Veldts, Pampas, Steppes, Puszta, and Plains
Ashley Goschey
Christine Cho
Vince Chang
 Enough
precipitation to support grasses (short
and tall), not large trees
 Combine
seasonal drought, herbivore grazing,
and occasional fires
 Found
in middle latitudes, interior of continents
 Types
of Grasslands”
• Tropical
• Temperate
 Either
have moist continental or dry subtropical
climates
 Temperatures and rainfall determine grass and
tree growth
 Average Temperatures:
• Winters: as low as -40 degrees F (dormant season)
• Summer: as high as 70 degrees F (growing season)
 Average
Rainfall Per Year:
• Temperate: 10-30 inches
• Tropical/Subtropical: 25-30 inches



Grasses remain
unharmed during fires,
grow upward from the
stem (Big Bluestem)
Colorful blossoms attract
insects to pollinate
(Prairie Blazing Star)
Extensive root systems
allow plants to obtain
water during droughts
(all grasses)



Bison have flat-topped
teeth and adapted
digestive systems to feed
on grasses
The color of coats and
feathers help blend in
with grasses to hide
(Bobwhite Quail)
Many animals have small
paws to help burrow into
the ground for protection
(Prairie Dogs)

Grassland soil often contains large portions of clay, retains
nutrients and moisture better than clay
• Easily convertible to farmland


*Good vegetative cover filters out sediment, nutrients and
bacteria in streams, ponds, and lakes*
Nitrogen from organic soil matter supports grasslands and
the animals that graze them
 Grasslands
used to provide grazing for sheep
and bison
• Sustaining wool and meat industry
 When
grasses grow too tall, they are cut:
• Hay
• Products based on culture
 Conversion
of grasslands to agriculture
• Driving out natural animals
• Destroying soil, causing erosion
 Use
of land for rearing cattle
• Leads to overgrazing of grasses
 Animal
depletion due to hunting
• Bison meat, rodent fur
 *Only
1% of grasslands are protected today*
Acinonyx jubatus
 Isolated
populations found in Africa and
Southwestern Asia (Namibia, Iran, India,
Pakistan) – disperse
 Vast
expanses of land: semi-desert, prairie,
thick brush, grasslands, savannas, mountainous
terrain
 Trades
speed for strength and hunts during the
day to avoid contact with more nocturnal
predators
 Prefer
to eat small ungulates: Thompson's
gazelle, Grant's gazelle, impala, rabbits
Distribution of Cheetah
*
Manda National Park, Chad
 Males
and females only get together to
breed – males live and hunt in coalitions,
females solitary
 Seek out areas with many elevated points
to look for prey from
 Excessive
hunting for their skins
 Severely inbred because of a plague that swept
across Africa in last Ice Age over 10,000 years
ago
 Low recovery rate and unable to mutate to
produce more genetically stable population
 Lions kill adult cheetahs if caught and kill cubs
when found hidden in grass
 Lions and hyenas steal cheetah's kills
 On
Appendix I of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES)
 Have decreased from 100,000 in 1900 to
as low as 12,000 to 15,000 in 1995
 A decline of nearly 90% over the century
 Have become extinct in 13 countries over
the last 50 years
 Estimated present global population is
less than 15,000
 Interspecific
competition helps regulate
the population and maintain and
ecological balance
 Decline factors manageable if the
resources are made available
 Management techniques: reducing
livestock losses, proper maintenance of
fencing, stocking native game species,
manage overgrazing, trapped animals rereleased
July 1, 1975
175 (80) Countries
 Appendix
I – Threatened with extinction
 Trade of wild-caught illegal
 Article II – Threatened with
extinction by trading
 Subject to strict regulation with permit
 Article III – Not globally threatened
 Exports allowed by permit
 CITES
offices in all countries
 National laws prohibiting CITES-violating
trade
 After Secretariat investigation,
suspension from CITES
 Suspension of CITES related trade
 Gaborone
Amendment of 1983
 Allow regional economic blocs to join
treaty
 Trade with non-member states allowed
 Reservations – member says it will not be
bound
 Cheetah
is Appendix I species
 Reservations from certain countries
 Varying amounts of export quotas
 Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/grasses.ht
m
 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/gr
asslands.php
 http://www.cites.org/
 http://library.thinkquest.org/26634/grass/impact.ht
m
 http://www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=44
 http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/grass.htm
 http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accoun
ts/information/Acinonyx_jubatus.html
