http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/grasslands/ Grassland biome. Read all the latest scientific research on the grassland biome, including articles on grassland animals and the effect of global warming on the grasslands. en-us Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:05:04 EDT Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:05:04 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/grasslands/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080818183508.htm The impact of global warming in the Arctic may differ from the predictions of computer models, according to new research, which shows that grazing animals will play a key role in reducing the anticipated expansion of shrub growth in the region, thus limiting the shrubs' predicted and beneficial carbon-absorbing effect. Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080818183508.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080804100143.htm Scientists have long pointed to physical changes in the Earth and its atmosphere as indicators of global climate change. But changes in climate can wreak havoc in more subtle ways, such as the loss of habitat for plant and animal species. Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080804100143.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080804100139.htm The undisputed queen of animal pollinators is the bee, whose daily flights aid in the reproduction of more than half of the world's flowering plants. In recent years, however, an unprecedented decline in bee populations has placed the health of ecosystems an crops in peril. A group of scientists are exploring the problem of bee habitat loss to determine what can be done to preserve bees in their native habitats. Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080804100139.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080720092205.htm Soils with native grasses such as switchgrass have higher levels of a key soil component called glomalin than soils planted to non-native grasses. Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080720092205.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708155608.htm While many plant species move to a new location or go extinct as a result of climate change, grasslands clinging to a steep, rocky dale-side in Northern England seem to defy the odds and adapt to long-term changes in temperature and rainfall, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The 13-year experiment involved subjecting 30 small grassland plots to microclimate manipulation. Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708155608.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080703113617.htm Small mammals, such as rabbits and mice, play a major role in the development of natural diversity. Biologists researched how scrub becomes established in natural grassland. It seems that prickly shrubs are important in protecting plants and preventing animal species from grazing. Researchers have also demonstrated that natural disturbances such as flooding and animal diseases are very important for the diversity of natural areas. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080703113617.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707170530.htm Two of the world's largest environmental programs in China are generally successful, although key reforms could transform them into a model for the rest of the world, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707170530.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080521114923.htm Australian Department of Defense is currently culling hundreds of kangaroos on the outskirts of the capital Canberra that have produced heated discussions and hit international headlines. Australia's iconic animal has multiplied so much over recent years that Canberra now has three times as many kangaroos as inhabitants. The situation is particularly critical at two enclosed military sites on the outskirts of the city, which form an ideal refuge for the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). Thu, 22 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080521114923.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094438.htm It's a tough job, but somebody, or at least some dogs, have to do it. In the Cerrado region of Brazil, four dogs trained to detect animal feces by scent are helping researchers monitor rare and threatened wildlife such as jaguar, tapir, giant anteater and maned wolf in and around Emas National Park, a protected area with the largest concentration of threatened species in Brazil. Tue, 13 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512094438.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211806.htm The quality of pollen a plant produces is closely tied to its sexual habits, ecologists have discovered. As well as helping explain the evolution of such intimate relationships between plants and pollinators, the study also helps explain the recent dramatic decline in certain bumblebee species found in the shrinking areas of species-rich chalk grasslands and hay meadows across Northern Europe. Tue, 06 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211806.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429130927.htm Bison can repopulate large areas from Alaska to Mexico over the next 100 years provided a series of conservation and restoration measures are taken, according to continental assessment of this iconic species. Bison once numbered in the tens of millions but were wiped out by commercial hunting and habitat loss. By 1889 fewer than 1,100 animals survived. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429130927.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095049.htm Researchers discovered a legless lizard and a tiny woodpecker along with 12 other suspected new species in Brazil's Cerrado, one of the world's 34 biodiversity conservation hotspots. The Cerrado's wooded grassland once covered an area half the size of Europe, but is now being converted to cropland and ranchland at twice the rate of the neighboring Amazon rainforest, resulting in the loss of native vegetation and unique species. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424112451.htm In the first experiment in a natural environment, scientists have shown that greater plant diversity significantly enhances an ecosystem's productivity. The finding underscores the importance of biodiversity to an ecosystem's value, such as capturing the global warming gas carbon dioxide. Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424112451.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401200451.htm The sands of the desert are an important and forgotten storehouse of carbon dioxide taken from the world's atmosphere. Sands like those in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana are full of cyanobacteria. These drought resistant bacteria can fix atmospheric carbon dioxide, and together they add significant quantities of organic matter to the nutrient deficient sands. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401200451.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172055.htm A tiny beetle is wreaking catastrophic action on the deteriorating Chihuahuan desert. Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172055.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319093118.htm While rabbits continue to ravage Australia's native landscapes, rabbit fish may help save large areas of the Great Barrier Reef from destruction. The reason, say scientists, is the same in both cases -- both rabbits and rabbit fish are efficient herbivores, capable of stripping an area of vegetation. However, in the case of the Reef, it is the vegetation that is the problem -- and the rabbit fish, the answer. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319093118.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214144403.htm Predators have considerably more influence than plants over how an ecosystem functions, according to a Yale study in Science. Ecosystem ecologists have long held that plants and their interaction with the soil determine the type and abundance of herbivores and carnivores in an ecosystem. The new research shows that the opposite is true. Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214144403.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207171703.htm The number of plant species worldwide may be dwindling from the effects of chronic low levels of nitrogen on terrestrial ecosystems, according to a University of Minnesota study. Loss of biodiversity from high levels of atmospheric nitrogen has been reported in parts of Europe and the United States, but this is the first long-term study of the impact of much lower levels of nitrogen deposition over much of the developed world. Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207171703.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080206192436.htm Scientists are at sea studying the Saharan dust that blows off the coast of Africa - triggering huge plankton blooms in the eastern Atlantic. Saharan dust is rich in nitrogen, iron and phosphorus and acts as a fertilizer on the production of plankton. Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080206192436.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131101747.htm Traditional ecosystems in which communities of plants and animals have co-evolved and are interdependent are increasingly rare, due to human-induced ecosystem changes. As a result, historical assessments of ecosystem health are often inaccurate. Scientists are now suggesting that efforts should focus less on restoring ecosystems to their original state and more on sustaining new, healthy ecosystems that are resilient to further environmental change. Accepting some permanent changes may increase health of ecosystems. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080131101747.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210103949.htm A common plant in English streams helps methane generated by bacteria in the sediment beneath the plants to escape into the atmosphere. The plant also causes a build-up of sediment from neighboring farmland, which aids the production of methane by bacteria in the stream. Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210103949.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126162522.htm A pasture improvement research program features looking at summer-dormant tall fescue grasses as an alternative to winter wheat pastures. The climate is changing and the fescue is reliable in the warmer, drier weather now experienced in the Great Plains region of the US. Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126162522.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071130200158.htm Researchers in the Netherlands, have shown that a drop in atmospheric nitrogen deposition will slow down forest growth. At the same time they expect that a lower tree growth implies less carbon sequestration and thus a decrease in the sequestration of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. This may have a significant impact on the targets set in the Kyoto protocol. Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071130200158.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012105816.htm Nitrogen pollution from agriculture and fossil fuels is known to be seriously damaging grasslands in the UK. A new European study is starting to show that the effect is Europe-wide, confirming that current policies to protect ecosystems may need a rethink. Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012105816.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012100752.htm The cow as a killer of the climate: This inglorious role of our four-legged friends, peaceful in itself, is well-enough recognised, because, with their digestion, the animals produce methane, which is expelled continuously. Now, however, scientists have been able to show that bovine animals can also boost the production of this climate changing gas in soil. Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012100752.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071010120538.htm If projected increases in the use of corn for ethanol production occur, the harm to water quality could be considerable, and water supply problems at the regional and local levels could also arise, says a new article. Thu, 11 Oct 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071010120538.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071006085213.htm An important part of the answer to the country's energy woes could be blowing in the prairie wind, according to a plant geneticist. He has spent the past 10 years breeding switchgrass, an eight-foot-plus native plant that was an integral part of the tall grass prairies that once dominated America's Midwest. As a breeder, he is mostly concerned with the plant's bioenergy-friendly attributes, including its ability to accumulate large amounts of biomass and tolerate environmental stress. Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071006085213.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070903204950.htm Bathing beaches and lakes in Europe could fail the new cleanliness standards set by the 2006 Bathing Waters Directive, but a new risk assessment tool developed by rural studies and water management experts may help reduce the transfer of disease causing bacteria from the farmed environment, according to scientists. Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070903204950.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070731191203.htm Catastrophic forest fire outbreaks in Siberia are happening more frequently because of climate change, new research suggests. In Central Siberia alone, fires have destroyed 38 000 square kilometers in the extreme fire year of 2003. In that year the smoke plumes were so huge that they caused air pollution as far as in the United States. An international team of scientists believes that Siberian fires are influenced by climate change. Sun, 05 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070731191203.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070720163907.htm "If I compare this land to what it used to be in the 1960s, it is difficult for me to recognize it," recalls Qi Mei Duo Jie, a 71-year-old nomadic herder from Yanshiping in China's central-western Qinghai Province. "Glaciers are melting, temperatures are rising and rainy seasons have become unpredictable." Sun, 22 Jul 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070720163907.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627113826.htm Farmers in Jamestown, R.I., are being paid by local residents to delay haying their fields until after birds have completed nesting in a unique test to establish investment markets for ecological services. The project to protect habitat for bobolinks, a grassland-nesting bird whose population is declining in New England, was designed by a team of University of Rhode Island economists in collaboration with a URI biologist and Providence-based EcoAsset Markets, Inc. Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627113826.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070531112847.htm Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and air temperatures may lead to an increase in plant production, but a gradual decline in soil carbon and nitrogen. This could negatively affect animal performance, since grazing animals need nitrogen-rich vegetation to facilitate digestion. Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070531112847.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070326095643.htm Too much of a good thing (nutrients or water) actually decreases the diversity of species in an ecosystem while it increases the productivity of a few species, according to a grassland experiment conducted by University of Minnesota researchers. Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070326095643.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070312231749.htm Plant and animal diseases can play a major and poorly appreciated role in allowing the invasion of exotic species, which in turn often threatens biodiversity, ecological function and the world economy, researchers say in a new report. In particular, a plant pathogen appears to have opened the gate for the successful invasion of non-native grasses into much of California, one of the world's largest documented cases of invading species and one that dramatically changed the history and ecology of a vast grassland ecosystem. Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070312231749.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070128105107.htm While temperature records dating back thousands of years already exist for certain regions of the United States, like the East Coast and the Northwest, no such record exists for the North American Great Plains. But now, a Baylor University researcher along with a team of scientists has developed a new method to measure temperature fluctuations in the Great Plains, creating a temperature record for that area of the country dating back 12,000 years. Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070128105107.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070116205514.htm High-altitude ski runs are seriously affecting Alpine birds, ecologists have found for the first time. Writing in the January issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology, Italian ecologists warn that ski pistes above the tree line result in fewer species and lower numbers of birds compared with natural grassland at similar altitudes. Ski developers should use new, environmentally-friendly techniques when constructing pistes in future, they say. Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070116205514.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061218081458.htm Using slag on wheat plants deters rabbits from eating, and consequently damaging the plant. Calcium silicate gives the leaves a bitter taste, putting the bunnies off their food. Studies show that this method can reduce crop damage by around half. In the UK alone, rabbits cause an estimated £115M worth of damage annually. Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061218081458.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061207161136.htm Highly diverse mixtures of native prairie plant species have emerged as a leader in the quest to identify the best source of biomass for producing sustainable, bio-based fuel to replace petroleum. A new study led by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology in the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, shows that mixtures of native perennial grasses and other flowering plants provide more usable energy per acre than corn grain ethanol or soybean biodiesel and are far better for the environment. Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061207161136.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061102125459.htm NASA satellite data and computer modeling and US Department of Agriculture information are helping track the remnants of the once mighty bison herd in Yellowstone National Park as they migrate with the melting snowpack. Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061102125459.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925080843.htm Abertay University is supporting the University of Plymouth in a £1 million project which could reduce the impact of global warming by decreasing the levels of nitrous oxide -- 'laughing gas' -- produced by the earth's soil. Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060925080843.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060904220238.htm Different plant species mature at different times. Scientists studying plant communities in natural habitats call this phenomenon "complementarity." It allows species to co-exist because it reduces overlap in the time period when species compete for limited resources. Now, in a study posted online the week of Sept. 4 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ecologists working at Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve report evidence that climate change may alter this delicate balance. Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060904220238.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154834.htm Scientists have devised a way to use the fossil teeth of ancient bison as a tool to reconstruct historic climate and vegetation changes in America's breadbasket, the Great Plains. Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154834.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060702084728.htm Multispecies habitat conservation plans that permit the incidental "take" of threatened or endangered species often fail to protect species that are listed as present but are not confirmed as such, and so not studied in detail Sun, 02 Jul 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060702084728.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060607082828.htm Wheat producers have more than the drought cutting into their yields this year, said two Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researchers. Dr. Tom Allen, Experiment Station assistant research scientist and plant disease diagnostician, saw more than 150 wheat samples sent to the Great Plains Diagnostic Network lab this growing season, in addition to 400-plus samples the plant pathology staff gathered across the Panhandle. Ninety-five percent of these samples were diagnosed with the wheat streak mosaic virus. Thu, 08 Jun 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060607082828.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060601214628.htm Ecosystems containing many different plant species are not only more productive, they are better able to withstand and recover from climate extremes, pests and disease over long periods, according to a new study. It is the first experiment to gather enough data -- over a sufficient time and in a controlled environment -- to confirm a 50-year scientific debate about whether biodiversity stabilizes ecosystems. Sat, 03 Jun 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060601214628.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412204831.htm Earth's plant life will not be able to "store" excess carbon from rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels as well as scientists once thought because plants likely cannot get enough nutrients, such as nitrogen, when there are higher levels of carbon dioxide, according to scientists publishing in this week's issue of the journal Nature. Thu, 13 Apr 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412204831.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412230152.htm Researchers from the University of Lancaster and the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) have found that not only can organic nitrogen be directly taken up by plants it is also used differently by different species, enabling nitrogen sharing and biodiversity. Thu, 13 Apr 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412230152.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060228180053.htm A Purdue University researcher and his team have used improved satellite imaging and powerful computer modeling to more accurately forecast the likelihood and intensity of storms and tornados. Wed, 01 Mar 2006 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060228180053.htm