Grassland ecosystems are terrestrial biomes dominated by herbaceous vegetation, primarily grasses (Poaceae), with sparse tree or shrub cover, shaped by climate, fire regimes, soil properties, and large herbivore grazing. They exhibit high belowground biomass and root turnover, playing a major role in carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and water regulation. Structurally, grasslands are characterized by open canopies, seasonal productivity pulses, and strong coupling between disturbance and primary production. They support specialized plant–herbivore–microbe interactions, including mycorrhizal associations and grazing-adapted floras, and are central to research on biodiversity maintenance, trophic dynamics, land-use change, and climate–vegetation feedbacks across temperate, tropical, and arid regions.
Many large herbivores that once roamed modern-day Panama have declined or died out—including the 6-meter-long giant ground sloth and elephant-related creatures called Cuvieronius. New research suggests that introducing large ...
Ecology
Mar 3, 2026
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232
Protected natural areas across Europe are changing. Climate change, with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall, is turbocharging the growth of shrubs and trees, choking the flowers and insects that need the light and heat ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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552
For over 20 million years, the landscape of Europe has been a tree-rich mosaic of grasslands, scrubs and more or less open woodlands with an abundance of wildflowers. This is the conclusion of a new and comprehensive study ...
Ecology
Mar 2, 2026
2
1824
On a hazy day in June 2023, doctoral students Trifosa Simamora and Timothy Boycott noticed that the birds at their field site had gone quiet. Now in a study published in Biological Conservation, they show that the culprit ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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16
Along with forests, grasslands and wetlands are also being converted to cropland and pasture at an increasing rate around the world—often for livestock farming and the export of agricultural products. An international team ...
Environment
Feb 26, 2026
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106
All animals need to eat to survive, grow and reproduce. To do so, they also need to avoid being eaten. This is a big challenge for many of Australia's native mammals, because when they search for food, they must also escape ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 24, 2026
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22
When it comes to biodiversity, researchers and the public tend to focus on large-scale patterns. This overlooks a hidden but precious diversity: small, inconspicuous wasps, midges, flies, beetles and other insects that live ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 18, 2026
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20
When you look out across a snowy winter landscape, it might seem like nature is fast asleep. Yet, under the surface, tiny organisms are hard at work, consuming the previous year's dead plant material and other organic matter.
Ecology
Feb 17, 2026
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411
A new national monitoring program provides, for the first time, area-representative knowledge of semi-natural grasslands in Norway. The results show that this habitat covers a larger area than previously mapped, but that ...
Ecology
Feb 16, 2026
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13
Though superbloom is not a scientific term, that doesn't stop legions from hoping for a giant display of wildflowers come springtime. UC Riverside plant ecologist Loralee Larios weighs in here on the outlook for such a show ...
Ecology
Feb 13, 2026
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