 The more the merrier. Different strokes for different folks. Clichés like this are often applied to humans and their activities, but they can be equally useful in describing plant and animal communities. Here in northern Wyoming, our range lands are dominated by grasses and other plants that developed in northern climates. These cool season species do most of their growth in the spring and early summer when the air and soil temperatures are low. However, about a fourth of our vegetation is made up of warm season plants such as this blue grama and little bluestem grass that developed in tropical regions. These species don't even start to grow until the soil warms in the summer, but they continue growing after the cool season grasses have produced seed and gone dormant for the year. Here are a cool season wheat grass and a warm season bluestem growing side by side along the highway. You can see that the cool season species grew early and was mowed off and grass grew later and escaped the mower. This mixture of cool and warm season plants accounts for much of the diversity of Wyoming range lands and it provides more nutritious food for a longer period for our wildlife and livestock. I'm Gene Gate of the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, helping you understand the beauty and diversity of Wyoming's range lands.