News tagged with grasslands
Dry conditions spurred advanced photosynthesis
The need to conserve water played a vital role in driving plants to evolve a specialised form of photosynthesis, scientists have shown.
Feb 03, 2012 |
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Overgrazed grasslands tied to locust outbreaks
While residents of the United States and much of Europe think of locust plagues as biblical references, locust swarms still have devastating effects on agriculture today, especially in developing countries ...
Jan 26, 2012 |
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'Space ball' drops on Namibia
A large metallic ball fell out of the sky on a remote grassland in Namibia, prompting baffled authorities to contact NASA and the European space agency.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 22, 2011 |
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What are the prospects for sustaining high-quality groundwater?
Intensive agriculture practices developed during the past century have helped improve food security for many people but have also added to nitrate pollution in surface and groundwaters. New research has looked at water quality ...
Dec 19, 2011 |
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Pilbara mistletoe faces sub-regional extinction
A new study from the Department of Environment and Conservation suggests long-term modern fire regimes could pose a threat to WA mistletoes (Loranthaceae sp).
Dec 19, 2011 |
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Forest and savanna can switch quickly
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two recent studies have found that environmental changes can bring previously stable forests and grasslands to tipping points that produce sudden large-scale and sometimes irreversible changes ...
New plant ecology study challenges conventional wisdom
(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of 58 ecologists, including UC Davis researcher Louie Yang, has found that habitat productivity does not predict the quantity or diversity of plant species, as has been ...
Sep 26, 2011 |
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Farming commercial miscanthus
An article in the current issue of Global Change Biology Bioenergy examines the carbon sequestration potential of Miscanthus plantations on commercial farms.
Aug 31, 2011 |
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The grass is always greener
(PhysOrg.com) -- Recent study of grasslands shows that species variety more important to ecosystem services than previously thought.
Aug 19, 2011 |
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Most plant species important in various and varying ecosystems: study
From the kinds that people sneeze at, to the kinds that have prickly seeds that stick to pant legs, there are many different types of plants in grasslands around the world.
Aug 10, 2011 |
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What is war good for? Sparking civilization, suggest archaeology findings from Peru
Warfare, triggered by political conflict between the fifth century B.C. and the first century A.D., likely shaped the development of the first settlement that would classify as a civilization in the Titicaca basin of southern ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jul 25, 2011 |
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Soil microbes accelerate global warming
More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes soil to release the potent greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide, new research published in this week's edition of Nature reveals. "This feedback to our changing atmosphere means ...
Jul 13, 2011 |
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Plants in cities are an underestimated carbon store
Vegetation in towns and cities can make a significant contribution to carbon storage and, ecologists say, could lock away even more carbon if local authorities and gardeners planted and maintained more trees. The study, published ...
Jul 11, 2011 |
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Tail hair tells tale of cattle’s diet -- Scientists trace grassland production
Tail hair can show if cattle have been grass-fed or not, according to scientists. By chemically analysing the tail hair, it is also possible for scientists to tell if, and when, a grass diet has been substituted ...
Apr 28, 2011 |
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Natural sequence farming: Turning back the climatic clock in Australia
Improving land management and farming practices in Australia could have an effect on global climate change, according to a study published in the International Journal of Water.
Mar 15, 2011 |
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Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae) and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants (forbs). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica. In temperate latitudes, such as northwestern Europe and the Great Plains and California in North America, native grasslands are dominated by perennial bunch grass species, whereas in warmer climates annual species form a greater component of the vegetation.
Grasslands are found in most ecoregion of the Earth. For example there are five terrestrial ecoregion classifications (subdivisions) of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome ('ecosystem'), which is one of eight terrestrial ecozones of the Earth's surface.
For more information about Grassland, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.