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.
A new study from the Durham University Psychology Department has found that people want grass to be mowed less often and would like to see more wild green spaces but only if they look attractive.
Ecology
Nov 11, 2025
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17
Grassland degradation fundamentally reshapes how biodiversity supports ecosystem multifunctionality, shifting it from being plant-dominated to being mediated by soil microbes, according to a new study led by Prof. Yang Yuanhe ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 11, 2025
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36
A new study from the University of Portsmouth has uncovered a dramatic collapse in traditional meadowland across the lower Rother catchment in the South Downs, West Sussex, with losses of up to 99.9% since the mid-19th century.
Ecology
Nov 5, 2025
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17
A study by research teams at the National Museum of Natural Science and National Taiwan University has, for the first time, unveiled Taiwan's vanished Pleistocene ecosystem: a warm, arid savanna environment dominated by grasslands ...
Ecology
Nov 5, 2025
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317
Africa's ecosystems are running on less than two-thirds of the natural energy they once had, according to new Oxford-led research published today in Nature. The study reveals a dramatic loss of wildlife "power" across the ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 29, 2025
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105
A new study led by Prof. Shao Hua at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed that aridity and grazing jointly reduce the resistance of plant communities, thereby ...
Ecology
Oct 28, 2025
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16
Burning fossil fuels has elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide, causing massive changes in the global climate including extreme temperatures and weather events here in the Midwest. Meanwhile, human activities have increased ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 20, 2025
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27
When farmland is abandoned and allowed to return to nature, forests and grasslands naturally regrow and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—helping fight climate change.
Earth Sciences
Oct 20, 2025
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38
A global research effort led by Colorado State University shows that extreme, prolonged drought conditions in grasslands and shrublands would greatly limit the long-term health of crucial ecosystems that cover nearly half ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 16, 2025
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71
The uplift of East Africa during the Miocene epoch dramatically transformed the region's climate and ecosystems, promoting the expansion of grassland and reshaping habitats for mammals and early hominoids. This is revealed ...
Ecology
Oct 15, 2025
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28
