Temperate Grasslands

Marissa Berio LeBeauBrian Chico

Jamesia Henderson

Temperate Grasslands Are also known as...-Prairies in the U.S. Midwest

-Pampas in South America

-Veldts in Africa

-Steppes of Eurasia

Pampas

Prairie

Savanna

LocationLocated in the United States, the Russian steppes, veldts of Africa, South America (Argentina and Uruguay, Eurasia, and Asia.Temperate grasslands are located

north of the Tropic of Cancer (23.5

degrees North) and south of the

Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees

South).

If the area is bordered by a desert

and a forest it is considered as a

grassland

Climate● Hot summers(tend to exceed 100

degrees Fahrenheit) and Cold winters(temperature can get as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit)

● It receives about 10 – 35 inches

of precipitation a year in the

late spring and early summer and

much of it falls as snow in the

winter.

● Seasonal droughts

Soil● Soil is nutrient-rich from the growth and decay of deep

grass roots● This organic matter on the surface and in the dead roots

provide a great degree of nourishment for the living plants.

● The world's most fertile soils underlie the eastern prairies of the U.S., the pampas of South America, and the steppes of Ukraine and Russia.

Nutrient Flow Diagram

Characteristic Animals and Plants Cheetahs

Buffalo

Deer

Purple Needlegrass

Foxtail grass

Rye grass

Badgers

Ferrets

Owls

Biodiversity The biodiversity of this biome is relatively minimal in comparison to rainforests, for example, but very diverse compared to other biomes such as desserts.

Characteristic Animals

Cheetahsniche: to consume tertiary consumer; using its speed

in order to eat

Buffaloniche: to graze the land;

herbivore; apex consumer

Ferretsniche: to consume other consumers; carnivores

Badgersniche: to consume other consumers;

carnivores

Owlsniche: to consume primary

consumers; carnivore

Antelopesniche: to be prey for larger

carnivores such as cheetahs and consume producers

Characteristic Plants

Purple NeedlegrassNiche: to be the producers of the

ecosystem

Foxtail grassniche: an autotroph which helps feed

animals

Rye grass Niche: another of the autotrophs that

are eaten by herbivores

Food Web

Primary Productivity ● Gross primary productivity is the rate at which

photosynthesis or chemosynthesis occurs in an ecosystem.● In grasslands, GPP is between 3.1 - 5.0 kg/cm^2yr● Net primary productivity is the net flux of carbon from

the atmosphere into green plants per unit time.● The NPP of a temperate grassland is 2000 kilometers per

square meter per year.● Photosynthesis is the process that

makes up the base for the energy flow through the grassland ecosystem.

Succession ● Much of the land is being used and cleared for farming. ● This is known as secondary succession, since the land is

not completely destroyed.● Much of the the animals’ and plants’ environments in the

area are destroyed by the farmers, who use them to grow wheat, corn and other grains.

● The the american “Breadbasket” is largely in temperate grassland areas.

Human Impact LDCs

● The temperate grassland has been less affected by these countries but over hunting and farming still damage the biome

● Examples of these are Angola and Mongolia

MDCs● The temperate grasslands

in the United States have been greatly damaged by urbanization.

● Canada has also degraded this biome by over-hunting the Buffalo, nearly to extinction.

How Handled?Solutions to the threats to temperate grasslands include:

● For MDCs, they can continue/increase education on the protection and conservation of the soil/soil erosion, rotate agricultural crops planted so all the nutrients aren’t ruined, and protect/restore wetlands (important for grassland ecology).

● For LDCs, they can plant trees that can serve as windbreaks to protect the soil, and conduct burning during the dry season to promote fresh growth/restore calcium in the soil.