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[p.3] PART I.--PHYSIOGRAPHY
AND LIFE ZONES OF NORTH DAKOTA
CHANGING CONDITIONS
North
Dakota, like other great prairie States, has rapidly changed
in character from a country of native grassland and abundant
wild life to one of rich grainfields unsuited to wild
life and from which much of it is being banished. With
the ever-increasing diversity of crops and livestock and
with more intensive methods of agriculture, the new conditions
are being advanced, and some of the most desirable native
species of both animals and plants are disappearing, while
many of the undesirable are holding their own or increasing
in numbers. These conditions are accompanied by many problems
of animal protection and control, the wise solution of
which depends largely upon our knowledge of the species
in the past and present, and especially of their habits,
distribution, and environment.
GENERAL PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES
The
surface of the State, while generally classed as prairie
or plains, varies from vast level stretches and rolling
hills to buttes, badlands, and mountains.
Glacial Remains
In
the Red River Valley, formerly occupied by the waters
of Lake Agassiz, the prairie is comparatively level and
often stretches away beyond the horizon without a ripple
on its surface (Pl. 2). Over much
of the State, however, the prairie is irregular, hilly,
and undulating, forming what in the common phrase of the
country is called "rolling prairie." This hilly configuration
is due to the enormous deposits of glacial drift made
by the advance and recession of the great ice sheets,
which at different times covered a large part of the State.
The ridges, hills, hollows, and lake basins formed by
the ice sheets where they dumped their moraines of soil
and bowlders in scattered heaps and long ridges, have
been subjected to the rounding and leveling influence
of the elements until the surface often suggests the billowy
swells of midocean. Great numbers of marshes, sloughs,
and lakes occupy the basins scooped out by the ice and
often are left without possible drainage. The extensive
inland lakes thus formed have disappeared in some cases
and have left level areas of rich alluvial bottoms.
The later ice sheets stopped
before reaching the Missouri River, piling up great terminal
and lateral moraines along the northern and eastern margin
of the river valley, still marked by the series of buttes
and ridges known as the Coteau de Missouri, but one of
the earlier sheets pushed across and unloaded its bowlders
and débris [p.4] well up the valleys to
the west. This sheet was evidently of no great duration,
for the course of the river was not materially changed.
Over most of the country west of the river there is little
trace of ice action, and the water-carved buttes of the
Badlands stand high and sharp, with their flat tops dating
back far beyond the glacial period.
While the great Missouri
River flowing through the State defied this early continental
ice sheet, resuming its course when this receded, and
not being reached by the later ones, the streams east
of it were greatly modified, and some were wiped out of
existence by ice action. Those flowing northward were
first blocked by the ice and forced to overflow to the
south. Then, after deep channels had been cut and the
sheet had receded, some returned to their old northward
courses and drew back old tributaries, while others cut
new channels in other directions or were blocked and filled
until only chains of lakes remained.
Lowered Water Levels
The
country east of the Missouri River is generally well watered,
but the greater part of the surface water is standing
in numerous lakes and sloughs rather than flowing in the
limited drainage system. Many of the smaller sloughs and
marshes have been drained and converted into rich agricultural
land and many have dried up in recent years. Since the
cultivation of the soil a great shrinkage of the lakes
and streams has taken place. Where formerly the water
ran quickly from the firm prairie turf into the streams
and hollows, both the rain and snow water are now absorbed
by the mellow surface of the plowed land. This absorption
distributes a greater quantity of water through the soil,
and at the same time the more extensive evaporation surface
increases the humidity of the climate. A striking illustration
of the decrease in the water levels is shown at Devils
Lake, which at the time of the early settlement of the
region in 1887, had a steamboat landing close to the town
of the same name. In 1920 the water had receded about
2 miles from the town, and since 1879 the level has fallen
approximately 18 feet. Many of the smaller lakes have
disappeared, and the smaller streams are shrinking. The
disappearance of the prehistoric glacial lakes, Agassiz
(now the Red River Valley), Souris (now the Mouse River
Valley), and Sargent (now the general district of the
county of the same name), was due not to a decrease in
humidity nor to absorption of rainfall, but to the opening
of a direct drainage into Hudson Bay after the recession
of the last ice sheet.
Drainage Systems
The
present drainage of North Dakota lies mainly in four well-defined
systems (see map, Plate 1): (1) In the southwest, the
Missouri River, with its main western tributaries, the
Yellowstone, Little Missouri, Heart, and Cannonball, pouring
its waters eventually into the Mississippi and the Gulf
of Mexico; (2) in the southeast, the Dakota, or James,
River which joins the Missouri in Nebraska; (3) in the
east, the Red River of the North with its main western
tributaries, the Sheyenne and Pembina, flowing northward
into Lake Winnipeg and eventually reaching the waters
of Hudson [p.5] Bay; and (4) in the north,
the Mouse or Souris River, with its chief tributary, the
Riviere des Lacs, making a deep loop into the State and,
then turning north and cast to join the Assiniboine in
Manitoba.
Elevations and the Badlands
The
variation of altitude within the State is comparatively
slight and gradual, ranging from 753 feet above sea, level
on the Red River at Pembina, in the northeastern corner,
to 3,463 feet on Black Butte, in the southwestern corner.
The Turtle Mountains, midway of the northern boundary,
are merely high moraine-covered hills, the greatest altitude
being about 2,500 feet, while the highest point of the
Pembina Hills, to the east, is given as 1,660 feet. West
of the Missouri River, with a high-water mark near Bismarck
of 1,646 feet, the country rises to a prairie level at
Dickinson of 2,411 feet; at Sentinel Butte, 2,711; at
Beach, 2,759; and at Summit, between the last two localities,
2,830 feet, while numerous buttes over the surface of
the prairie rise on a few hundred feet higher. The Killdeer
Mountains, a group of rounded hills with timber and brush
in the gulches, lying in the bend of the Little Missouri
northeast of Medora, are but a part of the Badlands plateau,
rising about 700 feet above the surrounding prairie.
The great stretches of
prairie west of the Missouri River show their age in the
flat-topped ridges and wide sloping valleys of a lakeless
and deep and well-worn drainage system. The greater part
of this area is composed of level prairie or gentle slopes
well suited to agriculture, but there are great numbers
of sharp or flat-topped buttes or groups of buttes rising
above the general surface, numerous deep ravines cutting
through to lower levels, and brush or tree fringed streams
tracing the bottoms of the valleys (Pl.
3). For a long time the region was considered too
arid for uses other than stock raising, but with the improved
farming methods of recent years demonstrating its value
for grain and other crops, it has rapidly filled up with
enterprising farms and towns. Most of the area is good
farmland, but there are some parts so rough and steep
that they can never be cultivated, and these will long
remain in a primitive condition. These are the "Badlands"
(Pl. 3).
The Badlands of the Missouri
Valley and westward are not only a striking feature of
the landscape, but they are of interest to the student
of wild life, as they have had a marked influence on the
distribution of species. They are most conspicuous and
picturesque along the Little Missouri River Valley, but
also occur in marked form along the banks and bluffs of
the Missouri above the mouth of the Little Missouri, and
especially from Little Knife River westward.
The presence of the Badlands
is due to the reduced rainfall in this western part of
the State, together with peculiar geological formations,
soft rock, beds of lignite coal, the bright-colored scoria,
and mineral-laden beds of clay with generally a dry, baked
surface, which quickly sheds the little rain that falls.
In texture as well as in form the land is in striking
contrast with the glacier-plowed rolling prairies east
of the river. Underneath the surface soil the older strata
are generally impervious to water.
[p.6] In
form, the Badlands are characterized by flat-topped or
rounded buttes, abrupt walls, benches, terraces, and bottomland
flats. In their most typical and picturesque form they
are found along the steep slopes of the stream valleys,
where their bare walls are carved and eroded into grotesque
and striking shapes, suggesting ancient ruins. In many
places the Badlands banks are too steep to be climbed
even by mountain sheep, except on well-known and well-worn
trails leading from shelf to shelf. When wet the alkaline
slopes are as slippery as a piece of wet soap, and are
then of necessity avoided by man and beast.
The steep slopes are generally
devoid of vegetation, but the benches and flat tops are
usually covered with the best grasses, and many of the
gulches are filled with dense tangles of brush and scrubby
timber. The colors in the Badlands are in places as brilliant
as those of the Painted Desert of Arizona, ranging from
broad black bands of lignite coal, through the grays,
browns, and yellows of various clay formations, and the
bright brick-red and pink beds of scoria, to the brown
or gray or chalky white of sandstone and limestone cliffs.
Usually from the top of the cliffs and walls the level
prairie stretches away to the far and treeless horizon.
Geologically the Badlands
are ready-made cross sections of the earth's surface.
For untold ages their strata were deposited in deep or
shallow waters, along shores and estuaries, or in marshes
and forests, layer after layer, each of which embedded
and preserved in some form the plant and animal life of
its time. Great logs and stumps of petrified trees crop
out in places along the banks or lie scattered over the
flats below, while fossil bones, teeth, and shells of
ancient types of animal life are often found in abundance.
Even at the present day the cliffs, caves, and gulches,
and the sheltered valleys, warm nooks, and corners of
these Badlands harbor many species of native animals that
otherwise would not be found within the borders of the
State.
Probably no area in North
Dakota is better suited for game refuges and parks than
the Killdeer Mountains. The need is not so great for the
present as for 20, 50, and 100 years hence. The mountains
stand on the edge of the Badlands like a cool, green,
rugged island in the midst of a great prairie region of
rich soil, good farms, good roads, and a good beginning
toward a future teeming population. On pleasant Sundays,
50 to 100 automobile parties even now visit the mountains
for picnics in the cool shade, for drafts of pure, cold
water, the sight of strange flowers, plants, trees, birds,
and mammals, rugged climbs, and a glorious view over wide
country. With greater attractions of native animals, well-selected
picnic and camping grounds, and trails to the points of
interest, the visitors would to-day number thousands instead
of hundreds, and in a few years hard-working farm people
and tired city people from all over the State would find
an easily available health and pleasure ground.
The Turtle Mountains represent
another type of country with a strong bearing on the distribution
of animal life. Although merely a group of high, rough,
glaciated hills, alternating with hollows and lakes, they
stand up from the surrounding prairie dark and timbered
in inviting contrast with the boundless open expanse.
Their charm is not so much in height or roughness as in
the oasis of forest and the [p.7] beautiful
forest-bordered lakes which they offer in the midst of
a great prairie region (Pl. 4).
This timber body is practically isolated except for a
scattered and broken connection eastward along the streams
and hills to the strip of timber along the Red River.
Fortunately much of the land is rough, steep, and stony,
and so covered with scrub timber that it is not likely
to be cleared off in the near future. Its chief value
is for game refuges and for fishing and recreation grounds.
Prairie
The
one striking feature of the country is the original boundless
grassland prairie, which at the present time is largely
under cultivation in almost equally boundless fields and
crops. Over much of the State the uncultivated areas are
coming to be so restricted that game birds have difficulty
in finding suitable nesting places outside of the fields,
while some of the mammals are equally shut out and others
have taken up quarters within the cultivated areas, where
they cause serious damage to crops.
Forest
The
native forest of North Dakota may be placed in three groups:
the Minnesota type, the Missouri-River type, and the Rocky-Mountain
type.
The eastern or Minnesota
type borders the streams in the Red River Valley, covers
the Pembina Hills and Turtle Mountains, and skirts the
snowdrift borders of the larger lakes, such as Devils
take, Stump Lake, and the Sweetwater Lakes. (Pl.
5.) This consists mainly of a moderate growth of deciduous
trees, such as American elm, red elm, white ash, boxelder,
bur oak, ironwood, basswood, aspen, balsam poplar, and
cottonwood, and such shrubs as hazel, alder, serviceberry,
chokeberry, pin cherry, cornel, and rose.
The Missouri River type
is found along the Missouri and Little Missouri River
bottoms and consists largely of the broad-leaved cottonwood,
many willows, and scattered boxelder, elm, ash, buffaloberry,
shrubby dogwoods, and flowering currants. (Pl.
6.) A trace of the third type of forest is found in
the Badlands and over the higher buttes along the Little
Missouri River, where in places the Rocky Mountain yellow
pine and Rocky Mountain juniper grow in considerable abundance
and the western birch and shrubby cinquefoil come into
the Killdeer Mountains.
Though more or less mixed,
these three groups indicate types of climate and soil
conditions that to some extent govern the distribution
of the animal life. The forest growth is very restricted,
covering only a small part of the surface of the State,
lying mainly in narrow strips along the banks of streams
on the edges of lakes, in the gulches and on the steep
slopes of the mountains and bluffs, where deep snowdrifts
lie late into the spring. It is of great importance, however,
not only for the use of the present inhabitants, but for
the influence it has had on animal life, in the shelter,
protection, and food afforded, without which many of the
species would have been excluded from the State.
[p.8] In
its restricted range along the immediate stream courses
and in gulches and valley bottoms, the native forest is
often hidden, and at a distance is less conspicuous than
the planted groves scattered over the prairie. At the
present time the artificially planted plots far exceed
the native forests of the State both in abundance and
in value. These, too, are beginning to show a marked influence
on the distribution of species, attracting to the vicinity
of homes many birds and mammals that otherwise would be
absent. Thus physiography, forest and plant distribution,
soil, and climate all bear a vital relation to the problems
involved in a study of the animal life of the State.
LIFE ZONES OF NORTH DAKOTA
In
a comparatively level prairie country there are no striking
contrasts in the distribution areas, and the life zones
blend almost insensibly into each other. The greater part
of North Dakota lies in the Transition Zone, which, in
crossing the continent as a broad band between the warm
Upper Austral (Sonoran) and the cold Boreal Zones, spreads
to its greatest width over the northern prairies of the
Dakotas, Montana, and Saskatchewan. (See Plate 1.) It
so nearly covers North Dakota that many of its species
are found scattered over the limited areas of both the
Canadian Zone of the Turtle Mountains on the north and
the narrow tongues of Upper Austral Zone thrusting into
parts of the Missouri River Valley from the south and
west. These restricted areas of the Austral and Canadian
Zones, however, are sufficiently marked to be of importance
in giving to the State a wider range of crop, timber,
and animal adaptations, and an interesting diversity of
living conditions. For the best development of a State,
it is necessary that every climatic and physiographic
advantage be fully understood.
Upper Austral Zone
The
Upper Austral Zone, the Upper Sonoran, or semiarid subdivision
of which penetrates only into the warmest corners of the
State, is in no part sufficiently extensive to be marked
by entirely characteristic mammals, birds, or plants.
In its narrow strips along the Missouri Valley below Bismarck,
down the Missouri and Yellowstone Valleys to Williston,
along the Little Missouri Valley above the Killdeer Mountains,
and on many dry, warm slopes between these areas, it is
strongly characterized. So near the edge of a zone, however,
the slight inclination of a slope to the north reduces
the heat received from the sun's rays sufficiently to
change the flora and fauna in part or wholly to that of
the colder, higher zone, while a steep slope facing the
direct rays of the sun will attract many species of the
warmer, lower zone above their normal limits. Hence, in
a rough and broken country on the border of the two zones,
conditions are so complicated and often confusing that
the areas can be mapped in only a very general way.
In a study of the zones
in this region the slope exposure and the heat-absorbing
qualities of the surface (surface cover) are found more
important than actual altitude, since the gradual increase
in base level westward does not tend to lower the zones
and nowhere is the altitude above base level sufficient
to reduce noticeably the general temperature except by
slope exposure.
[p.9] Some
of the very highest parts of the State, in the extreme
southwestern corner, lie mainly within the Upper Austral
Zone. The Little Missouri Valley above and below Medora
(2,270 feet above sea level, and almost as high as the
tops of the Turtle Mountains) is the nearest to pure Upper
Austral and zonally the lowest point in the State. The
aridity, causing scanty soil cover and thus allowing the
greatest absorption of heat by the soil, adds to the purity
of the zone here, as also may the warm western winds.
Along the Missouri River
Valley from Bismarck to Williston many Austral species
have a continuous range, but seem generally to be secondary
to the Transition Zone or neutral species. The broad-leaved
cottonwood and the long-tailed chat have a practically
continuous range along the river valley, but other species,
such as the little chipmunk and dwarf lupine, seem to
drop out of sections of it.
Farther east local traces
of Upper Austral Zone species may be found on the warm
slopes of the sand dunes near Hankinson, and in the Dakota
and Maple River Valleys at Ludden and Ellendale. These
are mere traces overlapping from the zone farther south
in the Dakota River Valley. The zone is indicated at Hankinson
by the harvest mouse, little dusky pocket mouse, and sand
cherry, and at Oakes and Ludden by at least the harvest
mouse.
Following are characteristic
species of the Upper Austral Zone in North Dakota:
CHARACTERISTIC MAMMALS--UPPER AUSTRAL
ZONE
Badlands
mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis auduboni).
Badlands chipmunk (Eutamias pallidus pallidus).
Pale thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Citellus tridecemlineatus
pallidus).
Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus
ludovicianus).
Osgood white-footed mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus
osgoodi).
Badlands white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus
aridulus).
Pale bushy-tailed wood rat (Neotoma cinerea rupicola).
Prairie harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis
dychei)
Western upland mouse (Microtus ochrogaster haydenii).
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Maximilian
pocket mouse (Perognathus fasciatus fasciatus).
Dusky pocket mouse (Perognathus flavescens perniger).
Kansas pocket mouse (Perognathus hispidus paradoxus).
Richardson kangaroo rat (Perodipus montanus richardsoni).
Sagebrush pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides bullatus).
Black Hills cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttalli grangeri).
Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes).
Merriam shrew (Sorex merriami).
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CHARACTERISTIC BREEDING BIRDS--UPPER
AUSTRAL ZONE
Western
mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura marginella).
Burrowing owl (Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea).
Poor-will (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii nuttallii).
Say phoebe (Sayornis sayus).
Bullock oriole (Icterus bullockii bullockii).
Lark sparrow (Chondestes grammacus grammacus).
Western lark sparrow (Chondestes grammacus strigatus).
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Indigo
bunting (Passerina cyanea) (also Transition).
Lazuli bunting (Passerina amoena).
Dickcissel (Spiza americana).
Long-tailed chat (Icteria virens longicauda).
Rock wren (Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus).
Long-tailed chickadee (Penthestes atricapillus
septentrionalis).
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[p.10] CHARACTERISTIC
PLANTS--UPPER AUSTRAL ZONE
Broad-leaved
cottonwood (Populus deltoides).2
Sand cherry (Prunus pumila).
Flowering currant (Ribes aureum).
Skunk bush (Rhus trilobata).
Gray shadscale (Atriplex canescens).
Low shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia).
Nuttall shadscale (Atriplex nuttallii).
Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus).
Winterfat (Eurotia lanata).
Gray sagebrush (Artemisia cana).
Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus graveolens).
Tipsin (Psoralea esculenta).
Prairie-clover (Psoralea tenuiflora andPsoralea
lanceolata).
Dalea (Parosela enneandra).
Dwarf lupine (Lupinus pusillus).
Painted milk-vetch (Astragalus pictus).
Slender milk-vetch (Astragalus gracilis).
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Bird's-foot
trefoil (Hosackia americana).
Winged abronia (Tripterocalyx micranthus).
Snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata).
Mentzelia (Mentzelia decapetala).
Bee plant (Cleome serrulata).
Spiny solanum; buffalo-bur (Solanum rostratum).
Indian plantain (Plantago purshii).
Large-flowered beardtongue (Pentstemon grandiflorus).
Prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia polyacantha).
Slender cactus (Opuntia fragilis).
Spanish bayonet (Yucca glauca).
Low evening primrose (Pachylophus caespitosus).
Sand verbena (Abronia micrantha).
Wild sunflower (Helianthus annuus).
Dropseed grass (Oryzopsis micrantha andOryzopsis
cuspidata).
Grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis).
False buffalo grass (Munroa squarrosa).
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CROP ADAPTATIONS OF THE UPPER AUSTRAL
ZONE
The
variation in climate in North Dakota is so slight and
gradual, and the greater part of the State lies so fully
within the Transition Zone, that the raising of a comparatively
limited variety of crops has been customary over most
of the State. The great success of the small grains has
encouraged their production to the exclusion of many others
that might be cultivated in certain sections with equal
success. The early explorers found the Indians raising
an abundance of corn (Will and Hyde, 1917), squashes,
beans, and native tobacco on the fertile bottoms along
the Missouri River, where also the comparatively mild
climate rendered living conditions comfortable for these
poorly equipped and half-housed people. Many of these
long-tested and thoroughly acclimated varieties of vegetables
have been adopted into general cultivation and have helped
to increase the crop resources of the State; varieties
from other parts of the Upper Austral Zone have also been
found to thrive in these mild valleys.
Although no attempt is
made in the present report to indicate the particular
kinds and varieties of crops adapted to the different
life zones and their subdivisions in the State, it is
evident from the distribution of native species and the
climatic areas which they dominate that certain crops
will thrive in one part of the State and not in others.
Only by careful study of local conditions and by careful
testing of different varieties of seeds can safe recommendations
be made and the best results obtained from diversified
agriculture. With the increasing necessity of bringing
the producing quality of [p.11] the land
to the highest standard, and the more intelligent study
being given to farm problems, the value of a reliable
map of the life zones and subdivisions of these zones
is apparent.
The intrusion of narrow
areas of a southern zone into a northern one, as pointed
out by Doctor Merriam (1898, p. 15) many years ago, adds
a distinct advantage in marketing the crops by saving
long transportation and thus increasing their value. The
possibility of raising southern crops and fruits within
an area of unusually rich grain production is self-evident.
Although not always the richest in soil and natural resources,
the warmest sections of the State, with their climatic
advantages, should, if wisely used, be of special value.
Transition Zone
The
Transition Zone covers the whole of North Dakota with
the exception of the Turtle Mountains and various cold
slopes and gulches in other elevated areas, where Canadian
Zone conditions prevail, and the warmer Upper Austral
valleys of the Missouri and Little Missouri Rivers. Its
range of climate shows no marked variation over the State,
except for a slight decrease in temperature northward
and a gradual decrease in rainfall westward. The annual
rainfall, as given in the Climatology Report of the Weather
Bureau (U. S. Dept. Agr., 1919) for 1918, a nearly typical
year, varies from 25 inches in the eastern to 15 inches
in the western part of the State. The westward decrease
is so gradual that no sharp line can be drawn between
the humid eastern and semiarid western subdivisions of
the zone. Doctor Merriam (1898, map) places the dividing
line a little east of the one-hundredth meridian.3
The change from humid to semiarid is noticeably marked
by the shortening of the prairie grasses and the appearance
of western drought-resistant species.
The humid Transition
Zone covers practically all of the State west to and
including the Dakota (James) and Mouse (Souris) River
Valleys. It is Generally characterized by a heavy growth
of prairie grasses, by strips of timber along the streams,
and by thickets of brush in protected locations.
The semiarid Transition
Zone covers most of the western half of the State,
including the high country on both sides of the Missouri
River Valley an much of the Badlands region. It is generally
characterized by short-grass plains and a limited mixture
of Rocky Mountain species of mammals, birds, and plants.
The following lists contain
the chief characteristic animals and plants of the Transition
Zone in North Dakota:
CHARACTERISTIC MAMMALS--TRANSITION
ZONE
(a) Both Eastern and Western
Divisions
Richardson ground
squirrel (Citellus richardsoni richardsoni).
Loring red-backed mouse (Evotomys gapperi loringi).
[p.12] Yellow-red fox (Vulpes
fulva regalis).
Long-tailed weasel (Mustela longicauda).
Bonaparte weasel (Mustela cicognanii cicognanii).
Prairie jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius campestris).
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White-tailed
jack rabbit (Lepus townsendii campanius).
Minnesota mink (Lutreola vison letifera).
Northern skunk (Mephitis hudsonica hudsonica).
Hayden shrew (Sorex cinereus haydeni).
Large brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus fuscus).
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(b) Eastern (Humid) Division
Minnesota gray
squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis hypophaeus).
Gray chipmunk (Tamias striatus griseus).
Thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Citellus tridecemlineatus
tridecemlineatus).
Gray ground squirrel (Citellus franklinii).
Rufescent woodchuck (Marmota monax rufescens).
Northern white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus
noveboracensis).
Baird white-footed mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus
bairdii).
Eastern meadow mouse (Microtus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus).
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Little
upland mouse (Microtus minor minor).
Mississippi Valley pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius).
Dakota pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides rufescens).
Nebraska cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus similis).
Brush wolf (coyote) (Canis latrans latrans).
Short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda brevicauda).
Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus lucifugus).
Say bat (Myotis subulatus subulatus).
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(c) Western (Semiarid) Division
Pale mouse (Microtus
pallidus).
Drummond meadow mouse (Microtus pennsylvanicus
drummondi).
Northern bobcat (Lynx uinta).
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Kit fox,
swift (Vulpes velox hebes).
Plains coyote (Canis latrans nebracensis).
Yellowstone bat (Myotis lucifugus carissima).
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CHARACTERISTIC BREEDING BIRDS--TRANSITION
ZONE
(a) Both Eastern and Western
Divisions
Franklin gull
(Chroicocephalus pepixcan).
Forster tern (Sterna forsteri).
Canvasback duck (Aristonetta valisineria).
Redhead (Nyroca americana).
Ring-necked duck (Perissonetta collaris).
Wilson phalarope (Steganopus tricolor).
Marbled godwit (Limosa fedoa).
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Upland
plover (Bartramia longicauda).
Ferruginous rough-leg (Buteo ferrugineus).
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).
Chestnut-collared longspur (Calcarius ornatus).
Baird sparrow (Centronyx bairdii).
Nelson sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta nelsoni).
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(b) Eastern (Humid) Division
Woodcock (Rubicola
minor).
Broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus platypterus).
Yellow-bellied woodpecker (Sphyrapious varius varius).
Yellow-shafted flicker (Colaptes auratus luteus).
Whip-poor-will (Setochalcis vocifera vocifera).
Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata bromia).
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Baltimore
oriole (Icterus galbula).
Vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus gramineus).
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana).
Chewink towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus).
Rose-breasted grosbeak (Hedymeles ludovicianus).
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[p.13] (c) Western
(Semiarid) Division
Avocet (Recurvirostra
americana).
Sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianis).
Red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer collaris).
Magpie (Pica pica hudsonia)
Arctic towhee (Pipilo maculatus arcticus).
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Black-headed
grosbeak (Hedymeles melanocephalus papago).
McCown longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii).
Western vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus confinis).
Sprague pipit (Anthus spragueii).
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CHARACTERISTIC PLANTS--TRANSITION
ZONE
(a) Eastern (Humid) Division
Bur oak (Quercus
macrocarpa).
Basswood (Tilia americana).
Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana).
White ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica).
White elm (Ulmus americana).
Red elm (Ulmus fulva).
Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis).
Red maple (Acer rubrum).
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum).
Hawthorn (Crataegus chrysocarpa and Crataegus
succulenta).
Wild plum (Prunus americana).
Hazel (Corylus americana).
Alder (Alnus incana).
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Missouri
willow (Salix missouriensis).
Cornel (Cornus femina).
Black haw; nanny-berry (Viburnum lentago).
Sumac (Rhus glabra).
Honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica glaucescens).
Red raspberry (Rubus strigosus).
Prairie rose (Rosa pratincola).
Pale rose (Rosa blanda).
Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens).
Black currant (Ribes americanum).
Smooth gooseberry (Ribes gracile).
Prickly ash (Xanthoxylum americanum).
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(b) Western (Semiarid) Division
Yellow pine (Pinus
scopulorum).
Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum).
Creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis).
Western birch (Betula fontinalis).
Silver-leaf (Elaeagnus argentea).
Buffaloberry (Lepargyrea argentea).
Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata).
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Silver
sage (Artemisia frigida).
Yellow willow (Salix lutea).
Green ash (Fraxinus lanceolata).
Shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa).
Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).
False lupine (Thermopsis rhombifolia).
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Bergman
(1918, p. 162) has made essentially this same division
under mesophytic and xerophytic prairie,
well characterizing each by its grasses and "more abundant
secondary species" as follows:
(a) Mesophytic, or Andropogon,
Prairie (Eastern)
Forked beardgrass;
Big blue-stem (Andropogon furcatus).
Broom beardgrass; Little blue-stem (Andropogon
scoparius).
Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans).
Porcupine grass (Stipa spartea).
Sedge (Carex festucacea).
Yarrow (Achillea lanulosa).
Gray false indigo; Lead-plant (Amorpha canescens).
Cylindric wind-flower (Anemone cylindrica).
Cut-leaved wormwood (Artemisia caudata).
Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia).
White-flowered avens (Drymocallis arguta).
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Closed
gentian (Gentiana puberula).
Maximilian sunflower (Helianthus maximilianus).
Alum root (Heuchera hispida).
Blazing star (Lacinaria pychnostachya and Lacinaria
scariosa).
Lobelia (Lobelia spicata).
Evening primrose (Meriolix serrulata).
Slender beardtongue (Pentstemon gracilis).
Ground cherry (Physalis lanceolata).
Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta).
Spiderwort (Tradescantia bracteata).
Ironweed (Vernonia fascicularis).
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[p.14] (b) Xerophytic
or Bouteloua, Prairie (Western Short-grass)
Grama grass (Bouteloua
oligostachya).
Buffalo grass (Bulbilis dactyloides).
Loco plant (Aragallus lambertii).
Silver sage (Artemisia frigida).
Buffalo pea (Astragalus crassicarpus).
Brown-eyed susan (Brauneria angustifolia).
Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sessiliflora).
Golden aster (Chrysopsis villosa).
Treacle mustard (Erysimum asperum).
Prairie marigold (Gaillardia lanceolata).
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Scarlet
gaura (Gaura coccinea).
Yellow flax (Linum rigidum).
Narrow-leaved puccoon (Lithospermum linearifolium).
Skeleton plant (Lygodesmia juncea).
Orange-red false mallow (Malvastram coccineum).
Yellow Indian paintbrush (Orthocarpus luteus).
Palo beardtongue (Pentstemon albidus).
Silver clover (Psoralea argophylla).
Groundsel, paintbrush (Senecio plattensis).
Yellow violet (Viola nuttallii).
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CROP ADAPTATIONS OF THE TRANSITION
ZONE
The
crop adaptations of the Transition Zone and its subdivisions
make it the most important in the State because of the
extent of the zone and the enormous quantity of its products.
Every slight advantage in variety of grain or other crop
under different climatic conditions should be utilized
so far as these conditions prevail. Different crops and
varieties are being constantly tested and the more resourceful
farmers are quick to adopt any that offer even a slight
advantage in quality, yield, or price.
Canadian Zone
The
Canadian Zone, which sweeps across the continent mainly
north of the United States and is generally characterized
by forests of spruce, fir, hemlock, aspen, and birch,
is only lightly represented in a few restricted areas
in North Dakota. Its largest area lies within the Turtle
Mountains, where Canadian-Zone species dominate the flora
and fauna, although by no means unmixed with Transition
species. Other districts with still less representation
of the zone are the Pembina Hills, the Killdeer Mountains,
and numerous cold slopes and cold gulches in the high
bluffs and buttes along the western side of the Mouse
River Valley. On many steep northeast slopes, on high
buttes, and in the Badlands, where in winter drifting
snows fill shaded gulches to such a depth as to remain
until late in spring or to the beginning of summer, a
trace of Canadian Zone species may be found.
The aspen (Pl.
4, fig. 2) is one of the most widely distributed and
abundant of the Canadian Zone trees, and from its habit
of reproduction from myriads of widely blown, cotton-tufted
seeds, it not only fills its zone, but lodges and grows
wherever climatic conditions are possible for it. For
this reason it is often found in spots far from its regular
range where even such local conditions as late snowbanks,
cold springs, cold underground waters, or well-shaded
slopes reduce the summer temperature. Thus, the aspens,
with a few other Boreal plants and animals, often form
little islands far out in the Transition Zone, in places
even to its lower edge, that carry Boreal species whose
presence is very confusing unless the conditions are thoroughly
understood and the existence of the zone recognized.
[p.15]
Cold slopes and gulches facing the north or northeast
and missing much of the heat from the sun's rays are also
important factors in carrying local traces of zones far
below their real borders. Often cold gulches contain springs
or streams of cold water in addition to the snow which
accumulates in winter and which helps to keep their summer
temperature low. In the Turtle Mountains the cold slopes
and gulches are practically pure Canadian Zone, as are
mainly the moist bottomlands and all but the more open
slopes facing the south. Although the temperature in these
hills may be no lower in winter than that of the surrounding
prairies, the more important growing temperature of summer
is noticeably cooler than that of the open prairies where
the sun's rays are more readily absorbed by the ground
and returned to the surface layer of air.
The Turtle Mountains at
their highest rise less than a thousand feet above the
prairie base level, and the actual altitude of the highest
hills is only approximately 2,500 feet. Although their
elevation is not such as to lower perceptibly the general
temperature, it is sufficient to attract an unusually
heavy precipitation. This, in the form of rain and snow,
produces not only a cooling effect on the surface, but
a heavy growth of vegetation, largely arboreal and shrubby,
the only extensive openings in which are lakes and marshes.
The timber is largely aspen mingled with balsam poplar,
white birch, and a few oaks, elms, and boxelders. The
forests have been frequently swept away by fires, which
fact undoubtedly accounts for the complete absence of
conifers. Even the tamarack, which would find ideal conditions
in the marshes, is not known to occur in this region.
The preponderance of aspens also indicates frequent fires,
as these trees, more than any other in this region, quickly
reforest burned areas. Owing to the fact that heavy winter
snows remain late in spring on the cold slopes, and to
the difficulty of clearing the brush and timber-covered
soil, the settlement of the hills has lagged behind that
of other parts of the State.
Though much modified, the
Canadian Zone area is here of special importance and interest
in carrying a comparatively well-forested area in the
midst of an extensive treeless region. The forest is happily
associated with numerous beautiful lakes, originally well
stocked with fish. The whole region was once famous for
its game and fur-bearing animals, and at present it affords
a delightful resort for fishing camping, and is steadily
growing in importance as a summer recreation ground.
CHARACTERISTIC MAMMALS--CANADIAN
ZONE
The
principal Canadian Zone mammals of the Turtle Mountains
and Pembina Hills at the present time are the red squirrel
(Sciurus hudsonicus), northern chipmunk (Eutamias
borealis), varying hare (Lepus americanus),
Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), Richardson shrew
(Sorex richardsoni), and silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris
noctivagans). Formerly there occurred also the caribou,
moose, marten, fisher, and wolverene.
CHARACTERISTIC BREEDING BIRDS--CANADIAN
ZONE
The
typical Canadian Zone birds of this region are not strongly
represented, but the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia
albicollis) is a common summer songster in the Turtle
Mountains, and the slate-colored junco (Junco hyemalis)
occurs and probably breeds.
[p.16] CHARACTERISTIC
PLANTS--CANADIAN ZONE
The
number of species of Canadian Zone plants in North Dakota
is not great, but the forest is dominated by a few of
them, as the aspen (poplar), balsam poplar, and white
birch. The following characterize the zone in the State:
Aspen poplar
(Populus tremuloides).
Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera).
White birch (Betula papyrifera).
Shrubby birch (Betula pumila glandulifera).
Pin cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica).
Autumn willow (Salix serissima).
High-bush cranberry (Viburnum opulus americana).
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Beaked
hazel (Corylus rostrata).
Rabbitberry (Lepargyrea canadensis).
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis).
Canadian serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis oblongifolia).
Red currant (Ribes triste).
Winter-lettuce (Pyrola asarifolia).
Miterwort (Mitella nuda).
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The
Killdeer Mountains, lying just south of the Little Missouri
River, about 30 miles directly west of its junction with
the Missouri, are another group of high hills of a different
type, but with only a slight trace of Canadian Zone in
their cold gulches. They are about 900 feet higher than
the surrounding prairie, with the main ridge about 12
miles long and from 2 to 3 miles wide. Their slopes are
steep and rocky in places and at the southern end form
limestone cliffs 100 feet high. The top of the ridge is
a level, grassy plateau, but there are many deep gulches
with springs and small streams of cold water. All the
deep gulches and about half the area of the mountains
are covered with a growth of deciduous trees and shrubs.
The principal trees are oak, aspen, ash, elm, boxelder,
white birch, and western birch; the shrubs are mainly
willow, serviceberry, chokecherry, red cherry, pin cherry,
plum, rose, gooseberry, wild currant, raspberry, thorn
apple, cornel, beaked hazel, buffaloberry, rabbitberry,
and shrubby juniper. Of these plants the aspen, white
birch, pin cherry, beaked hazel, rabbitberry, and shrubby
juniper are mainly Canadian Zone species. This element,
however, is not sufficiently pronounced to warrant mapping
the Killdeer Mountains as Canadian Zone.
Similar but even less strongly
marked elements of Canadian Zone may be found in the deep
gulches west of the Mouse River, and on some of the high
ridges and cold slopes over the northwestern part of the
State.
CROP ADAPTATIONS OF THE CANADIAN
ZONE
Although
pure Canadian Zone is of comparatively limited agricultural
value, it has other advantages, as forest, fur, and game
production. Its representation in North Dakota is so limited
and so mixed with Transition-Zone conditions that most
of the hardy crops of the Transition Zone thrive in it
except on pronounced northerly slopes or cold bottomlands.
The clearing of the land gives a slight advantage to the
lower zone conditions, especially on open areas and southerly
slopes. The main area of the Canadian Zone lies in the
Turtle Mountains, but even the more limited spots in the
Pembina Hills, the Killdeer Mountains, in the gulches,
and on the cold slopes of other elevated areas may prove
of special value for timber and fur production.
2
This upper Missouri form is so different in characters
and growth from the Carolina cottonwood that the necessity
of calling it deltoids is regrettable.
3
See also Fourth Provisional Zone Map of North America,
by the Biological Survey, 1910 (included in A. O. U. Check-List
of Birds).
Scanned and formatted by Kathryn
Thomas
North Dakota State University Libraries
June 3, 2002
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Last Updated: October 12, 2002