Grasslands;
The biome name ‘Grasslands’ is self-explanatory, as the biome is usually consisting of grass predominantly over other types of vegetation, usually on a flat landscape, although a few trees (cottonwoods, oaks, willows) can be found along river valleys. There are only two major types of grasslands in nature, tropical/savannas and temperate grasslands. Tropical/savannas grasslands are characterized as an area where trees and shrubs are distributed throughout the grassland, whereas trees and shrubs in temperate grasslands are rarely found, both types of grasslands vary in high and low temperatures in summer and winter. Grasslands are home to a low variety of species, however have a large mass quantity of animals. Since grasslands consist of an area dominated of mainly grass, there would be decent number of grazing animals (animals/herbivores who feed on grass or plants), animals such as bison, coyote, hare, pronghorn, gophers etc
Grasslands are located in several different areas in the world, approximately covering one quarter of the Earth’s landscape. Grasslands are generally given different names depending on the state. For example, in Eurasian countries, grasslands are referred to as ‘steppes’. In South Africa grasslands are known as ‘savannas or ‘veldts’. In the United States they`re either called ‘plains’ or ‘prairies’ and in Australia are called ‘rangelands’. Grasslands in the southern hemisphere tend to have more precipitation (rainfall), then grasslands located in the northern hemisphere. Grasses even growing more than 7 feet (2 metres) in length. Tropical grasslands or savannas cover half of Africa’s landscape (approximately 5 million square miles) commonly having a dry and rainy season. Climate is an important aspect for tropical grasslands where rainfall averages from 50 to 127 cm (20-50 inches) annually. Temperate grasslands vary in high and low temperatures in both summer and winter. Summer temperatures can be well over 37 degrees (100 degrees Fahrenheit), while winter temperatures can be as low as -40 degrees (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) usually averaging 25-75 centimetres (10-30 inches) of rainfall a yearly, grasses growing up to only a few millimetres. Fires often happened in temperate grasslands due to natural weathers (lightning) or human activities, clearing grasslands in previous time and still does till this day.
As I’ve already mentioned, grasslands are consisting of grass predominantly than any other vegetation but in temperate grasslands are one of the most agriculturally useful biomes to us humans, as the soil tends to be deep, dark ,fertile and richest soils in the world, due to the decay dead branching stems and roots ( in shorter terms ‘humus’) the decompose roots hold the soil together, providing a food source and benefitting living plants. Different types of plants grow at their best in different particular environments usually depending on the temperature, amount of rainfall annually and the soil conditions. People who often live in these parts of the world tend to take advantage of these soils for farming. In North America grasslands (prairies) have been converted into one of the richest agricultural farms in the world. In tropical regions, it is very difficult for any type of vegetation to grow, due to the low amount of rainfall annually. Occasional fires and droughts are very important for maintaining the size of grasslands or to prevent trees and woody shrubs from being established, though plants such as cottonwoods, oaks and willows grow among river valleys and some herbaceous plants (plants without woody stems) specifically talking about a huge variety species of flowers, asters, blazing stars, coneflowers, goldenrods, sunflowers and clovers.