Problem
Threatened temperate grassland habitats
Other Names:
Threatened cool grassland/scrub habitatsEndangered montane steppe habitats
Threatened temperate grasslands under threat
Savannah habitats under threat
Endangered open veld grasslands
Threatened prairie habitats
Background:
Steppe savannas are areas of grassland with hot summers and cold winters found in the continental interiors. The major manifestations of steppe grasslands are the veldts of South Africa, the puszta of Hungary, the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, the steppes of the former Soviet Union, and the plains and prairies of central North America. Rainfall is moderate: 250 to 500 mm of rainfall a year.
Incidence:
Few natural prairie regions in North America remain (only 1%) because most have been turned into farms or grazing land. This is because they are flat, treeless, covered with grass, and have rich soil. Conversion to agricultural land has been aided by the development of the steel plough. In the 1970s the USA deliberately reversed longstanding policy that favoured conservation practices such as fence rows, windbreaks, crop rotation and fallow land, and advised farmers to plough fence row to fence row and blanket the grasslands with wheat and corn. In Iowa, for example, less than 1 percent of the original tall-grass prairie and savannah habitat survived in 1995.
Broader Problems:
Threatened mountain habitatsThreatened temperate habitatsThreatened grassland habitatsThreatened rangeland habitats Narrower Problems:
Threatened forest steppe habitatsThreatened tall dense grass steppe habitatsThreatened sparse short-grass steppe habitats Related Problems:
Threatened bush-dominated savanna habitatsThreatened tree-dominated savanna habitatsThreatened cool temperate desert scrub habitatsThreatened warm temperate desert scrub habitats Values:
EndangeredThreat Subject(s):
Climatology → Climatology Geography → Land type/use
Geography → Wild
Societal Problems → Endangered species
Societal Problems → Vulnerability
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
E: Emanations of other problems Date of last update
06.05.2019 – 20:34 CEST