Temperate GrasslandsAlex BlancoKlondie PimentelKeegan RoseSeptember 22, 2016Period 5

Nicknames of Temperate Grasslands

SavannasShrub landsPrairiesSteppeVeldPampas

Biome Location/Climate

About 23.5 degrees away from the equator.

Located in North America, South America, Africa, and Eurasia.

They experience hot summers and cold winters.

Temperatures vary from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Biome Locations/Climate

Experience between 10-35 inches of precipitation annually.

Rain mostly occurs during the summer.Maintained through droughts and fires.

Nutrient Flow Diagram

Characteristic Animals

Black-footed Ferret: Also nicknamed “The Prairie Dog hunter”, it is a mammal that lives in burrows of prairie dogs. It’s considered endangered. Its niche is the fact that it is able to hunt and kill prairie dogs in their burrows.

Bison: Native to North America, These animals graze the grasslands in herds. Its niche is that it eats grass and sedges.

Coyote: Lives in North America roaming the plains. Its niche is that it eats rodents and other small mammals.

Characteristic Animals (Con.)

Swift Foxes: Small light-orange fox the size of a house cat found in North America. Its niche is that it eats prairie dogs and ground squirrels.

Wolves: A predator that roams the grasslands for food. Its niche is that it eats large prey like bison.

Prairie Dogs: Prairie dogs are a type of mammal that lives in burrows that it digs. Its niche is that it creates tunnels that several different species use for their own purposes.

Characteristic Plants

Clovers: Found around the temperate grasslands. Its niche is to conduct photosynthesis and be consumed by a primary consumer.

Oaks: A tree that can live in the temperate grasslands. Its niche is that it allows other animals to live inside itself.

Blazing Stars: A flower that lives in temperate grasslands. Its niche is to conduct photosynthesis and be consumed by primary consumers.

Energy Flow(Food)

Food Pyramid for Temperate Grasslands.

Energy Flow(Numbers)

It’s cut-off but it says 1,000,000 J of sunlight (Bottom), and Tertiary (Top)

Energy Flow (Food Web)

Food Web for TG

Energy Flow(biomass)

Energy Went from producer, to herbivore, to carnivore, to the apex predator, and all of the creatures eventually get decomposed by the decomposer.

Primary Productivity

Gross primary production for the Temperate Grasslands is between 3.1 - 5.0 kgCm⁻²yr⁻¹

Net Primary Productivity(NPP): A temperate grassland usually has a NPP of 2000 Kcal/m2/yr

Photosynthesis: Photosynthesis does occur in temperate grasslands and it is done by all of the Autotrophs in the ecosystem.

Primary Succession

Primary Succession: A temperate grassland’s primary succession was caused by glaciers were passing through the land, the land lost nutrients in the dirt but had lichen spores scattered in the wind. Grasses grow again where the spores decomposed.

Secondary Succession

Secondary Succession: Secondary succession for temperate grasslands is when a fire is started. The fire will take care of all the future wooded areas, and kills invasive species of plants, which give native species more time to grow. Since native plants have deep roots, even when the blade of grass is killed, the plant survives and grows back.

Human Impact

Positive Impacts:Hunting of animals is banned due to

endangered and extinct animals. There are now national parks that help

protect the temperate grassland.Awareness is increasing on the Temperate

grasslands and is getting support from many people to be protected.

Human Impacts

Negative Impacts:Hundreds of animals were hunted for their valuable

body parts. Ex- Bison meatHuman instigated fires.Because humans are burning fossil fuels, the climate

change could be damaging the grassland’s health.Humans use Temperate grasslands for agriculture

which can cause soil erosion, deterioration, fragmentation, and a lose of habitats for animals.

How Countries Handle It

In the U.S. we’ve tried to set up national parks and laws that would help prevent the destruction of the temperate grasslands and the killing of the animals that thrive in it.

Europe and north Eurasia is trying to purchase TG lands for protection, transform used land back to being conserved, and to restore old TGs back to near-natural condition.

Bibliography

http://www.worldwildlife.org/biomes/temperate-grasslands-savannas-and-shrublands

http://www.defenders.org/grasslands/temperate-grasslands

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruffed_Grouse/id

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/kinds-animals-live-temperate-grasslands-62868.html

Bibliography (con.)

https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/parks_oct98_1.pdf