Can you ever think of spending your life in the temperate grassland? Today I am going to share the two important grasslands of the World. Just as a forest can be defined as the place where trees are the main types of vegetation, grasslands can be defined as the region where grasses form the dominant type of plant life. Grasslands makes up almost a quarter of the total land surface. Climate plays an important role in the formation of grasslands, it is generally used as the basis to divide the World's grasslands into two broad categories - those that occur in the temperate region and those that occur in the tropical regions.
The temperate grasslands of North America are known as the Prairies . The word Prairie originated from Latin word priata which means meadow. It is a region of flat, gently sloping or hilly land. Tall grass up to two meters high dominates the landscape. Do you know it is actually a "sea of grass". The prairies are bounded by rocky mountains in the West and great lakes in the East. The grasslands of prairies were the home of the American Indians more popularly know as "Black foot Indians".
Prairies being located in the heart of a Continent experiences a climate of continental type with extreme temperatures. The summers are warm and a thick blanket of snow covers this region in winter. Due to the absence of north south barrier, a local wind known as Chinook blows here.
The most interesting part that I came to know that prairies are practically treeless regions. Where water is available small trees such as willows, alders and poplars grow. The major crop of this area is maize. These areas are suitable for cattle rearing also. Large cattle farms called ranches are looked after by sturdy men called cowboys . Bison or the american buffalo is the most important animal of this regions. The important cities in American prairies are Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Kansas and Denver. In the Canadian prairies the important cities are Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary and Winnipeg.
The prairies are also known as the Granaries of the World due to the huge surplus of wheat production. It is quite worth praising that the people of this region are very hard working. They have successfully harnessed technology to utilize there rich natural resources. Scientific methods of cultivation and the use of tractors, harvesters and combines has made North America a surplus food producer. Today two of the most developed and recognized countries of the world are United States of America and Canada.
From the Prairies of North America now I am going to take you to the world of South Africa. The temperate grasslands of this region are called Velds . The Velds name was given by the Dutch settler before South Africa was colonized by the British. Velds are the rolling plateaus with varying heights ranging from 600 meters to 1100 meters. It is bound by the Drakensburg mountains in the east . To the west lies the Kalahari desert the tributaries of rivers orange and Limpopo drain the region. It is noticeable that the Velds have a mild climate due to the influence of the Indian Ocean. Winters are cold and dry and summers are short and warm.
The vegetation cover is sparse grasses dominate the entire landscape. Animals like Lions, leopards, cheetahs and kudos are found in this region. One more thing that I want to mention here that the people of this region are multitask-er - they grow various types of crops on their fields, do cattle rearing, sheep rearing and dairy farming respectively. The Velds have rich reserve of minerals. Johannesburg is known for the Gold Capital of the World. Kimberley is famous for it's diamond mines. Mining of diamond and gold in South Africa lead to the establishment of trade with Britain and gradually South Africa became a British Colony. This mineral rich area has a well developed network of transport and communication facility.
With this I would like to conclude my write-up on two world's most important grasslands that are Prairies of North America and the Velds of South Africa that all I have collected and gained through my learning's. Today in this I would like to share with all of you all that i have acquired through various sources. Hope you enjoy reading.............................................................
ANINDITA MAJI
The temperate grasslands of North America are known as the Prairies . The word Prairie originated from Latin word priata which means meadow. It is a region of flat, gently sloping or hilly land. Tall grass up to two meters high dominates the landscape. Do you know it is actually a "sea of grass". The prairies are bounded by rocky mountains in the West and great lakes in the East. The grasslands of prairies were the home of the American Indians more popularly know as "Black foot Indians".
Prairies being located in the heart of a Continent experiences a climate of continental type with extreme temperatures. The summers are warm and a thick blanket of snow covers this region in winter. Due to the absence of north south barrier, a local wind known as Chinook blows here.
The most interesting part that I came to know that prairies are practically treeless regions. Where water is available small trees such as willows, alders and poplars grow. The major crop of this area is maize. These areas are suitable for cattle rearing also. Large cattle farms called ranches are looked after by sturdy men called cowboys . Bison or the american buffalo is the most important animal of this regions. The important cities in American prairies are Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Kansas and Denver. In the Canadian prairies the important cities are Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary and Winnipeg.
The prairies are also known as the Granaries of the World due to the huge surplus of wheat production. It is quite worth praising that the people of this region are very hard working. They have successfully harnessed technology to utilize there rich natural resources. Scientific methods of cultivation and the use of tractors, harvesters and combines has made North America a surplus food producer. Today two of the most developed and recognized countries of the world are United States of America and Canada.
From the Prairies of North America now I am going to take you to the world of South Africa. The temperate grasslands of this region are called Velds . The Velds name was given by the Dutch settler before South Africa was colonized by the British. Velds are the rolling plateaus with varying heights ranging from 600 meters to 1100 meters. It is bound by the Drakensburg mountains in the east . To the west lies the Kalahari desert the tributaries of rivers orange and Limpopo drain the region. It is noticeable that the Velds have a mild climate due to the influence of the Indian Ocean. Winters are cold and dry and summers are short and warm.
The vegetation cover is sparse grasses dominate the entire landscape. Animals like Lions, leopards, cheetahs and kudos are found in this region. One more thing that I want to mention here that the people of this region are multitask-er - they grow various types of crops on their fields, do cattle rearing, sheep rearing and dairy farming respectively. The Velds have rich reserve of minerals. Johannesburg is known for the Gold Capital of the World. Kimberley is famous for it's diamond mines. Mining of diamond and gold in South Africa lead to the establishment of trade with Britain and gradually South Africa became a British Colony. This mineral rich area has a well developed network of transport and communication facility.
With this I would like to conclude my write-up on two world's most important grasslands that are Prairies of North America and the Velds of South Africa that all I have collected and gained through my learning's. Today in this I would like to share with all of you all that i have acquired through various sources. Hope you enjoy reading.............................................................
ANINDITA MAJI
Very Informative Piece with very attractive pictures. It will help a person to gain knowledge on the life of the types of grasslands in North Africa and South Africa.Interesting facts about wildlife mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThe above write up gives ample information about the Prairies or Temperate Grasslands. Just to add a bit to this - lands typically referred to as ‘prairie’ tend to be in North America. The term encompasses the area referred to as the Interior Lowlands of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which includes all of the Great Plains as well as the wetter, somewhat hillier land to the east. In the U.S., the area is constituted by most or all of the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, and sizable parts of the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and western and southern Minnesota. The Central Valley of California is also a prairie. The Canadian Prairies occupy vast areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, and adding to the story of the Prairies, is that of The Great Lakes. The temperate grasslands of North America or the Prairies, cover a large region of The Great Lakes (also called the Laurentian Great Lakes, the Third Coast, or the Great Lakes of North America). They are a series of interconnected freshwater lakes located in north eastern North America, on the Canada–United States border, which connect to the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence River. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron (or Michigan–Huron), Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, containing 21% of the world's surface fresh water by volume.
The Prairies and The Great Lakes of North America share some of the area in North America. As the land ahs a rich history of Native American Indians, let’s take a look at one such interesting legend. According to the teachings of the Chippewa (also known as the Anishinabe people), it was the sacred Megis Shell that first guided the people to the rich regions of the Great Lakes, most notably to the prized waters of Gitchi Gummi (big water), or Lake Superior. The Megis Shell was last seen near Madeline Island, which was a settling point for the tribal people migrating from the eastern shores of the continent. Today, the abundance of the Great Lakes to which the Megis led the Anishinabe people has been somewhat diminished, but the people have not, and their love for Gitchi Gummi has not. The people have endured, and as one with the land and the water, will endure long into the future.