Important India

Discover India with Important India

  • Home
  • About
  • History
  • Important India
  • Categories
  • TOU
  • Contact Us

What is a Grassland Ecosystem? - Meaning and Importance

On June 28, 2017 By LightHouse Category: Environment

What is a grassland ecosystem?

The word grassland is somewhat self explanatory. A grassland is a wide open grassy space. A grassland may also contain low shrubs and other plants, but its predominant feature is that it is a place where plenty of grass grows.

A grassland ecosystem is a community of creatures living together within a grassy space. These creatures can include various types of grasses, insects, and animals, etc.

  • The presence of grass. It almost goes without saying that grassland ecosystems are composed largely of wide swathes of grass rather than trees or shrubs - or, on the other hand, rather than bare desert soil.
  • Biodiversity. Grassland ecosystems are extremely bio-diverse and are home to thriving communities of plants, animals, insects and mammals.
  • Ubiquity. Grassland ecosystems are present in every single continent on this planet with the sole exception of Antarctica, which is too cold to sustain a grassland ecosystem.

Grassland ecosystems can be found throughout the world, for example:

  • In the tropics, near to the equator.
  • In the temperate zones of the earth, between the equator and the polar regions.

The importance of grassland ecosystems.

Grassland ecosystems are very important for a wide variety of different reasons. Below, you will find some of the main ones.

1. Habitat. Grassland ecosystems are key habitats for huge numbers of different animals including zebras, bison, lions and elephants.

2. Soil quality. The delicate balance of plants and animals in grassland ecosystems maintains a high soil quality. When humans intervene in grasslands and use them for crop based agriculture they alter the mineral composition of the soil and its quality and hence fertility declines.

3. Beauty. Grassland ecosystems should be important to us, too, because they are quite simply very beautiful open spaces.

4. Large area. Around a quarter of the earth’s total landmass is taken up by grassland ecosystems. That makes the grassland ecosystem one of the largest and most important types of ecosystem in the world.

5. Useful to humans. Grassland ecosystems are very useful to humans, particularly as pasture for cattle. The prairies of North America, for example, have traditionally been used as pasture grounds for many centuries.

Conclusion.

Grassland ecosystems come in many shapes and sizes, but together all of the world’s grasslands cover nearly a quarter of all of the continents on the globe. The ubiquity and sheer area of these ecosystems makes them very important to the planet.

However, climate change, intensive farming and urban sprawl are all threatening our beautiful grassland ecosystems. All of these threats derive from humans and so it is certainly in our power to stop them. Now is the time for us to act and to preserve our grassland ecosystems for the generations to come.

Do you live close to a grassland ecosystem? Or, what grassland ecosystems in the world can you think of? Can you think of any actions that you can take to keep these precious habitats safe? Your actions might range from using less fossil fuels to becoming part of a collective environmental campaign to protect the world’s grasslands. Either way, the animals that live in grasslands, as well as future generations of humans, will be very grateful to you for your work.

Related posts:

  1. Short Paragraph on Ecosystem
  2. Short Paragraph on Importance of Ecosystem Diversity
  3. Short Paragraph on Artificial Ecosystem
  4. Ecosystem: Its Meaning, Characteristics and Importance
  5. Aquatic ecosystem: Meaning, Characteristics, Types and Importance
  6. Pond Ecosystem: Meaning, Types, Characteristics, Importance
  7. What is an Aquatic Ecosystem? - Meaning and Types
  8. Marine Ecosystem: Its Meaning and Types
  9. What is a Desert Ecosystem? - Meaning and Types

Category: Environment Tagged With: Ecosystem

Related Posts

  1. Short Paragraph on Ecosystem
  2. Short Paragraph on Importance of Ecosystem Diversity
  3. Short Paragraph on Artificial Ecosystem
  4. Ecosystem: Its Meaning, Characteristics and Importance
  5. Aquatic ecosystem: Meaning, Characteristics, Types and Importance
  6. Pond Ecosystem: Meaning, Types, Characteristics, Importance
  7. What is an Aquatic Ecosystem? - Meaning and Types
  8. Marine Ecosystem: Its Meaning and Types
  9. What is a Desert Ecosystem? - Meaning and Types

Search ImportantIndia.com

Tag Cloud

Women In India Water Tribal People of India Tradition Tourism Short Moral Stories for Children Science and Technology Rivers in India Pollution Minerals in India Maratha Empire Mahatma Gandhi Indian Festivals Indian Constitution History of Akbar Good Habits Freedom Fighters of India Family System Education Ecosystem Communication Buddhism Battles and Wars in India Art and Architecture Agriculture in India

Categories

Archives

  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • Categories
  • History of India
    • History of Ancient India
    • History of Medieval India
    • History of Mughal Empire
    • Modern History of India
  • Important India
    • Administration in India
    • Indian Constitution
    • Parliament of India
  • Indian Geography
  • Indian Government
  • Indian Literature
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Report an Article
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Copyrights.

Copyright 2013 -2017 · Discover the Importance of India ·