Tropical Grasslands

Tropical grasslands exist in a broad belt radiating out from the equator and include the East African savannas, the Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia and the Cerrado of Brazil. These grasslands share several defining characteristics and typically have a concentrated wet season alternating with a season of extended drought.

Flooded Grasslands

Some grasslands, such as the Pantanal in South America as well as the Everglades of North America, also have seasonal floods. Known as flooded grasslands, these landscapes are often covered with water during the wet season. In the dry season, the water recedes and standing pools, lakes and rivers are all that remain among the vast plains of grass.

Temperate Grasslands

The world’s most expansive grasslands are found in temperate regions where summers tend to be hot and winters cold. Temperate grasslands — including the Great Plains of North America, the Steppes of Eurasia and the Argentine Pampas — harbor some of the world’s most fertile soils and have been widely converted into centers of intensive agricultural production.

Montane Grasslands

At high elevations, the world’s montane grasslands are strikingly adapted to cool, wet conditions and intense sunlight. These unusual landscapes — such as the puna (or paramos) of South America, the central range of New Guinea and the Tibetan plateau — tend by their nature to be limited in size and extremely isolated. But they support high numbers of rare plants and animals.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom): Photos © Scott Warren (Cerrado), © Scott Warren (Pantanal), © Lkhagva Ariuntsetseg (Mongolia), © Andy Drumm (Ecuador)