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Camp Internet's Global Gardening Studies are open to all Camp Expedition Teams. RAIN's Youth Technology Corps members are Expedition Team Leaders for Communities taking part.

Grasslands Biome

Grassland biomes are large, rolling terrains of grasses, flowers and herbs. Latitude, soil and local climates for the most part determine what kinds of plants grow in a particular grassland. The soil of most grasslands is too thin and dry for trees to survive. When the settlers of the United States moved westward, they found that the grasslands, or prairies as they called them, were more than just dry, flat areas. The prairies contained more than 80 species of animals and 300 species of birds, and hundreds of species of plants. There are two different types of grasslands; tall-grass, which are humid and very wet, and short-grass, which are dry, with hotter summers and colder winters than the tall-grass prairie. The settlers found both on their journey west. When they crossed the Mississippi River they came into some very tall grass, some as high as 11 feet. Here it rained quite often and it was very humid. As they traveled further west and approached the Rocky Mountains, the grass became shorter. There was less rain in the summer and the winters got colder. These were the short-grass prairies. Grassland biomes can be found in the middle latitudes, in the interiors of continents. They can have either moist continental climates or dry subtropical climates. In Argentina, South America, the grasslands are known as pampas. The climate there is humid and moist. Grasslands in the southern hemisphere tend to get more precipitation than those in the northern hemisphere, and the grass tends to be the tall-grass variety. There is a large area of grassland that stretch from the Ukraine of Russia all the way to Siberia. This is a very cold and dry climate because there is no nearby ocean to get moisture from. Winds from the arctic aren't blocked by any mountains either. These are known as the Russian and Asian steppes. In the winter, grassland temperatures can be as low as -40ƒ F, and in the summer it can be as high 70ƒ F. There are two real seasons: a growing season and a dormant season. The growing season is when there is no frost and plants can grow (which lasts from 100 to 175 days). During the dormant (not growing) season nothing can grow because its too cold. In tropical and subtropical grasslands the length of the growing season is determined by how long the rainy season lasts. But in the temperate grasslands the length of the growing season is determined by temperature. Plants usually start growing when the daily temperature reached about 50ƒ F. In temperate grasslands the average rainfall per year ranges from 10-30 inches. In tropical and sub-tropical grasslands the average rainfall per year ranges from 25-60 inches per year The amount of rainfall is very important in determining which areas are grasslands because it's hard for trees to compete with grasses in places where the uppers layers of soil are moist during part of the year but where deeper layer of soil are always dry. The most common types of plant life on the North American prairie are Buffalo Grass, Sunflower, Crazy Weed, Asters, Blazing Stars, Coneflowers, Goldenrods, Clover, and Wild Indigos. Some common animals in the grasslands are Coyotes, Eagles, Bobcats, the Gray Wolf, Wild Turkey, Fly Catcher, Canadian Geese, Crickets, Dung Beetle, Bison, and Prairie Chicken.

Grassland Climate Dry Midlatitude Climates (Bs) There are many types of grasslands around the world. Some of the grasslands are tropical and some are dry grasslands. Grasslands in North America are known as Prairies, and Eurasia has the Steppes. These grasslands are in the interiors of continents and moist air from the ocean is blocked by mountains to the west or south of them. There is very little precipitation during the year. Summers are warm to hot and winters are very cold and windy. The prairies of the midwestern United States have both tall-grass and short-grass regions. West of the Mississippi River the temperature is moist and humid. This allows for some very tall grasses of up to 10 feet to grow there. Summers are warm and humid. Winters are cold but not to the extreme. The farther west and into the interior of the country you go, the drier the climate becomes. Moisture from the Pacific Ocean is blocked by the Rocky Mountain range to the west. This is where the short-grass prairies are found. Summers are hot and winters very cold. There are no natural barriers, like trees, so there is a constant wind. Grasses with deep root systems keep the soil from blowing away. Most of the moisture from rain is soaked up by this root mass and very little water goes any deeper. This makes it hard for trees to grow there. Most animals have adapted to the open, treeless prairie by digging burrows. Even owls, like the Burrowing Owl, use the holes dug by prairie dogs as nesting sites. The mean temperatures for the prairie in January is 20ƒ F, and 70ƒ F in July. Annual precipitation is 10-30 inches. The Steppes have a cold, dry climate. Here you find short-grass types of plants. The Himalayas to the south block warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean, so there is very little precipitation. Nothing blocks arctic winds from the north though, so winters are very cold and windy. Plants and animals have made the same adaptations as those of the American prairies. Animals burrow for shelter and protection, and grasses have large root systems. The grassland biome climate is in a mid-latitude zone. It is classified as a type "B" category, with a "Bs" subtype climate under the K–ppen climate classification system. The grasslands have a very large latitude range, spanning from 55ƒ N to 30ƒ S. This is because of the many different types of grasslands throughout the world. The grasslands are on every continent, except for Antarctica. There are other categories of grasslands in the southern hemisphere. These tend to get more precipitation because they are closer to the tropics and there are no mountains to block moist air. There are the Pampas in South America, the Savanna in Africa, and the Veldt of South Africa. There is a grassland in Australia where eucalyptus trees and kangaroos live.