The Grassland Biome A Sarah Feinman Presentation

Which of these is a grassland? AB C D

THEY ALL ARE GRASSLANDS! AB C D

What is a Grassland? “A plant community in which the dominant species are perennial grasses, there are few or no shrubs and trees are absent” (Moore, 1964) “Loose” definition – Trees – Species Dominance An area where land is dominated by grasses or other herbaceous (non-woody) plants

Temperature and Precipitation

World Distribution

Why are grasslands important? Wide distribution – Approximately 40% of global land surface (excluding Greenland and Antarctica) Large carbon sink Biodiversity Important source of primary production – Food for humans and animals

Types of Grassland North American Prairies Pampas of Argentina Steppes- between desert and forest (Russia) Savanna Every continent except Antarctica

North American Prairies

Pampas of Argentina

Steppes

Savanna

World Distribution

Environmental Factors Effecting Grasslands Fire Precipitation Temperature Light CO 2

Fire and Grasslands Mayer et al 2011

Fire and Humans Bowman et al 2009

Current Fire Observations Westerling et al 2006

Current Fire Observations Abatzoglou and Kolden 2011

Current Fire Observations Pausas 2004

Fire in the Future Moriondo et al 2006

Future Precipitation IPCC, 2007

Grasslands and Precipitation Grime et al 2000

Grasslands and Precipitation Knapp et al 2002

Grasslands and Precipitation Zavelta et al 2003

Future Temperatures IPCC, 2007

Temperatures and Grasslands Alward et al 1999

Temperatures and Grasslands Zavelta et al 2003

Temperatures and Grasslands Grime et al 2008

Light?

Future CO 2 Hansen and Sato 2004

CO 2 and Grasslands Huang et al 2001

CO 2 and Grasslands Owensby et al 1999

CO 2 and Grasslands Zavelta et al 2003

Any Questions?

References Abatzoglou, J. T. & Kolden, C. A. Climate change in western US deserts: Potential for increased wildfire and invasive annual grasses Rangeland Ecology and Management 64, (2011). Alward, R. D., Detling, J. K. & Milchunas, D. G. Grassland vegetation changes and nocturnal global warming. Science 283, (1999). Bowman, D. M. et al. Fire in the Earth system. Science 324, , (2009). Grime, J. P. et al. The response of two contrasting limestone grasslands to simulated climate change. Science 289, , (2000). Grime, J. P. et al. Long-term resistance to simulated climate change in an infertile grassland. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105, ,(2008). Hansen, J. & Sato, M. Greenhouse gas growth rates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101, , (2004). Huang, Y. et al. Climate change as the dominant control on glacial-interglacial variations in C3 and C4 plant abundance. Science 293, (2001). Knapp, A. K. et al. Rainfall variability, carbon cycling, and plant species diversity in a mesic grassland. Science 298, , 2002). Mayer, A. L. & Khalyani, A. H. Ecology. Grass trumps trees with fire. Science 334, , (2011). Moriondo, M. et al. Potential impact of climate change on fire risk in the Mediterranean area. Climate Research 31, (2006). Owensby, C. E., Ham, J. M., Knapp, A. K. & Auen, L. M. Biomass production and species composition change in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem after long-term exposure to elevated atmospheric CO2. Global Change Biology 5, (1999). Pausas, J. G. Changes in fire and climate in the eastern Iberian peninsula (Mediterranean basin). Climatic Change 63, (2004). Spedding, C. R. W. Grassland Ecology. (Clarendon Press, 1971). Westerling, A. L., Hidalgo, H. G., Cayan, D. R. & Swetnam, T. W. Warming and earlier spring increase western U.S. forest wildfire activity. Science 313, , 2006). Zavelta, E. S. et al. Grassland responses to three years of elevated temperature, CO2, precipitation and N deposition. Ecological Monographs 73, (2003).

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