Table of Contents

Introduction

Grassland abiotic factors refer to the various Physical or non-living components of the grassland. It is an area where grass predominates in vegetation. The grasslands are naturally seen on all continents, except the Antarctic continent. Some elements have a direct and indirect role in the formation of grasslands in every corner of the globe. Abiotic factors are one of them. These factors play a direct role in the formation of grasslands.

In ecology, abiotic factors are the physical part of the environment. They are usually obtained from the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. These abiotic factors interact with the biotic elements of a region to maintain the balance of the environment. They are the environmental factors.

There are different types of grassland. These are natural grassland, semi-natural grassland, and agricultural grasslands. Both types of grassland have some biotic and abiotic factors. Below is a discussion of grassland abiotic factors (1) & (3).

What is grassland?

Grassland is a region where various types of grasses and herbaceous plants are found. It is found on every continent except Antarctica and is defined by its name as a type of dominant plant by grass. This region emerged 65.5 million years ago during the Cenozoic era. Grassland is a region that continues to dominate. One of the reasons for the rapid dominance of plants in this region is the abiotic factors.

This region is observed in tropical and temperate regions where the annual rainfall is about 25 to 100 cm. These are some of the most productive landscapes on the planet earth. It is an ecological system with scattered shrubs and isolated trees (2).

Grassland abiotic factors

Grassland has been created across the largest region of the world. It spreads about 10% of the earth’s environment. This region is found in a low rainfall zone. The abiotic factors of grasslands are the non-living things that have a great impact on the region. Abiotic factors control which type of organisms live in grassland, their location, and size.

Some small changes in any of the abiotic factors can have a great impact on that region. The abiotic factors of grassland are-

1. Climate

Climate is the main abiotic factor of grassland. The biodiversity of a region is affected by climate. One of the climatic factors is temperature and rainfall which have a profound effect on the grassland.

a. Temperature

This region is formed in a place where the temperature is high to moderate.
The intensity of summer and winter is quite high in this region.
There are three types of grassland, such as tropical, temperate, and polar grassland. Temperate grasslands are cold in winter and warm in summer.
Polar grassland temperature is always below 0°
Tropical grassland is dry and wet all the seasons.
The annual average temperature in this region is about -20°C to 30°
The temperature in summer can be as high as 37°
In this region, the temperature varies a lot between summer and winter.
Temperatures can drop from 0 to -40°F during the winter season.
Here the average temperature in January ranges from -15°C in the north to 10°C in the south.
And in July, the temperature is 18°C in the northern part and 20 to 28°C in the southern part of this region.

b. Rainfall

The amount of rainfall depends on the types of vegetation in a region. Due to the low annual rainfall, this region has very few trees.
Big trees do not grow in this region.
Grasses are the primary vegetation here.
The annual average rainfall in the grassland region is about 50 to 100 cm.
There are some tropical-type grasslands where rainfall is 90 to 150 cm per year.
The amount of rainfall here in summer is 20-30 inches. Rainfall occurs mainly in summer.
There is a lot of evaporation in this region which is more than the amount of rainfall.
The Winter season is usually from October to January.
There is no rainfall in winter in grassland, so this season is dry.

c. Wind

The region is flat and exposed. So it is always windy in the grassland region.
In winter, warm chinook winds blow over the grasslands (prairie).
The highest average wind speed in this region is 5 m/s. It occurs in May.
Due to the grassland climate, grassland plants have developed resistance against strong winds.
The daily wind speed is 7 m/s. Strong winds blow in the grassland region.
This region does not have enough big trees to stop the wind. So the wind has a big role in the grassland.
The wind makes the fire warmer and faster.

Some climatic characteristics in the grassland are

High temperatures prevail here throughout the year.
The annual temperature range is extremely high, about 40°
But due to the oceanic influence in the southern hemisphere, the temperature range is only 10°C to 12°
The amount of rainfall in this region varies from place to place.
The northern part of this region gets snow in winter.
There are mainly two seasons in grassland, summer, and winter.
Precipitation occurs mainly in the convection process.
The average amount of snowfall in grassland is about 20 to 40 inches per year.
About 80 to 90% of the total rainfall occurs in the summer.
Extreme sunlight, cloudless skies, a wide variation of day and night temperatures are some of the climatic features of this region.
In warmer subtropical border areas, evaporation is higher and faster. So the amount of rainfall here is less.

2. Soil

Features

Soil is one of the abiotic factors in grassland.
It can influence the climate of grassland.
The grassland’s soil is very fertile, rich in nutrients, and deep soils. This is because different types of plants are found in this region and when those plants die their plant tissue mixes with the soil in the process of decomposition. As a result, soil fertility increases every year.
The texture of soil variations can be noticed here. Sand, sandy loam, silt loam, and silt clay loam soil textures are found here.
The rich nutrients in soil help in the growth of grassroots in this region. As a result, the grass grows faster.

Types

There is a different type of soil in grassland. These are as follows

Chernozem

It is the primary soil of grassland. This soil is ideal for growing long and middle-type grasses. Due to its color, this soil is sometimes known as black soil. It is a type of regional soil. The least modified form of this soil is prairie soil. Due to its rich organic and mineral content, chernozem soil is the most fertile.

Laterite

Sometimes laterite soils are found in river basin areas. This soil is ideal for growing small shrubs-type plants in the river valley areas.

Chestnut soil

This soil is also found in grassland regions. In this soil, small grasses grow. Chestnut soil is brown in color due to the formation of humus by the decomposition of organic matter.

3. Sunlight

Sun rays affect the growth and type of plants. They form the food in their bodies by the photosynthesis process with the help of sun rays. Here grasses receive 12 hours of sun rays during most days of the year.

4. Topography

Topography refers to the height of a region. It includes the non-living or physical features of the environment, such as slopes, mountain ranges, water bodies, the elevation of the land, etc.

Features

Some topographic features in grassland are-

Three main grasslands on Earth are tropical, temperate, and polar. So the slope or elevation of these three regions is not the same.
The elevation of the tropical grassland is very high in some places and very low in some places. So somewhere there is a very high slope and somewhere low slope in a tropical grassland.
Due to its location on flat land, no slope of temperate grassland can be seen.
High altitudes generally have Polar grassland ecosystems.
Various mountains are located in polar grassland. The mountains and hills are covered with snow and ice. Due to the presence of ice and snow, mainly small grasses grow in the mountain ranges (3) & (4).

Role of abiotic features

Abiotic factors play an important role in grassland. A variety of species and plants live in this region. All the plants and animals are dependent on abiotic factors. The plants formed their food by sun rays which is an abiotic factor. Different types of organisms are eating the food produced by plants. Hence, indirectly affected by the abiotic factors of these regions.

Different communities form the grassland. These communities grow a variety of crops for food production. They depend on the abiotic factors for the production of these crops. The essential factors for agriculture in the grassland region are temperature, rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, soil structure, type, texture, etc. All abiotic factors of the grassland region work in this way and combine with the biotic factors to form this region (2).

Written By: Manisha Bharati

References

1. B Agarwal and V. K. Agarwal. Unified Botany, B.Sc. second Year. Shiva Lal Agarwal & Company Publications, Indore. Chapter: Ecosystem. Page no- 253 to 279.

2. Chandrasekhar Chakrabarti. Modern approach to a textbook of core Zoology, General & Honours. Nirmala Library, A Publishing House under the Prestigious International Standard Book Number (ISBN) System. Kolkata, (India). Part – I, chapter- Ecology. Page: 1^st. 25.1 to 1^st. 25.18.