What is a Grassland? A grassland is a grassy, windy, partly-dry biome, a sea of grass. Almost one-fourth of the Earth's land area is grassland. In many areas, grasslands separate forests from deserts. Deep-rooted grasses dominate the flora in a grassland; there are very few trees and shrubs in a grassland, less than one tree per acre. There are many different words for grassland environments around the world, including savannas, pampas, campos, plains, steppes, prairies and veldts.

There are two types of grasslands, including:

Tropical grassland - hot all year with wet seasons that bring torrential rains. Located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, sometimes called savannas.

Temperate grasslands - hot summers and cold winters. The evaporation rate is high, so little rain makes it into the rich soil. Located north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Animal Adaptations: The animals that live in grasslands have adapted to dry, windy conditions.

There are grazing animals (that eat the grass), burrowing animals, and their predators; insects are abundant. A moderate of level species diversity exists on a grassland.

Where are Grasslands? Grasslands are located in North America's interior (called prairies), in southeastern South America (Argentina's pampas and the campos of Uruguay and Brazil), in Eurasia (the Eurasian steppe in Mongolia and parts of the former Soviet Union), in Africa (the semi-arid steppes of the Sahel of north-central Africa and the wetter grasslands, veldts, of East Africa and Madagascar), and in Australia and New Zealand (called rangelands).

Animals that Live in Grasslands: Many animals live in grasslands, from invertebrates (like grasshoppers and beetles) to large mammals (like antelopes and bison). The different grasslands of the world support different populations of animals.

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