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UW-Madison ENVIRST 260 - Grasslands and Savannas

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ENVIR ST 260 1st Edition Lecture 15Outline of Last Lecture I. WetlandsII. HydrodynamicsIII. MangrovesIV. Importance of WetlandsV. Poyang Lake, ChinaVI. Wetland Key PointsOutline of Current Lecture I. DefinitionsII. GrazersIII. Carbon CycleIV. Group Work ConclusionsCurrent LectureDefinitions Grassland – ecosystem dominated by grasses and other herbaceous species Prairies is a good example Visual representation: Lots of grass and no trees Savanna – widely spaced trees, groundcover is dense grasses Low tree density Ground cover is grass dominated more than shrub dominated Visual representation: Lots of grass with a few treesGrazers Modern day grazers include cows and zebrasThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Past grazers include Mastodons and Ground Sloths Grazers are important because they remove a lot of plant biomass. By roaming around and eating all the grass, they’re removing vegetation and cycling nutrients back into the soil. Grazing would be considered a disturbance that manipulates the ecosystem. Carbon Cycle In thinking about ecosystems, you want to think about where carbon is stored. A lot of carbon compounds go into plant cells Trees represent big pools of carbon A lot of carbon is deposited into the soil when grass roots die and decompose.  Overtime as plant and animal biomass get packed down into soils, they turn into fossil fuels. It’s a very long term process.  Carbon gets released back into the atmosphere through wildfires and tapping into fossil fuels  We want to focus on where the big carbon pool is when we analyze ecosystems; it’s typically in biomass or soil.Group Work Conclusions Australian Savannah Challenges with Restoration and Conservation  Fire management is critical and it’s hard to control  Conversion for agricultural purposes  Clearing out invasive species without harming native plants North American Tall Grass Prairie Challenges with Restoration and Conservation:  Maintaining invasive species ( a lot of them)  Urbanization and agriculture Brazilian Cerrado Challenges with Conservation and Restoration There’s agriculture development taking over the area  Limited protection from government bodies Serengeti Plain of East Africa Challenges with Conservation and Restoration


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UW-Madison ENVIRST 260 - Grasslands and Savannas

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