Transcript Biomes - Grasslands

Grasslands
By Bailey Kroll, Lindsay Allen, and Matthew Rockwell
Polar Grasslands - Arctic
Tundra
Bailey Kroll
Basic Overview
Polar Grasslands - Arctic Tundra
An polar grassland is a Biome
located just south of the arctic polar
ice cap. This biome is characterized
by grasses, mosses, dwarf trees,
and treeless plains. There are frigid
winds, it is bitterly cold, ice and snow
cover the ground most of the year.
Winters are long and dark, and there
is little precipitation. Parts of northern
Europe, Asia (Siberia), North
America (Alaska and Canada), and
most of Greenland are all Polar
Grasslands.
Temperature and
Precipitation
The average annual
temperature of the arctic
tundra is 10-20 degrees
Fahrenheit. For about six
months out of the year, the
temperature is below -30
degrees Fahrenheit. The
annual precipitation of the
polar grassland is very low less than 10 inches per year.
Animals
of
the
Arctic
Some specific
animal species of Tundra
the polar
grasslands are:
arctic foxes,
caribou,
grey wolves,
snowy owl,
chipmunks,
squirrels, and
Plants of the Arctic
The polar grassland is not home to tall trees,
but rather short shrubs, cushion plants, roots,
stems, bulbs, tubers, and lichen,which cover
many rocks of the tundra. The reason plants
don't grow tall is to retain water from the ground,
and survive the incredibly cold winters. Also,
some plants have leathery evergreen leaves
coated by waxes that reduce heat loss.
Permafrost is a large environmental factor of the
arctic tundra. Permafrost is a perennially frozen
layer of the soil (subsoil) that is formed when
the water there freezes. For example, in the
Summer the topsoil ice layer melts, but the
Polar Grasslands:
Major Cities
Inuvik, Canada
Murmansk, Russia
Wainwright, Alaska in the U.S.
Eskifjordur, Iceland
Etah, Greenland
Conservation Issues of
the Arctic Tundra/Polar
In the polar grasslands of Alaska, oil drilling is
Grasslands
very popular. This can be a major problem. An
oil spill off the coast could cause detrimental
effects to plants and animals of the arctic tundra
biome.
Another issue of the polar grasslands is fishing.
The commercial fishing is also very popular in
the polar grasslands of Alaska. Because of this,
fish populations can decrease unnaturally, and
rapidly, affecting the entire community,
environment, and biome.
Tropical Grasslands
Matthew Rockwell
•
Tropical
Grassland
Found in areas with
high average
temperature, low to
moderate precipitation
and a prolonged dry
season.
•
•
Tropical grasslands are
found primarily in Africa,
South America and
parts of India and
Australia.
Major cities include
Kano, Nigeria
Plants and animals of
Tropical Grasslands
Typically have more
trees than temperate
grasslands.
Drought and fire
resistant trees.
Many different types of
grasses
Insect population is
very high
A wide variety of
animals like
wildebeest, zebras,
Conservation
Issues
A major
conservation issue
in African tropical
grassland is
poaching or over
hunting of species
like loins and
zebras.
Other issues include
farm plants escaping
into the wild, and
over farming.
Annual temperature and
precipitation in tropical
grasslands.
Temperate Grasslands
Lindsay Allen
Temperate Grassland
Temperate grasslands
cover vast expanses
of plains and gently
rolling hills throughout
the interior of North
and South America,
Europe, and Asia.
Average Annual
Temperature
Varying according to season, average
temperatures can plummet to below 0 degrees
Fahrenheit in the winter, to above 90 degrees
Fahrenheit in the summer.
Average Annual
Precipitation
Temperate grasslands receive low to moderate
precipitation on average per year. It mostly
averages around 20-35 inches per year. Most of
this precipitation is in the form of snow in
temperate grasslands of the northern
hemisphere.
Dominant Plant Forms
50% of the plants in
any grassland are
grasses. The other half
is made up of 'forbs'.
Examples of 'forbs' are
wildflowers, such as
coneflowers.
Species
The animals living in
temperate grasslands
have adapted to dry,
windy conditions. It
contains grazing
animals such as
gazelle and deer;
burrowing animals
such as mice and jack
rabbits and predators
like snakes and
coyotes.
Major cities located in
temperate grasslands
Denver
Omaha
Tulsa
Dallas
Ft. Worth
Calgary
Conservation Issues
Grasslands are the world’s most imperiled
ecosystem.
5% of grasslands are protected through out the
world.
Issues causing this include the spread of
invasive species, the suppression of natural
fires, and the fragmentation and urbanization of
grassland habitat.
Temperate Climate Graph
Thematic
Relationship:
All three of these Biomes mentioned are
grasslands:Grasslands
Polar, Tropical, and Temperate.
A grassland is characterized by long vast
expanses of land containing few wood-plants,
and mainly grasses and shrubs.
Grasslands have low humidity, and average
rainfall is usually about 10-30 inches per year.
Because of this low amount of precipitation in
grasslands, there is a lot of competition between
species, competing for water.
Grasslands cover about 20 percent of Earth's
surface.
Thematic Relationship:
Polar, Tropical, and
Although all these 3 types of grasslands are
Temperate
similar
(as mentioned inGrasslands
the previous slide),
there are some differences:
Latitudinal difference - Polar is very Northern,
Temperate below that, and Tropical most
southern. This difference causes temperature
differences, Polar has colder temperatures than
temperate or tropical, so specific plant and
animal species inhabit each region. For
example, you wouldn't find an arctic fox in the
tropical grasslands of Africa, and you wouldn't
see a zebra in the arctic tundra.
Thematic Relationship:
Grasslands
Also, because of the latitudinal, temperature,
differences, that changes the form of
precipitation. Although there is generally the
same amount of it, the state of it changes.
Polar - snow, ice almost year round.
Temperate - snow in winter, rain during the other
parts of the year.
Tropical - rain
Thematic Relationship:
Grasslands
In conclusion, these three biomes are similar in
amount of precipitation, humidity, general plant
type, behavior (competitive because of lack of
water), type of precipitation (snow, ice, rain
etc.), and general physical appearance.
However because of latitudinal differences,
there are some variations between the Polar,
Tropical and Temperate grasslands.