native wildlife are adapted to living and thriving in tallgrass prairies. Eastern Meadowlarks and Bobolinks use the cover of waving grass to hide their nests. American Goldfinches eat the grass seeds. The Northern Pearly Eye butterfly lays its eggs on Bottlebrush Rye, and ground-nesting bees make their homes in bare patches of ground between grass bunches.

Native tallgrass species are an important element of habitat restoration on properties protected by the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust – and they’re a great choice for your backyard, too! Consider some of the following grasses as an accent for your garden: Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Bottlebrush Rye (Elymus hystrix), Canada Wild Rye (Elymus canadensis), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Side-oats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula).