ABOUT TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS &
BIODIVERSITY
Temperate Grasslands are characterized as having grasses as the dominant vegetation, they are located between forests and deserts. The grassland biomes are very large areas full of herbs, grass, and flowers. One quarter of the Earth's land is covered with grasslands, but many of these lands have been turned into farms. An interesting fact is that, temperate grasslands go by various names such as in the U.S., they're known as prairies, in South America, they're called pampas, in Central Eurasian grasslands are referred to as steppes, whereas in Africa they're named savannas. Grasslands are generally open and they exist on every continent except Antarctica. Most lie in the drier portions of a continent's interior.
BIODIVERSITY Biological diversity refers to a variety of types and levels of biological variation. Scientists quantify the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity is by classifying vegetation into large, regional ecological parts known as biomes. Each biome contains different features like the amount of annual precipitation, as well as other physical and biological factors. Grassland biomes take up about 15% of the continent. Ecological processes such as fire and precipitation help to maintain grasslands. Annual precipitation in the grassland biome is between 10 and 35 inches of rain, much of it is during the late spring and early summer. Unique from most other biomes, grasslands are simple in structure but rich in number of species. Grasslands of the Great Plains were once characterized as a thick barrier between wildlife and plants of eastern and western forests. |
Video, Temperate Grassland Biome: