Guide to the Great Plains biome

This is a comprehensive data guide to the plants and animals of the Great Plains biome.

The guide includes:
-Plant data (cost, leaf points, fruit points, maturity age etc.)
-Stasis, flowering & fruiting cycle for each plant
-Animal data (cost, diet, reproduction rate etc.)
-Animal bios (a run down of the life history & ecological strategy of each animal species)

If you have any additional information particuliarly on animal on animal hunting interactions please inform me and I can add it to the guide.

Herbivore & Insectivore bios

DEER MOUSE
-Deer mice are super fast reproducing extra small herbivores. They have young very quickly (12 weeks) and these young mature rapidly (8 weeks).
-DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE their reproduction rate; without predators deer mice are an ecological catastrophe waiting to happen.
-Garter snakes are their natural predator; as garter snakes can only prey on Deer mice & frogs you do not have to worry about making larger species extinct. Although garter snakes do not breed fast enough to control a major outbreak they are also inexpensive in terms of points.
-Every predator on the Great Plains is capable of eating deer mice
-Deer mice can also eat insects particuliarly if there are no plants available.

FROG
-Frogs are similiar to deer mice except they can only eat insects (i.e. ants, moths, earthworms, bees) though their population growth rate is slower than deer mice as they take twice as long to both reproduce and mature.
-In case of an outbreak use Garter snakes as with deer mice.
-Every predator on the Great Plains is capable of eating frogs.

JACKRABBIT
-Jackrabbits are the fastest reproducing animal after deer mice.
-Their ability to 'eat tough' plants is useless in this biome as there are no 'tough' plants
-Baby jackrabbits take 32 weeks to mature; young Jackrabbits are vulnerable to predators such as Rattlesnakes and Burrowing owls which can not hunt adults. These species can be used to control the population while leaving the adults alone.
-In terms of food production Jackrabbits are superior to Prairie dogs due to their breeding rate.

PRAIRIE DOG
-Despite being small rodents Prairie dogs are slow reproducers; only breeding once a year and taking two years to mature. Mule deer can be raised from babies to adults quicker than it takes a generation of Prairie dogs (though Prairie dogs have more young).
-This makes them ineffective main prey items unless their very high max. population cap (50) is exploited to produce massive colonies (20+ adults & some juveniles) before introducing predators such as foxes or bobcats. The only problem then is making sure these Prairie dogs have plenty of food and don't eat themselves into oblivion everytime they have babies.
-Prairie dogs can also eat insects particuliarly if there are no plants available.

MULE DEER
-Adult mule deer can only be hunted by the four large carnivores: Coyote, Lynx, Cougar & Wolf
-Young mule deer are also hunted by adult Bobcats.
-However Mule deer breed so infrequently that additional prey (i.e. Jackrabbits) must be supplied to feed even a single Bobcat in the long term.
-Mule deer breed annually, each mother has a single fawn and they take 1.5 yrs to mature.

PRONGHORN
-Pronghorn 'antelope' are most active during midday whereas the Mule deer is most active at night, morning and evening so these two large herbivores species tend to 'swap shifts' in a day.
-Adult Pronghorn are hunted by Coyote, Lynx, Cougar & Wolves.
-Young are also vulnerable to Bobcats.
-Pronghorn breed annually and take 2 yrs to mature. Despite taking slightly longer to mature their advantage over Mule deer as a prey item is that they tend to have twice as many young per year as naturally Pronghorn mothers often have twins.
-This importantly gives adults some cover to replenish their numbers from predators.

BISON
-Adult Bison are hunted by Coyotes, Lynx, Cougar & Wolves. Only the latter occurs in real life.
-Calves are also vulnerable to Bobcats.
-As a megaherbivore Bison need plenty of food. Plants with high leaf values and fruit will stop them eating everything (Herbivores preferentially eat fruit giving grass time to recover).
-Bison breed annually and have one calf per pair of Bison.
-These adorable calves take 4 whole yrs to mature; but in an ecosystem with so many predators very few bison will reach maturity.
-With such a slow maturity rate and even adults currently being vulnerable to so many predators Bison inevitably go extinct unless large predators are absent or plentiful deer/pronghorn are around to distract predators.

Carnivore & Omnivore bios

GARTER SNAKE
-The only 'extra small' predator. Garter snakes hunt deer mice, frogs, insects & baby jackrabbits.
-Young Garter snakes hunt the same prey as adults but are less successful hunters.
-Garter snakes themselves are prey to every other predator in the Great Plains; fortunately they produce a lot of young. But young take a full 2 yrs to reach maturity so populations can be hit very hard if placed too close to predator territory; particuliarly those that like small prey like Owls.

RATTLESNAKE
-A 'small' predator whose venomous bite protects it from many predators.
-Like all snakes rattlesnakes prefer live prey and do not scavenge carrion.
-Adult Rattlesnakes eat deer mice, frogs, garter snakes, baby jackrabbits & baby prairie dogs(?).
-Rattlesnakes have a strong preference for eating baby Burrowing owls.
-The only predators of adult Rattlesnakes are Kingsnakes & Badgers. Despite this these species are often not needed for population control because young rattlesnakes are so vulnerable.
-Rattlesnakes take 4 yrs to reach sexual maturity and during this time are prey to ...

KINGSNAKE
-The King of snakes; this 'small' predator hunts extra small animals and the Rattlesnake.

BURROWING OWL
-As cute as they are voracious; burrowing owls prey upon extra small animals and insects.
-Burrowing owls do not like carrion and prioritise hunting extra small animals then insects.
-They are also capable of hunting baby Jackrabbits & baby Prairie dogs
-Because of their fast metabolism they eat more often than snakes and so are more effective for controlling mouse & frog outbreaks. Their ability to eat insects is also useful once rodent populations die back down however.

RED FOX
-Red fox hunt small animals (except the Rattlesnake), extra small animals & fish.
-Their main ''sustainable'' prey species should be Deer mice, Jackrabbits or Prairie dogs.
-Baby red foxes are cute as heck; but they are only able to hunt extra small prey i.e. mice, frogs and garter snakes. If these are unavailable they will have to scavenge from adult kills.
-This is a major cause of infant mortality in red foxes; to help feed the babies place mice or frogs near the centre of the fox territory.
-In nature an entire litter of 6 kits surviving to adulthood would be rare and some infant mortality is encouraged unless you have reserves of small mammals to feed a bunch of new foxes.
-Even as adults foxes are vulnerable to attack by many predators; all large carnivores can and will hunt foxes as can adult Bobcats! These predators will only usually attack foxes if their usual prey is in short supply.

BADGER
-A 'medium' size omnivore the American Badger prefers to hunt prey like Jackrabbits & Prairie dogs but is also a capable hunter of snakes (including rattlesnakes), owls, mice, frogs & insects.
-Its 'tough' status protects it from attack by Bobcats & Coyotes. But only as an adult.
-It is still vulnerable to Lynx, Cougars and ... however.

BOBCAT
-Despite being a 'medium' predator with the Red fox the Bobcat is a far more impressive predator.
-Bobcats hunt extra small animals, small animals (except rattlesnakes), young deer, young Pronghorn and Red foxes (rarely).

COYOTE
-Coyotes are omnivores.
-Their favourite foods are Carrion, Fruit & small animals. But they will also eat plants, insects, fish and can hunt large herbivores (including your Bison!).
-Coyote are the fastest reproducing predator in the Great Plains (breed yearly, 2/3 yr to mature)
-Their wide diet means that Coyote pups rarely starve like foxes due to a lack of small prey items.
-Their omnivorous diet and high pup survival rate means that Coyotes will eventually take over a biodome. Bobcats are an excellent Coyote suppressant as both species will hunt each others young but neither can hunt adults of the other species. Wolves also work as Wolves do not kill adult Coyote; in real life Wolves suppress Coyote populations by predating young and adults.

LYNX
-Lynx are Bobcats on steroids. Do not underestimate the size of their range or appetite for adult deer, pronghorn and even bison! They can even kill Wolves!!
-Lynx can hunt anything in the Great Plains with the exceptions of Rattlesnakes and Cougars
-A single placed territory of Lynx can not reproduce by itself as it contains only a single Lynx. This references the enormous ranges that Lynx often have in the wild. To breed Lynx place another Lynx territory that overlaps with the existing one. Have plenty of food on hand for the kittens!

COUGAR
-Feline apex predator of the Great Plains. Cougars have enormous ranges.
-Cougars are slow breeders; having a few kittens every 2 years with these young taking 2 yrs to mature. During this time young are vulnerable to Coyotes, Lynx & Wolves.

GRAY WOLF
-Pack hunting canine apex predators of the Great Plains. Place wolf packs lightly as they have a tendency to chew through herds of deer and then continue on down to smaller animals.
-Bison in particuliar are extremely vulnerable to wolf predation pressure and often go extinct.
-Wolves are not currently (ver. 1.16) as effective at hunting other predators as they should be. They can hunt most species with the exception of: Rattlesnakes, Badgers, Bobcats, Coyotes, Lynx & Cougars.
-Adult Wolves are preyed upon by Lynx & Cougars
-Wolf pups are also vulnerable to

Plants

GRASSES (3)

-Grass patches start with a small number with their minimum number of leaf points; over time the number of plants in the group and therefore the leaf number increases to a maximum.
-Only a grass patch with the maximum number of leaf points can split to produce new grass patches
(This makes it difficult for grass to spread under grazing)
-With the possible exception of Switchgrass; naturally split grass patches do not need to mature and have the same number of leaf points as the starting grass patch placed down.

FLOWERS (3)

-Flowers do not seem to produce 'young' plants which need to mature; this speeds up their spread through the biodome.
-The Sunflower is the only fruiting flower.

BUSHES & TREES (8)
-Bushes and trees provide more leaf points and are the main source of fruit for many animals.
-They tend to take much longer to spread and mature however; fruiting plants in particuliar only produce one young plant a year if no fruit eating animals can distribute their seeds.

PLANT CYCLE
GREY: Stasis YELLOW: Flowering GREEN: Fruiting

-All plants go through a stasis and flowering period. In the latter they must be pollinated by pollinators; then when they re-enter the stasis period they will generate young plants around them.
-For fruiting plants; one young is generated if no fruit was eaten and more young plants are generated when increasingly more fruit is consumed.
-Plants of the same species are 'in sync' with each other and flower and fruit at the same time
-Different species also always flower and fruit at specific times in relation to each other; for example Honey Mesquite and Eastern Red Cedar flower and fruit at exactly the same times.

Animals

Note: The reproductive time period for any given species is not fixed and can vary; usually only by a few weeks in either direction. The time quoted is an average.

HERBIVORES & INSECTIVORES


-The Great Plains biome has 6 herbivorous species and one dedicated insectivore (the frog)
-The Great Plains biome has no 'medium sized herbivore' class animals

CARNIVORES & OMNIVORES


-The Great Plains biome has 10 carnivorous species and one omnivore (Badger)
-The majority of the carnivores are snakes, canids or felids.

[Asecretslav]

Out of curiosity, how did you find this data?

[Tommotion]

Very useful Guide. TY

[UNIT]

jesus christ to bad its a dead game

[76561198179760975]

Well, yes it is. :)

[MrDixon]

Hopefully. It will take me a while to finish this though. Did you find it useful so far?

[76561198179760975]

Once you're done with this guide, are you going to do the guide on all of each ecosystem biodomes? I'm just asking.