Grasslands

Prior to settlement, grasslands covered about 243 square kilometres in an egg-shaped area between Brantford and Cambridge. However, they were quickly turned to farm fields by early settlers.

Today only a tiny fraction of prairie and savannah communities remain.

Grasslands are an imperiled ecosystem around the world and are considered endangered in Canada. The GRCA manages existing grasslands and creates new ones.

One way to manage grassland habitat is to hold prescribed burns, because many grasslands are fire-driven ecosystems.

Almost every spring, the GRCA carries out a prescribed burn on one of its grassland properties.

The burns promote fire-dependent native prairie and savannah vegetation and create critical wildlife habitat. Fire tends to discourage non-native species and increases seed yields for native species, which have adapted to survive fires.

Grassland facts

• Historic size: 240 square kilometres - three per cent of the watershed
• Current size: tiny fragments in scattered pockets
• Strategy: Protect and enhance existing grasslands
• Henslow's sparrow, American badger, eastern hognose snake, bird's foot violet