Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Grassland Ecology

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Ecology and the Environment

Introduction

Grasslands and other grass- and graminoid-dominated habitats (e.g., savanna, open and closed shrubland, and tundra) occur on every continent except Antarctica (though some grasses do occur there) and occupy about 30–40 % of Earth’s land surface. They cover more terrestrial area than any other single biome type. The extent and diversity of grasslands and related habitats is reflected in their ecological and economic importance at local, regional, and global scales. For example, grasslands provide critical habitat for a diverse array of plants and animals. Grassland soils store tremendous quantities of carbon and other key nutrients and play a major role in global biogeochemical cycles. There is also a long and complex relationship between grasslands and humans. Modern humans are thought to have originated in the open grasslands and savannas of Africa, and grasslands have provided the template and biological raw material for the development of modern agriculture and...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson RC. The historic role of fire in the North American grassland. In: Collins SL, Wallace LL, editors. Fire in North American tallgrass prairies. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archibold OW. Ecology of world vegetation. London/New York: Chapman and Hall; 1995.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baer SG, Blair JM, Knapp AK, Collins SL. Soil resources regulate productivity and diversity in newly established tallgrass prairie. Ecology. 2003;84:724–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baer SG, Collins SL, Blair JM, Fiedler A, Knapp AK. Soil heterogeneity effects on tallgrass prairie community heterogeneity: an application of ecological theory to restoration ecology. Restor Ecol. 2005;13:413–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benson E, Hartnett DC. The role of seed and vegetative reproduction in plant recruitment and demography in tallgrass prairie. Plant Ecol. 2006;187:163–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blair JM, Seastedt TR, Rice CW, Ramundo RA. Terrestrial nutrient cycling in tallgrass prairie. In: Knapp AK, Briggs JM, Hartnett DC, Collins SL, editors. Grassland dynamics: long-term ecological research in tallgrass prairie. New York: Oxford University Press; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blecker SW, McCulley RL, Chadwick OA, Kelly EF. Biologic cycling of silica across a grassland bioclimosequence. Global Biogeochem Cycles. 2006;20, GB3023. doi:10.1029/2006GB002690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs JM, Knapp AK, Blair JM, Heisler JL, Hoch GA, Lett MS, McCarron JK. An ecosystem in transition: causes and consequences of the conversion of mesic grassland to shrubland. BioScience. 2005;55:243–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins SL, Knapp AK, Briggs JM, Blair JM, Steinauer E. Modulation of diversity by grazing and mowing in native tallgrass prairie. Science. 1998;280:745–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dalgleish HJ, Hartnett DC. The effects of fire frequency and grazing on tallgrass prairie productivity and plant composition are mediated through bud bank demography. Plant Ecol. 2009;201:411–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fargione JE, Hill J, Tilman D, Polasky S, Hawthorne P. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Science. 2008;319:1235–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frank DA. Drought effects on above and below ground production of a grazed temperate grassland ecosystem. Oecologia. 2007;152:131–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fuhlendorf SD, Engle DM. Restoring heterogeneity on rangelands: ecosystem management based on evolutionary grazing patterns. BioScience. 2011;51:625–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra JM, Boucher TM, Ricketts TH, Roberts C. Confronting a biome crisis: global disparities of habitat loss and protection. Ecol Lett. 2005;8:23–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knapp AK, Seastedt TR. Detritus accumulation limits productivity of tallgrass prairie. BioScience. 1986;36:662–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knapp AK, Blair JM, Briggs JM, Collins SL, Hartnett DC, Johnson LC, Towne EG. The keystone role of bison in North American tallgrass prairie. BioScience. 1999;49:39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauenroth WK, Burke IC, Gutmann MP. The structure and function of ecosystems in the central North American grassland region. Great Plains Research 1999;9:223–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNaughton SJ. Ecology of a grazing ecosystem: the Serengeti. Ecol Monogr. 1985;55:259–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milchunas DG, Sala OE, Lauenroth WK. A generalized model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grassland community structure. Am Nat. 1988;132:87–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nippert JB, Knapp AK. Linking water uptake with rooting patterns in grassland species. Oecologia. 2007;153:261–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nippert JB, Knapp AK, Briggs JM. Intra-annual rainfall variability and grassland productivity: can the past predict the future. Plant Ecol. 2006;184:65–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nippert JB, Wieme RA, Ocheltree TW, Craine JM. Root characteristics of C4 grasses limit reliance on deep soil water in tallgrass prairie. Plant and Soil. 2012;355:385–94.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prasad V, Stromberg CA, Alimohammadian H, Sahni A. Dinosaur coprolites and the early evolution of grasses and grazers. Science. 2005;310:1177–90.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seastedt TR. Soil systems and nutrient cycles of the North American prairie. In: Joern A, Keeler KK, editors. The changing prairie. New York: Oxford University Press; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silvertown J, Poulton P, Johnston E, Edwards G, Heard M, Biss PM. The park grass experiment 1856-2006: its contribution to ecology. J Ecol. 2006;94:801–14.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strömberg CAE. Evolution of grasses and grassland ecosystems. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci. 2011;39:517–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walter H. Ecology of tropical and subtropical vegetation. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd; 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver JE. Recovery of midwestern prairies from drought. Proc Am Philos Soc. 1944;88:125–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver JE. Prairie plants and their environment: a fifty-year study in the Midwest. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press; 1968.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver JE, Albertson FW. Major changes in grassland as a result of continued drought. Bot Gaz. 1939;100:576–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver JE, Fitzpatrick TJ. The prairie. Ecol Monogr. 1934;4:109–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White R, Murray S, Rohweder M. Pilot analysis of global ecosystems (PAGE): grassland ecosystems. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute (WRI); 2000.

    Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • Axelrod DI. Rise of the grassland biome, Central North America. Bot Rev. 1985;51:163–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beerling DJ, Osborne CP. The origin of the savanna biome. Glob Chang Biol. 2006;12:2023–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borchert JR. The climate of the central North American grassland. Ann Assoc Am Geogr. 1950;40:1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins SL, Wallace LL, editors. Fire in North American tallgrass prairies. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • French N, editor. Perspectives in grassland ecology. Results and applications of the United States international biosphere programme grassland biome study. New York: Springer; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson DJ. Grasses and grassland ecology. New York: Oxford University Press; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Havstad KM, editor. Structure and function of a Chihuahuan desert ecosystem: the jornada basin long-term ecological research site. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knapp AK, Briggs JM, Hartnett DC, Collins SL, editors. Grassland dynamics: long-term ecological research in tallgrass prairie. New York: Oxford University Press; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauenroth WK, Burke IC, editors. Ecology of the shortgrass steppe: a long-term perspective. New York: Oxford University Press; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClaran MP, Van Devender TR. The desert grassland. Tucson: University of Arizona Press; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oesterheld M, Loreti J, Semmartin M, Paruelo JM. Grazing, fire, and climate effects on primary productivity of grasslands and savannas. Ecosyst World ISSU. 1999;16:287–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne CP. Atmosphere, ecology and evolution: what drove the Miocene expansion of the C4 grasslands? J Ecol. 2008;96:35–45.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Risser PG, Birney EC, Blocker HD, May SW, Parton WJ, Weins JA. The true prairie ecosystem. Stroudsburg: Hutchinson Ross; 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sala OE, Parton WJ, Joyce LA, Lauenroth WK. Primary production of the central grassland region of the United States. Ecology. 1988;69:40–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samson F, Knopf F. Prairie conservation in North America. BioScience. 1994;44:418–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver JE. North American prairie. Lincoln: Johnsen Publishing; 1954.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Dr. John Blair, Dr. Jesse Nippert & Dr. John Briggs

Authors
  1. Dr. John Blair
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dr. Jesse Nippert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dr. John Briggs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Blair .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Russell K Monson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Blair, J., Nippert, J., Briggs, J. (2013). Grassland Ecology. In: Monson, R. (eds) Ecology and the Environment. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7612-2_14-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7612-2_14-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7612-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation