For engineering students who study EVS

1. GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM
EVS-1 GROUP PRESENTATION
SUBMITTED BY- GROUP 2

2. TEAM MEMBERS
SPARSH SHARMA (20107014)
GURSHARAN KAUR (20107015)
SHALIN KUMAR (20107016 )
PRIYANSHU (20107017)
ROHIT BADHAWAN (20107019)
YUDHISHTER RANA (20107021)
RAVI KANT ROHILLA (20107022)
HRISHIKESH PANDEY (20107023)

3. CONTENTS
DEFINITION
IMPO RTANCE
TYPES
CASE STUDY-1
CASE STUDY-2
THREATS
CONSERVATION MEASURES
1
.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

4. WHAT IS GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM
A Grassland Ecosystem is the collection of plants, animals
& microorganisms that live within an environment where
grasses are the primary form of vegetation. Grasslands
occur naturally on all continents except antarctica & are
found in most eco-regions of the earth. For eg:
Prairies of Western North America
Pampas of Argentina

5. TYPES OF GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM
Desert Grasslands
Tropical Grasslands
Temperate Grasslands
Montane Grasslands
Flooded Grasslands

6. THREATS TO
GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM
Continued global warming could turn current
marginal grasslands into desserts as rainfall
patterns change
Land once incompatible with row-crop
agriculture, but which provided a living to
ranching families and habitat for prairie wildlife,
is being converted to row crops
Development of urban areas is increasingly
cutting into grassland habitat
Drought-hardy, cold-resistant, and herbicide-
tolerant varieties of soybeans, wheat, and corn
allow crops to expand into native grassland

7. HOW
COULD
WE
CONSERVE
IT?
Continue education efforts on how to protect
the soil and prevent soil erosion
Protect and restore wetlands, which are an
important part of grassland ecology
Rotate agriculture crops to prevent the
sapping of nutrients
Conduct dry season burning to obtain fresh
growth and to restore calcium to the soil that
builds up in the dry grasses.
1.
2.
3.
4.

8. CHALLAKERE GRASSLANDS
CASE STUDY 1

9. HISTORY & VALUE
The Challakere grasslands protected as Amrit Mahal Kavals
are semi-arid grasslands in the Challakere Taluk of Chitradurga
district in the Indian state of Karnataka. These are distributed
across six districts and 62 places of Chikkamagaluru,
Chitradurga, Hassan, Tumkur, Mandya and Davanagere of the
state. These were protected as grazing pastures.
Sheep-rearing and allied activities of shearing, spinning and
weaving woolen blankets and baskets from palm fronds are
mainstays of the local economy. People consider grasslands
as sacred spaces and celebrate them through various
festivals. The Kavals form watersheds of irrigation tanks are
source of groundwater recharge.

10. CHALLAKERE IN
CHITRADURGA
DISTRICT,
KARNATAKA

11. THE CONVERSION OF
CHALLAKERE AMRIT MAHAL
POST-INDEPENDENCE
At the time of Independence, the state of
Karnataka had about 400,000 acres of Amrit
Mahal Kavals. After 1947, these kavals have
been systematically diverted to different urban
and industrial projects in addition to expansion
of agriculture. Today only 60,000 acres of kaval
land remain, managed by the Animal Husbandry
and Veterinary Science Departments of the
state. Around 14,500 acres of protected
grassland area were preserved over centuries
for the Amrit Mahal cattle in Challakere in
Chitradurga district. During 2007-2009, some
9,394 acres of this protected area were
appropriated by the Union government and the
state government of Karnataka for the ‘science
city’ project, and another 21,976 acres were
allotted to various institutions.

12. ALLOCATIONS
OF
THE
KAVAL
LAND
Defence Research Development Organisation/
Aeronautical Development Establishment (promoting
a weaponised drone testing and manufacturing
facility) – Land allocated: 4,290 acres
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (promoting a
special materials and nuclear enrichment facility). A
nuclear fuel enrichment and re-processing plant
linked to India’s nuclear weapons and nuclear
submarine project – Land Allocated: 1,810 acres
Sagitaur Ventures India Pvt. Ltd. (promoting a solar
park along with Grid Connected 25MW solar PV
power project) – Land Allocated: 1,250 acres
1.
2.
3.
4.
Karnataka Small Scale Industries Development
Corporation (promoting various ancillary industrial
units) – Land Allocated: 300 acres

13. DPSIR: A DECISION SUPPORT
SYSTEM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF
GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEMS
A DPSIR framework can be considered as a way of structuring
complex environmental problems by incorporating cause-and-
effect relationships. The framework has proven to be vital in
building a comprehensive understanding of the relationship
between the state of the ecosystem and the drivers of threats
leading to that state.
Broad elements of the degradation of Challakere grassland are
linked and organised in a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-
Response (DPSIR) model. The framework has been adopted by
several international organisations, such as US Environmental
Protection Agency, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and
the European Union.

14. AN EXTENDED DPSIR FRAMEWORK
FOR STUDYING THE CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP
OF DISTURBANCES TO GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM

15. THE DPSIR FRAMEWORK
IN THE CONTEXT OF THE
DEGRADATION OF CHALLAKERE GRASSLAND

16. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Globally, the fragmentation and degradation of grasslands is
threatening progress towards multiple goals. These include the
Biodiversity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
of 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,
specifically SDG 15 (protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable
use of terrestrial ecosystems) and SDG 13(climate change
mitigation).
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification considers
grassland degradation to be broadly associated with two underlying
drivers: climate change and human activities. The conversion of
grasslands to other uses such as farmlands, built infrastructure, and
forestry, contributes significantly to their degradation not only in
India but in many other parts of the world. Grasslands in India have
been historically undervalued in national policies

17. CONCLUSION
Grasslands have significant ecological value,
including acting as a carbon sink which is
imperative for climate action. There is
inadequate operational ecological knowledge
for decision-making concerning grasslands,
partly because they are diverse and difficult to
define since apart from grasses, other forms of
plant life contribute to their species richness and
diversity.
The development at Challakere in Karnataka
reinforces the forestry-centric bias that has
existed since the colonial era: protect forests for
the timber they provide, and neglect grasslands
that have no productive or economic value.

18. BANNI GRASSLAND
CASE STUDY 2

19. ABOUT
BANNI GRASSLANDS
located near the southern edge of the salt
flat of Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, India
It is the largest grassland of Asia which
covers around 2617 square meters
Was declared a Protected Forest in 1955,
under the Indian Forest Act, 1927
Having 40 species of grass and 99 species
of flowering plants, Banni is also home to
many animals as Indian wolf, jackal, desert
fox, Indian fox, desert cat, caracal, Nilgai,
wild boar, Indian hare and common monitor
lizard
Faces a drought every two to three years
and the grass appears with a little bit of rain

20. HISTORY
Once upon a time, there were no roads and no power.
Whenever it rained, people there need to carry patients
over 10 kilometers. Pastoral community was dependent
on the Banni, for their livelihood since their cattle fed on
the natural grass of Banni. In 1961, when India was
celebrating its 13th Independence Day, a major event
took place in India’s largest district, Kutch, which
changed the ecology of the Banni grasslands forever. It
occurred under green revolution, so green revolution
did a lot of harm to Banni grasslands.

21. EFFECT
OF
GREEN
REVOLUTION
Banni shares its northern border with the Rann of
Kutch
Seeds of an exotic species called Proposis
Juliflora were scattered using helicopters under
green revolution
These were used to stop the ingress of salinity
from the Rann
Over an area of 31,500 hectares, seeds were
scattered
This bushy and thorny tree propagates very
quickly and absorbs a lot of water
This species doesn’t allow native grasses to grow
Proposis Juliflora doesn’t allow ground water to
recharge, leading to disappearance of grasslands
1
.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

22. CURRENT SCENARIO
Till 1979, only 6% of the area of Banni was covered by Proposis
Juliflora
But by 2015, the exotic species had covered 54% of the
grasslands
The problem of salinity increased manifolds
Salinity is increasing at a rate of 80 kilometers per year
The rivers flowing through Banni has also been dammed by
Indian government
To fight salinity, the fragile Banni grasslands needed water but
the rivers cannot water these grasslands adequately which is
another reason for increased salinity

23. ACTIONS TAKEN
TO RESTORE THE
AREA OF GRASSLAND
An NGO called SAHJEEVAN is working
alongside community to restore Banni grasslands
They are trying to restore 18,000 hectares of
land in Kutch
They have selected seeds of 8or 9 varieties of
grass species and these seeds are collected by
local communities
There are two species (Dactyloctenium Sindicum
and Chloris Barbata) which can do well even
during low rainfall
If there is moderate rainfall in this region, all
these species will keep growing
The idea is something must grow no matter how
it rains

24. THANK YOU