Temperate Grasslands (Climate, Vegetation, Animals)

Temperate Grasslands (Climate, Vegetation, Animals) Biomes are the worlds major habitats. These habitats are identified by the vegetation and animals that populate them. The location of each biome is determined by the regional climate. Grassland biomes consist of temperate grasslands and tropical grasslands, or savannas.   Key Takeaways: Temperate Grasslands Temperate grasslands are areas of open grassy plains that are sparsely populated with trees.Various names of temperate grasslands include pampas, downs, and veldts.Temperate grasslands can be found in various regions north and south of the equator including Argentina, Australia, and central North America.Temperatures vary with seasons with tornadoes, blizzards, and fires occurring in many temperate grassland regions.Temperate grasslands are home to many large and small herbivores. Temperate Grasslands Like savannas, temperate grasslands are areas of open grassland with very few trees. Temperate grasslands, however, are located in colder climate regions and receive less precipitation on average than savannas. Climate Temperatures in temperate grasslands vary according to the season. In winter, temperatures can plummet to well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas. In summer, temperatures can reach above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperate grasslands receive low to moderate precipitation on average per year (20-35 inches). Most of this precipitation is in the form of snow in temperate grasslands of the northern hemisphere. Tornadoes, Blizzards, and Fires   nickalbi/iStock/Getty Images Plus Three natural factors that impact temperate grassland biomes are tornadoes, blizzards, and fires. A stretch of the plains region in the United States is termed Tornado Alley due to tornado hyperactivity. This region extends from northern Texas through North Dakota and extends east into Ohio. Tornadoes are spawned as warm air from the Gulf meets cold air from Canada generating around 700 tornadoes per year. Temperate grasslands located in colder regions also experience icy winters and blizzards. High winds generate sudden snowstorms that spread across the plains. Due to the hot, dry summer climate, wildfires are common in temperate grasslands. These fires are usually sparked by lightning but are also the result of human activity. The thick dry grass fuels fires that can spread for hundreds of miles. While fires are destructive in nature, they also ensure that prairies remain grasslands and are not overtaken by scrub vegetation. Location Temperate Grassland Locations. Terpsichores/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0   Grasslands are located on every continent with the exception of Antarctica. Some locations of temperate grasslands include: Argentina - pampasAustralia - downsCentral North America - plains and prairiesHungary - pusztaNew Zealand - downsRussia - steppesSouth Africa - veldts Vegetation Low to moderate precipitation makes temperate grasslands a difficult place for tall plants such as woody shrubs and trees to grow. Grasses of this area have adapted to cold temperatures, drought, and occasional fires. These grasses have deep, massive root systems that take hold in the soil. This allows the grasses to remain firmly rooted in the ground to reduce erosion and to conserve water. Temperate grassland vegetation can either be short or tall. In areas that receive little precipitation, grasses remain low to the ground. Taller grasses can be found in warmer areas that receive more rainfall. Some examples of vegetation in temperate grasslands include: buffalo grass, cacti, sagebrush, perennial grasses, sunflowers, clovers, and wild indigos. Wildlife American Bison.   Juan Carlos Munoz/The Image Bank/Getty Images Plus Temperate grasslands are home to many large herbivores. Some of these include bison, gazelles, zebras, rhinoceroses, and wild horses. Carnivores, like lions and wolves, are also found in temperate grasslands. Other animals of this region include: deer, prairie dogs, mice, jack rabbits, skunks, coyotes, snakes, foxes, owls, badgers, blackbirds, grasshoppers, meadowlarks, sparrows, quails, and hawks. More Land Biomes Temperate grasslands are one of many biomes. Other land biomes of the world include: Chaparrals: Characterized by dense shrubs and grasses, this biome experiences dry summers and damp winters.Deserts: Many people assume falsely that all deserts are hot. Deserts are classified according to location, temperature, and amount of precipitation.Savannas: This large grassland biome is home to some of the fastest animals on the planet.Taigas: Also called coniferous forests, this biome is populated by dense evergreen trees.Temperate Forests: These forests experience distinctive seasons and are populated by deciduous trees (lose leaves in winter).Tropical Rain Forests: This biome receives abundant rainfall and is characterized by tall, dense vegetation. Located near the equator, this biome experiences hot temperatures year round.Tundra: As the coldest biome in the world, tundras are characterized by extremely cold temperatures, permafrost, tree-less landscapes, and slight precipitation. Sources Hoare, Ben. Temperate Grasslands. Raintree, 2011.Nunez, Christina. Grasslands Information and Facts. National Geographic, 15 Mar. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/grasslands/.

Lynn Margulis - Biography of an Evolution Scientist

Lynn Margulis - Biography of an Evolution Scientist Lynn Margulis was born March 15, 1938 to Leone and Morris Alexander in Chicago, Illinois. She was the oldest of four girls born to the travel agent and lawyer. Lynn took an early interest in her education, especially science classes. After only two years at Hyde Park High School in Chicago, she was accepted into the early entrant program at the University of Chicago at the young age of 15. By the time Lynn was 19, she had acquired a B.A. of Liberal Arts from the University of Chicago. She then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin for graduate studies. In 1960, Lynn Margulis had obtained an M.S. in Genetics and Zoology and then went on to work at getting a Ph.D. in Genetics at the University of California, Berkeley. She ended up finishing her doctoral work at Brandeis University in Massachusetts in 1965. Personal Life While at the University of Chicago, Lynn met the now famous Physicist Carl Sagan while he was doing his graduate work in Physics at the college. They married shortly before Lynn finished her B.A. in 1957. They had two sons, Dorion and Jeremy. Lynn and Carl divorced before Lynn finished her Ph.D. work at the University of California, Berkeley. She and her sons moved to Massachusetts shortly thereafter. In 1967, Lynn married crystallographer Thomas Margulis after accepting a position as a lecturer at Boston College. Thomas and Lynn had two children- a son Zachary and a daughter Jennifer. They were married for 13 years before divorcing in 1980. In 1988, Lynn took a position in the Botany department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. There, she continued to lecture and write scientific papers and books over the years. Lynn Margulis passed away on November 22, 2011, after suffering uncontrolled hemorrhaging caused by a stroke. Career While studying at the University of Chicago, Lynn Margulis first became interested in learning about cell structure and function. Particularly, Lynn wanted to learn as much as possible about genetics and how it related to the cell. During her graduate studies, she studied the non-Mendelian inheritance of cells. She hypothesized that there had to be DNA somewhere in the cell that wasnt in the nucleus due to some of the traits that were passed down to the next generation in plants that did not match the genes coded in the nucleus. Lynn found DNA within both mitochondria and chloroplasts inside of plant cells that did not match the DNA in the nucleus. This led her to begin formulating her endosymbiotic theory of cells. These insights came under fire immediately, but have held up over the years and contributed significantly to the Theory of Evolution. Most traditional evolutionary biologists believed, at the time, that competition was the cause of evolution. The idea of natural selection is based on the survival of the fittest, meaning competition eliminates the weaker adaptations, generally caused by mutations. Lynn Margulis endosymbiotic theory was the opposite. She proposed that cooperation between species led to the formation of new organs and other types of adaptations along with those mutations. Lynn Margulis was so intrigued by the idea of symbiosis, she became a contributor to the Gaia hypothesis first proposed by James Lovelock. In short, the Gaia hypothesis asserts that everything on Earth- including life on land, the oceans, and the atmosphere- work together in a sort of symbiosis as if it were one living organism. In 1983, Lynn Margulis was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Other personal highlights include being the co-director of the Biology Planetary Internship Program for NASA and was awarded eight honorary doctorate degrees at various universities and colleges. In 1999, she was awarded the National Medal of Science.