Tallgrass prairie occurs where strong regional gradients in temperature and moisture occur.
These gradients affect species composition and primary production, and gradients in primary production influence grazing intensity and fire frequency. As noted earlier, extended periods of high or low precipitation are common, but not all structural or functional responses will occur on the same time scale across the tallgrass prairie landscape mosaic. Similarly, shifts in fire frequency or grazing intensity will result in responses at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. Thus, a non-equilibrium perspective is necessary to understand the dynamics of the system.