Editing Prairie (section)

===Degradation===
In spite of long recurrent [[drought]]s and occasional [[rain|torrential rains]], the grasslands of the [[Great Plains]] were not subject to great soil [[erosion]]. The root systems of native prairie grasses firmly held the soil in place to prevent run-off of soil. When the plant died, the [[Fungus|fungi]] and [[bacteria]] returned its nutrients to the soil. These deep roots also helped native prairie plants reach water in even the driest conditions. Native grasses suffer much less damage from dry conditions than many farm crops currently grown.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ag.tennessee.edu/news/Pages/NR-2012-08-Drought-Grasses.aspx |title=Drought and Native Grasses
 |last=Keyser |first=Pat |date=2012-08-02 |publisher=The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture |access-date=2018-08-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.southeastfarmpress.com/livestock/native-warm-season-grasses-weather-drought-provide-many-other-benefits |title=Native warm-season grasses weather drought, provide many other benefit |last=Taylor |first=Ciji |date=2013-06-03 |website=southeastfarmpress.com |publisher=Southeast FarmPress |access-date=2018-08-02 }}</ref> When the eastern [[Tallgrass prairie|tallgrass prairies]] were plowed and turned into agricultural lands, the prairie grasses with their strong root systems were destroyed. In combination with severe droughts that resulted in the [[Dust Bowl]], a major ecological disaster in which winds picked up the dry, unprotected prairie soil and formed it into "black blizzards" of airborne dirt that blackened the skies for days at a time across 19 states and forced 400,000 people to abandon the [[Great Plains]] ecoregion. The Dust Bowl was a major reason for the [[Great Depression]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Dust Bowl |url=https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/dust-bowl/ |website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Unger |first1=David J. |title=Saving America's Broken Prairie |url=https://undark.org/2017/04/26/saving-americas-broken-prairie/ |website=Undark|date=26 April 2017 }}</ref>