grasslands

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this is a powerpoint presentation on grasslands.

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Page 1: Grasslands
Page 2: Grasslands

The Grasslands consist of two parts, the tropical and the temperate Grasslands:

Page 3: Grasslands

Tropical Grassland-Savanna-

Page 4: Grasslands

Climate

• Temperature– 20o-30o Celsius

• Average Rainfall– 100-400 mm per year (80% in wet season)

• Sunlight

• Lots of sun during dry season• Grasses are mostly C4

Page 5: Grasslands

Soil Fertility

• Soil Fertility– Sandy, dusty, high iron

content (reddish color) Not very rich

– Termites turn the soil to air it

– Dead plant matter can’t decompose in dry season

Page 6: Grasslands

Seasonal Changes

• Wet– 4-5 months– Equatorial low pressure belt– Heavy convectional storms

• 80% total annual rainfall

• Dry– Strong, steady “trade winds”

• Dry and warm as they blow towards equator

Page 7: Grasslands

Characteristics

• Vegetation– 100-200 mm rainfall-only grasses– 300 mm rainfall-shrubs– < 300 mm rainfall-solitary trees– < 400 mm rainfall- trees, canopy, shade

• Trees-deciduous-lose leaves in winter

• Shrubs/Grasses-C4

Page 8: Grasslands

Temperate Grasslands

• Prairies, (N. Am. [Great Plains, Palouse, California])

• Steppes (Russia - Ukraine [Hungary-Rumania])

• Pampas (Argentina - Uruguay)

• Veldt (S. Africa); NZ tussock grasslands

Page 9: Grasslands

Temperate grasslands

prairies, steppes, pampas, veldt…..

Page 10: Grasslands

Temperate grasslands

• Prairies and steppes have continental climates characterised by large annual range of temperature, cool - cold winters, with most of precipitation as snow, and hot, commonly droughty summers because of high evapotranspiration rates.

Page 11: Grasslands

North American grasslands

Abilene

Calgary

CheyenneOmaha

Chicago

Page 12: Grasslands

Palouse prairie

Eastern Washington, and Oregon, Idaho

Page 13: Grasslands

California grasslands

Page 14: Grasslands

THANKYOU