Grassland threats
They're many threats to the biome, but some of the many dangerous casues against grassland could be farming. I may have talked about farming before but farming is one of the more common and threatening causes. If grassland is converted into cropland the animals must move where another group of animals are and compete for the same resources and rid the ecosystem of the resources it has faster than it would normally because of overgrazing. The land can also be plowed to much, taking away the nutrients from the soil and making it difficult for plants to grow. Salt from irrigation waters like rivers and creeks can also damage the ground around it, which result in dry soil blowing around, this is the process that contributed to the Dust Bowl in the American west and continues to cause major dust storms.
Another dangerous threat to the grassland and ecosystem is hunting. Hunting has had a serious impact on this biome. The American bison in particular almost became extinct because European settlers over hunted them for fur and meat. Poachers are also rhinoceroses for their tusks and elephants for their ivory just to name a couple of things. Global Warming has also had influences on the biome. As the world changes in response to human involvement, the grassland becomes vulnerable. Climate change can also change the ecosystem in which the ecosystem of an area develops into another. Changing temperatures, weather patterns and water availability can throw an area of grassland out of balance and may change it forever. Pollution is a big, dangerous threat to the grassland biome and any other biome. A type of pollution called Carbon dioxide pollution is caused by Global warming and and pollutes certain areas where there is a lot of vegetation. Once the carbon dioxide pollution has set a foothold in the vegetation it causes the plants to grow super tall and then other shrivel up and die or become small shrubs. So instead of seeing nice, green grass everywhere you'll only dead grass or lots not so good looking shrubs. Another pollution danger is nitrogen pollution. Nitrogen pollution is caused through the chemicals in vehicles or anything else that relaese nitrogen oxide into the air. Nitrogen pollution can cause acid rain which then can destroy the ground and is not a good thing in grassland terms. The final threat is fire. Grasslands can be found in drier climates, the grass and plant life been vulnerable to fire. Wildfires occur as a natural process within an ecosystem and play an important role in replenishing the land. However, fires tend to originate more frequently near human populations, more often in drier months. |