Temperate grassland

Grasses, with large shrubs or trees absent or sparsely distributed, dominate grasslands. The two main types of grasslands are divided on the basis of climate: *Tropical grasslands or savannas *Temperate grasslands

The temperate-grasslands biome occupies a large portion of the planet. Temperate grassland occurs in regions with temperate climate and is most widespread in North America, eastern Europe, Turkey and northern Iran, central Asia and part of southern China.

In North America, temperate grasslands are found throughout much of the region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountain. In temperate grasslands, rainfall is generally between a semi-arid 250 mm to as much as 900 mm, and is seasonally distributed.

The temperate grasslands fauna does not display a high biodiversity. Herbivores include bison, antelope and rodent species in the Old and New Worlds and the wild horse in the steppes of central Asia.

Today most of the original grasslands, like the temperate deciduous forest have been converted to agricultural uses. Grasslands that are too dry to allow for farming typically have been used as grazing land for cattle and sheep. Temperate grassland

Tropical grassland

There are three main types of grassland – tropical, temperate and cold (arctic tundra). Tropical grasslands, excluding wetlands, cover 15 million km2 and in terms of both land area and biomass, are second only to tropical forests.

The largest area of tropical grasslands occurs within Africa. The Sahelian region is a vast area nearly 600 km wide and 6000 km long situated south of the Sahara Desert.

Tropical grasslands have been defined as any ecosystem within the topics in which graminaceous species are a dominant feature of the vegetation. Tropical grassland occur where annual rainfall is higher and more predictably distributed throughout the year than that occurring in deserts, and typically occur between equatorial rain forests and hot deserts.

The tropical grasslands are subject to the influence of strong seasonality with respect to precipitation and at higher latitudes to temperature. The annual evaporation demand exceeds precipitation at most of the sites and occasional long spells of drought are characteristics.

One type of tropical grassland, called a savanna, contains widely scattered clumps of trees such as acacia, which are covered with thorns that keep some herbivores away. This biome usually has warm temperatures year-round and alternating dry and wet seasons.
Tropical grassland

Grassland biome

Biome is a large geographic are with distinctive climate and ecosystem. Earth contains hundreds of different kinds of ecosystems.

Most ecologists agree that earth’s land ecosystem can be group into six biomes: desert, grassland, taiga, temperate forests, rainforest and tundra.

Grasses, with large shrubs or trees absent or sparsely distributed dominate grasslands. After the continental ice sheets withdrew at the end of the Pleistocene the climate became warmer and drier, and the grassland increased to their present areas, latterly aided by the deforestation accompanying human activities.

Grassland biomes are places that get enough rain for grasses to grow but not enough to support forests. Temperate grasslands have hot summer as and cold winters.

Depending on the amount of moisture available, grasslands can range from tallgrass to medium grass and shortgrass. Major grassland ecosystems include the North American Great Plains or Prairies, the Eurasian Steppe, the Sahel of Africa, the Pampas of Argentina, the South African Veld and the grasslands of Australia.

Grasslands are important ecosystems because they are frequently used for livestock grazing, they provide important ecosystem services and may serve as carbon sinks.

The two main types are divided on the basis of climate:
*Tropical grasslands or savannas
*Temperate grasslands
Grassland biome