Chapter 9 - Life in the Temperate Grasslands

• Just as forests are areas covered with trees, grasslands are regions where grasses are the main type of life.
• Grasslands cover one-fourth of the Earth's total land area.
• The types of plants that grow in grasslands depend on the climate.
• Grasslands are divided into two groups based on the climatic conditions
  • temperate region grasslands
  • tropical region grasslands
• The prairies in North America and the velds in the south of Africa are the temperate grasslands.
• The climate in both these grasslands varies from temperate to extreme and both have little rains and few trees.
• Since the prairies are in the Northern Hemisphere and the velds are in the Southern Hemisphere, their summers and winters happen at opposite times of the year.

Prairies

• The temperate grasslands of North America are known as the prairies.
• The word Prairie originated from Latin word priata which means meadow.
• They are regions of flat, hilly or gently sloping land with grass up to two metres high and are called 'seas of grass'.
• Mostly prairies are treeless but there are forests in the low lying plains surrounding valleys of rivers.
• They are surrounded by the Rocky Mountains (the Rockies) in the west and the Great Lakes in the east.
• The prairies cover parts of United States of America and parts of Canada.
• In the USA, the grasslands are drained by the Mississippi river and its tributaries, and in Canada they are drained by the Saskatchewan river and its tributaries.
• Important cities in the American prairies are Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Kansas and Denver and in the Canadian prairies the important cities are Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary and Winnipeg.

• Climate
• Since it is in the centre of the continent, the climate is of the continental type with extreme temperatures.
• The summers are warm with the average temperature around 20° Celsius and winters are cold with temperatures reaching to -20° Celsius. The region is covered in a thick blanket of snow in winters.
• The annual rainfall is moderate and is ideal for the growth of grass.
• Due to the absence of a north-south barrier to the grasslands, a wind known as 'chinook' blows in this region, making the temperatures extreme.
• Chinook is a hot wind that blows in winter, raising the temperature within a short time. This results in the melting of snow which makes pasture land available for grazing animals.

• Flora and Fauna
• Prairies are practically treeless, but where water is available trees like willows, alders, and poplars grow.
• Places that receive an average rainfall of 50cm are suitable for agriculture and crops such as maize which is the major crop, potatoes, soyabean, cotton, and alfa-alfa are grown here.
• Areas where rain is little and the grass is short and sparse are used for cattle rearing.
• Large cattle farms called ranches are run by strong men called cowboys.
• The bison (American buffalo) is the most important animal. It is now a protected species as it nearly became extinct due to excessive hunting.
• Other animals found in the prairies include rabbits, coyotes, gophers, and Prairie dog.

• People
• The grasslands of Prairies were the home of Native Americans often called “Red Indians”, the Apache, the Crow, the Cree and the Pawnee.
• Two of the most developed countries of the world, the USA and Canada, are located in the Prairies.
• The people here are very industrious and make the best use of available technology and natural resources.
• Scientific methods of cultivation, the use of tractors, harvesters, and combines have made North America a surplus food producer.
• Due to the surplus of wheat production, the Prairies are also known as the “Granaries of the world”.
• Along with agriculture, dairy farming is a very important industry in this area.
• A dairy belt stretches from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast in the east. Together with agriculture, dairy farming has encouraged the setting up of many food processing industries.
• Large mineral deposits (particularly coal and iron) coupled with the well-developed transport systems of roads, railways and canals have made this region the most industrialised in the world.

Velds

• The temperate grasslands of South Africa are known as the velds.
• The name was given by the Dutch settlers before the British colonised South Africa.
• They are rolling plateaus and their heights range from 600m to 1100m.
• They are surrounded by the Drakensberg Mountains on the east and the Kalahari Desert in the west.
• 'High velds', with heights of up to 1600m, are located on the northeastern part.
• South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique are countries covered with Velds.
• The region is drained by the Orange and the Limpopo rivers and their tributaries.

• Climate
• Due to the influence of the Indian Ocean, the climate is mild in velds.
• Winters are cold and dry, and July is the coldest month.
• Summers are short and warm and the average temperature is 20° Celsius.
• Rain falls in the summer months from November to February because of the warm ocean currents on the shores of the velds.
• Rain also falls in the winter months of July to August and if rainfall is less, there is drought.

• Flora and Fauna
• Vegetation is sparse and grass dominates the landscape.
• Red grass grows in the bush velds and trees such as accacia and maroola grow in the high velds.
• The animals that can be seen in the velds are lions, leopards, cheetahs, and kudus.

• People
• There is very little fertile land as grass does not grow everywhere and the land is barren due to exposure to the sun. So in most of the region there is no agriculture and the main work in Velds is cattle rearing and mining.
• In areas that are fertile, crops such as maize, wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and cash crops such as tobacco, cotton and sugarcane are grown.
• Sheep rearing is the most important occupation and is mainly done for wool, especially for the wool of the merino sheep as their wool is very warm. The wool industry is very well-developed in South Africa.
• Dairy farming is another important occupation. Cattle are reared in the wet and warm parts of the velds where butter, cheese etc. are produced for local as well as international markets.
• The area has rich deposits of minerals such as iron, coal, diamonds and gold.
• Johannesburg is known as the 'Gold Capital of the World'.
• Kimberly is famous for its diamond mines.
• The mineral-rich areas have an excellent system of transportation.
• The mining of gold and diamond in South Africa led to the development of trade ties with Britain and slowly it became a British colony.