Allie Hall Amber Isbell Honors Biology 3rd block

Climatesummers; cold winters Warm/hot

-40 degrees to 38 degrees
Moderate rainfall Possibility of fires

50-89 cm/yr of precipitation

Biotic Factors: (animals)

Wood Mouse:
--Apodemus Sylvaticus --Wood mice inhabit grasslands. They burrow extensively building nests of plants and live in buildings during harsh seasons.

Mole:
--Scalopus Aquaticus --Mostly in grassy fields, pastures, and lawns. They need well drained soil with low rock and clay content.

Biotic Factors:
Big Bluestem
-- Andropogon gerardii --One of the dominant species of the tallgrass prairie, it can live in a variety of prairie habitats; it can survive occasional wildfire but not grazing

Common Teasel
-- Dipsacus fullonum --Open, sunny areas that range from wet to dry and they grow in high quality in grasslands

Organism Interaction
Commensalism:
Mites and BeetlesThe mites attach themselves to the beetles in order to travel to places; the mites get a free ride and the beetles are unaffected

Parasitism:
Ticks and LionsThe ticks live on and feed off of the lions, while the lions loose blood and nutrients to the ticks

Organism Interaction

Mutualism:
Oxpeckers and RhinosTick birds (oxpeckers) eat parasites that may dig into the folds of a rhinos skin and warn of coming danger; in return, the rhinos allow the birds to rest on them and provide a source of food in both the parasites and the occasional lick of blood

Environmental Issues: Introduced Species

When Europeans settled on the Australian

grasslands, they brought new species with them. They came with grazing animals, domesticated sheep and cattle that they could use for food. Sheep and cattle, however, are not native to Australia and so were unable to survive and prosper off of the native grasses and plants. To combat this, more species were introduced, this time plants to feed the herds. As these new interlopers grew, they out-competed the natives for space, sunlight and nutrients. As a final result many species that fed off of the out-competed grasses withered in number and are nearly extinct today.

Endangered Species

Pygmy Blue-tongued

Lizard
Its habitat is disappearing as

the grasslands shrink due to human cultivation and the introduction of foreign species

Conclusion:
While studying the temperate grasslands, we realized

that there was more activity going on than we initially thought. Most people picture the grassland as empty, but we discovered that there were several species of plants and animals that lived there, not just a select few: the subterranean mole, the parasitic tick, the fiercely proud lion, and the towering big bluestem.