The Badlands holds the distinction of the first National Park we visited and therefore the first ecology survey to submit.

ECOSYSTEM – Semi-Arid Grasslands

CLIMATE – Temperatures range from 112 degrees F in the summer to -40 degrees F in the winter. Extremely windy year round. Precipitation varies widely.

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY – Created approximately 500,000 years ago. The canyons and rock formations are the result of erosion from wind and rain and melting snow. It is eroding at approximately 1 inch per year with the sediment ending up in the White, Bad, and Cheyenne Rivers and ultimately to the Missouri River. The area originally was a sea floor and the deepest fossils are of ancient shell fish. At one point after the seas drained, there was lush vegetation, but ultimately as the climate changed it became an arid grassland. Layers of different colors in the exposed rocks are the result of different sediments deposited over time when the climate was very different. The yellow band is from a time when there was significant plant growth and precipitation and the yellow is minerals from the decaying plants. Other colors are from layers of mud from an ancient sea bottom, floods, sea sand, volcanic ash, and wind blown dust.

ECO SURVEY

The harsh climate conditions result in forms of life that are well adapted to surviving in it. They all play a role together. The heavy hoofs of Bison loosen the soil which allows precipitation to enter it which in turn helps in plant growth. The Bisons fur also traps seeds and deposits them elsewhere to assist in dispersal. Prairie dogs also accomplish the loosening of the soil and absorption of moisture by digging their burrows. In turn, the prairie dogs are the favored food of Black Footed Ferrets who also use the Prairie Dog dens for their burrows.

Grassland fires, usually precipitated by lightning, burn off the old growth of grasses and encourage new growth, which is tender and is the preferred eating of the grazers. Also, the seeds of some plants won’t germinate unless the seed coats are scorched by the fires.

There are a variety of hearty grasses, small flowering plants, and small bushes as well as small trees, all adapted to the harsh conditions and unpredictable rainfall. There are also a variety of insects, birds, and snakes, especially rattlers in the park. Larger mammals include Big Horn Sheep, Antelope, Prairie Dogs, Swift Foxes, Owls and Black Footed Ferrets. Black Footed Ferrets, Swift Foxes, and Big Horn Sheep had disappeared from the park due to hunting, development, etc. along with Grizzlies and Wolves. The Ferrets, sheep, and foxes were re-introduced by wildlife biologists and are now thriving again.

The park is rich in fossils that date back to the time when it was a sea bottom, and up  until the presence of large mammals which included saber tooth like cats, large herbivores, etc.