Grassland
Grassland biomes are unaltered areas
of land where grass in the dominant plant life, as opposed to other terrestrial
biomes where trees occupy most of the land surface. Grassland are found around
the globe and have served as grazing areas for a large number of animals, and
have been exploited as farming grounds or plantations by humans. They occupy
about one quarter of the Earth’s land area. Grasslands are considered the
transitional biome and are found between deserts and forests.
They have been divided into follows
two parts:
Savannah
Savannah is grassland with scattered
individual trees. They cover almost half the surface of Africa and large areas
of Australia, South America, and India, Climate is the most important factor in
creating a Savannah. These are always found in warm or hot climate where the
annual rainfall is from about 40 to 80 cm per year, Savannah has both a dry and
a rainy season. The soil of the savannah is porous, with rapid drainage of
water. It has only a thin layer of humus, which provides vegetation with
nutrients. The predominant vegetation consists of grasses and forbs (small
broad-leaved plants that grow with grasses). Different savannas support
different grasses due to disparities in rainfall and soil conditions. Seasonal
fires Play a vital role in the savannah’s biodiversity. The world’s greatest
diversity of ungulates (hoofed mammals) is found on the savannas of Africa and
hence they are also called The big game country.
