Grassland Grassland Food Web
An ecosystem that is dominated by grasses; some types of grasslands include campos, meadow, pampas, prairie, savanna, steppe, and yield.
Grasses Big Bluestem was the chief grass of the tall grass prairie and once covered solid acres. The leaves are very healthy for cattle, and it is now being rediscovered as hay and a forage plant. It begins growth in April, flowers in late summer, and grows up to 8 feet. Indian Grass is known as a warm season grass and starts growing in May. Indian Grass is used for grazing animals and for meadows on farms. Its very tasty for animals when it is young, but isn't too good after it has gone to seed. It can also by seen in gardens. Indian Grass Big Bluestem Info used by:www.blueplanetbiomes.org and wwwed.fnal.gov
Buffalo Clover: Numerous clover species with white, pink, red or yellow flowers.
Animals in the grassland There are a wide variety of animals in the grassland. With a wide variety of animals out in the grassland there is an enormous food cycle!
Animals and their Habitat There are many rabbits that live in the Goddard, grassland habitat. They live in grass burrows that they make from the tall and short blades of grass that grow there. Some rabbits actually big into the ground to make their homes! The eat the different kinds of grass that grows in the grassland. They drink the water from the pond for their drinking supply! Its also a great place because there are not as many prey there like wolves or things that eat them because it is more in the city and those kinds of animals stay out in the wild! So this is why there are so many bunnies in the Goddard Grassland Habitat! (the picture is from Google. COM)
How Birds Fly Birds are warm blooded vertebrates Birds that fly have hollow bones Although all birds have wings, some birds cannot fly Birds have a very strong respiratory system, which enables them to fly Bird use a lot of energy while they are in flight Therefore, they need to eat and drink lots before flying So the question is, What do birds eat?
Boopedon grasshopper Male and Female of this animal don t resemble each other. The male is shorter then the female. Males are black and yellow. The females are brown and green.
Predator & Prey PREDATOR Snakes Hawks PREY Mice http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/images/profiles/terrestrial/na/sm/na0803a.jpg
Facts About The Food Web Animals rely on one another for food. If one of the animals should die, that would mean that the animal eating it will also die. Animals also rely on water. A pond would be a good place to hunt, because all animals will have to drink sometime. So other animals will live and hunt in that kind of area for food.
The Grassland Food Web
The Decomposers The picker uppers of the Goddard Grassland. Some of the decomposers of the ecosystem are worms, some plants and bacteria. A Decomposer eats and recycles waste and dead animals.
Animals and their homes Have you ever seen a Voles home? If you have then maybe your wondering why it has such a long tunnels. That answer is to keep themselves alive. In order for the Vole to stay away from predators such as a Hawk, a Vole has to build a long tunnel like home itself. When the Vole senses danger it runs into the tunnels that it builds by packing the grass down in one area and making a tunnel under the ground which keeps it safe from predators and helps them from becoming prey. In order for him to keep safe and survive in the wildlife we have to do our part by not polluting the earth and leaving some areas for every animal. A vole and his home Compliments of Google. com
Plant and Animal Relationships Plants and Spiders: Spiders use plants to build their webs on. This allows the spider to be able to catch food. This shows how plants and animals live together. Picture from http://ipmofalaska.homestead.com/files/wolf spider.jpg
The Significance of the blister beetle in the GHS outdoor Ed site www.google.com Blister beetles are infrequent pests of several crops including alfalfa, sweet clover, potatoes, beans, and sugar beets. Problems associated with blister beetles have traditionally been in those areas where environmental conditions favor frequent outbreaks of grasshoppers. This is especially true in the relatively arid states of the west, central and northern Great Plains. The touch of the skin with one of these beetles will not harm you but may cause a blister to form on your skin, these beetles can cause damage to plants and some animals, if ingested by horses or other livestock then they can cause a serious illness or death is possible.
The Mineral Cycle The process by which nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, and calcium cycle between living things and the atmosphere and soils. Where mineral cycles are healthy, nutrients cycle rapidly and tend to stay within living things or accessible to them (for instance, as a "nutrient bank" in the upper layers of soil). Where mineral cycles are unhealthy, nutrients tend to get tied up in biologically unavailable forms or lost through erosion, leaching, or burning.
THE WATER CYCLE IS KOOL YO!!! ~The earth has a limited amount of water. That water keeps going around and around in what we call the "Water Cycle". This cycle is made up of a few main parts: evaporation (and transpiration) condensation precipitation Collection Evaporation: is when the sun heats up water and turns it into vapor or steam. Condensation: Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid forming clouds. Precipitation: occurs when so much water has condensed that the air cannot hold it anymore. The clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow. Collection: When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may end up on land. When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the earth and become part of the ground water that plants and animals use to drink or it may run over the soil and collect in the oceans, lakes or rivers where the cycle starts. And then all over again!!.
Nitrogen Cycle People or animals eat the plant or People and animals excrete and the nitrogen goes back into the air Legumes turn nitrogen into minerals
The Energy Flow consists of the sun giving the plant energy which Oxygen to the fox which gives off Carbon Dioxide which the Insectivores get the Carbon and the soil to the organisms which lose 90% to the Carbon/Nutrients back up into the air.
Climate Grasslands are usually hot and humid Sometimes grassland weather is very violent.
Climate of the Goddard Grassland Temperature The temperature was normally around 50 or 60 degrees. For the time we were out there it was cold. Cloud Coverage The normal cloud coverage was cloudy but we were only out there for 2 days
Animals and their limiting factors in a grassland Organisms in a grassland include deer, grasshoppers, ducks, birds, fish, snakes, butterflies, grass, weeds, flowers, dragonflies and more. Limiting Factors: weather and people. Weather: low rain, 4 seasons, hot weather in the summer and cold in the winter with ice and snow, and high winds. People: As the states become more populated, people build more houses and the animals get their homes taken away. This causes animal populations to decrease.