grassland
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.35|Typical grassland thumb|Setaria pumila, a species of [[Poaceae (the dominant plant family in grasslands)]] A grassland is an area (or ecosystem) where the vegetation is dominated by grasses. Sedges and rushes can also be found along with some of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on Earth, covering 31–69% of the Earth's land area. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural gras
AI overview
A grassland is an ecosystem where grasses are the dominant plants, though it may also contain sedges, rushes, legumes, and other herbs, and grasslands naturally occur on every continent except Antarctica. Grasslands are one of Earth's largest biomes, covering between 31–69% of the planet's land area, making them ecologically significant ecosystems found across most of the world's ecoregions.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
33 sectionsContents
- Definitions
- Evolutionary history
- Ecology
- Biodiversity
- Vegetation
- Fauna
- Ecosystem services
- Carbon sequestration
- Other ecosystem services
- Degradation
- Causes
- Land use intensification
- Climate change
- Afforestation or introduction of invasive species
- Management
- Types of degradation
- Land cover change
- Conservation and restoration
- Types of grasslands
- Classifications of grassland
- General grasslands types
- Tropical and subtropical
- Temperate
- Flooded
- Montane
- Tundra grasslands
- Desert and xeric
- Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregions
- Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregions
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.35|Typical grassland thumb|Setaria pumila, a species of [[Poaceae (the dominant plant family in grasslands)]] A grassland is an area (or ecosystem) where the vegetation is dominated by grasses. Sedges and rushes can also be found along with some of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on Earth, covering 31–69% of the Earth's land area. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands.
== Definitions == thumb|right|Coxilhas (hills covered by grasslands) in the Pampas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil Included among the variety of definitions for grasslands are: "...any plant community, including harvested forages, in which grasses and/or legumes make up the dominant vegetation." "...terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, and maintained by fire, grazing, drought and/or freezing temperatures." (Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems, 2000) "A region with sufficient average annual precipitation (25-75 cm) to support grass..." (Stiling, 1999)