The Mixedgrass Subregion
The Mixedgrass Subregion typically includes
gently undulating to rolling morainal and glacial lake deposits, with
minor areas of steeper terrain along the lower and middle slopes of Milk
River Ridge the Cypress
hills and the Sweetgrass Hills in Montana. Slightly cooler
and moister conditions prevail in this subregion relative to the Dry
Mixedgrass subregion, and soils are primarily Dark Brown Chernozems.
The Mixedgrass Subregion is similar to the Dry Mixedgrass Subregion in many features.
The topography is generally subdued with a few minor uplands. The
Cypress Hills, however, are an exception as they are considered a
prominent upland and the highest topographic feature between the Rocky
Mountains and Labroador's Torngat Mountains. Other predominant landforms are
glacial till and hummocky moraine but there are important areas of
glaciolacustrine sand plains, and fine-textured
glaciolacustrine lake deposits. The few permanent streams are well defined. Drainage is either to the Missouri River system via the Milk River or to the Saskatchewan River system.
Native grasslands in the Mixedgrass
Subregion are dominated by needle grasses and wheat grasses, with many
of the same forbs and dwarf shrubs that occur in grasslands of the Dry
Mixedgrass Subregion. Tall shrub and tree growth is also mostly
restricted to moist draws and river valleys.
Information provided by and printed with the permission
of Alberta Community Development, Parks
and Protected Areas.
[Geology
and Landforms][Climate][Soils]
[Vegetation][Wildlife]
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