Characteristics of grassland ecosystem

Grassland ecosystem is distributed in arid areas, where the annual rainfall is very small. Compared with forest ecosystem, the species of animals and plants in grassland ecosystem are much less, and the community structure is not as complicated as the former. In different seasons or years, the rainfall is very uneven, so the structure of population and community often changes greatly.

The plants on the grassland are mainly herbs, and some grasslands have a small amount of shrubs. Due to the scarcity of rainfall, trees are very scarce. Animals there have adapted to life on the grassland, and most of them have the behavior characteristics of digging holes or running fast. There are many rodents on the grassland, almost all of which live underground. Gazelle, antelope, rhinoceros, jerboa, fox and other animals that are good at running all live on the grassland. Amphibians and aquatic animals are very scarce in grassland ecosystem due to water shortage.

Grassland is an important production base of animal husbandry. In China's vast grassland, a large number of domestic animals are raised, such as Xinjiang fine-wool sheep, Ilima, Sanhema, Tan sheep and Kuqa high-skinned sheep. These livestock can provide people with a lot of meat, milk and fur. In addition, the grassland can also adjust the climate and prevent the land from being eroded by wind and sand.

Due to overgrazing, rodents and insect pests, the grassland area in China is decreasing, and some pastures are facing the threat of desertification. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the rational utilization and protection of grasslands.