Grassland Mammals and Prairie Ecology

Savannahs Have Few Trees but are Home to a Variety of Animals

Aug 30, 2009

Whether they are called prairies, savannahs, the pampas, the veldt or the steppes, grasslands can be found on all continents and house herbivorous and carnivorous mammals

Grasslands are in areas where there is some rainfall, but not a great deal; not enough to support a large number of trees. Grasslands can be found on all continents and can grow in temperate regions as well as tropical ones.

Overview of Grassland Ecology

Different places sometimes have different names for grasslands, but they are basically the same ecologically speaking. Other names for grasslands include:

The North American prairies are the largest in the world and rainfall ranges from 40cm – 80cm (16 – 31 inches) and average temperatures are between 10-20 degrees (50-68 F). Due to agriculture, these and other grasslands and the animals that live there have suffered. The North American prairies were once home to huge herds of bison but now the bison are becoming rare due to being hunted.

In the South American pampas, pampas deer which were once common, are now also becoming rarer and in many grassland areas, smaller mammals are also suffering at the hands of farmers and cattle ranchers because the burrows and holes these mammals dig can injure cattle.

Overview of Grassland Mammals

Grass is obviously the main plant food available in grasslands and grasslands are home to many grazing mammals. Grazing animals tend to group together (herds) for protection against predators. Because there is plenty of grass to eat in grasslands, there is little competition for food for the grazers. They do, however, need to complete for mates and avoid becoming prey. As grasslands generally do not have a great deal of trees, smaller mammals such as prairie dogs hide and live in burrows.

Grasslands are persistent. Historically grasslands were often burnt by fire but they re-grow rapidly afterwards. Fires, grazing and not enough rainfall prevents a lot of large trees from becoming established and it is the fire adapted plant species that are dominant. Grassland soil is rich in nutrients so grasslands will continue to survive as a mammalian habitat, provided they are not converted to farmland.

Hickman, Roberts, Larson & I’Anson, 2004, ‘The Biosphere and Animal Distribution’ in Integrated Principles of Zoology, 12th edition, ed. McGraw Hill, New York, chapter 37.

Campbell and Reece, 2002, 'An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere', in Biology 6th edition, ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, chap 50.

The copyright of the article Grassland Mammals and Prairie Ecology in Mammal Habitats is owned by Roberta Goli. Permission to republish Grassland Mammals and Prairie Ecology in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.