Climate, parent material and soil, topography, and natural disturbances are the four major abiotic factors that influence grassland ecosystems. Climate, which includes temperature and precipitation patterns, is the most important factor determining grassland types. Grasslands occur in areas with varying temperatures and precipitation levels, from tropical regions with over 60 inches of rain annually to montane regions with under 30 inches. Topography such as elevation, slope and aspect also impact grassland ecosystems by affecting temperature, drainage and wildfire patterns. Natural disturbances like flooding and lightning-caused fires further contribute to grassland diversity.

2. Abiotic factors of Grasslands
 Each abiotic component influences the number
and variety of plants that grow in an ecosystem,
which in turn has an influence on the variety of
animals that live there. The four major abiotic
components are: climate, parent material and
soil, topography, and natural disturbances.

3. 1) Climate
 includes the rainfall, temperature and wind
patterns that occur in an area, and is the most
important abiotic component of a grassland
ecosystem.
 The climate in our grassland ecosystems is
usually hot and dry in the spring and summer
growing season, and cool or cold in winter
dormant season.

4. Temperature, in tandem with Precipitation
 The amount and distribution of the rainfall an area
receives in a year influences the types and
productivity of grassland plants
Temperature
 Grasslands occur in both high-temperature
areas near the Equator and mid-to-low-
temperature areas nearing subarctic regions.
Grasslands that are near the Equator are
generally either tropical grasslands or
temperate. Grasslands that are further from the
Equator are mostly temperate grasslands and
montane grasslands.

6. Precipitation
 Tropical grasslands receive the most rain out of all
the grassland biomes, up to 60 inches a year.
Temperate grasslands receive much less annual
rainfall on average (no more than 40 inches a
year). Flooded grasslands, though they are very
wet, also receive less annual rainfall than tropical
grasslands, around 30 to 40 inches per year.
Montane grasslands receive the lowest amount of
precipitation, no more than 30 inches per
year, and often, that precipitation is in the form of
snow.

7. Humidity
 Tropical grasslands and flooded grasslands are
very humid, meaning there is a very high
percentage of moisture in the air. Temperate
grasslands are somewhat humid, but can also be
arid, meaning dry or little moisture in the air.
Montane grasslands are typically very arid;
however, some are mildly humid.
 During the hottest months of the year (the height
of summer) more water evaporates from parts of
the grasslands than falls as rain, creating
a moisture deficit.

9. 2.) Parent Material and Soil
Parent Material
 Much of the parent material underlying BC's
grasslands was deposited as the last ice sheets
melted away. In the Rocky Mountain Trench, for
example, some material was deposited under a
moving glacier, while on the Chilcotin plateau
some was deposited under a stationary ice sheet;
in many places throughout the grasslands material
was carried and deposited by water on, in, or
under the ice.

12. Soil
 The type of parent material in a particular area
influences the texture of the soil, how well water flows
through it, and hence the chemistry and nutrients of
the soil.
 The fine silt soils found on the terraces of the
Okanogan, Kootenay and Thompson valleys hold
water near to the surface where it either evaporates
or is soaked up by the dense fine roots of grasses;
trees are not common in these areas. By contrast, in
areas with gravel soils water moves quickly down to
depths below the grass roots to levels where tree
roots grow. As such, more trees are likely to be found
in these areas.

13. glacial till (C) deposited
by the ice as it melted
12,000 to 10,000 years
ago. These soils have
a deep organic-rich
layer (A) that results
from the breakdown of
the roots and plant
material each year.
The organic layer
increases in depth with
increases in elevation
and moisture.

14. 3.) Topography
 They generally occur in very hilly, uneven
landscapes. Temperate grasslands are usually
more flat and occur in areas of mid-to-low
elevation. Flooded grasslands are almost all flat
and in areas of low elevation. Montane grasslands
are very mountainous and usually in areas of high
elevation.

15. Aspect
 refers to the direction in which a piece of land is
facing.
slope
 is the angle at which the land lies. Slope is
important in our grasslands as water may run
downhill rather than soak into the ground where it
is available for plants
Elevation
 describes the height of land above sea level.
Temperatures are generally cooler and rainfall is
higher as elevation is gained.

16. 4.) Natural Disturbances
 change grasslands in many ways, adding to the
diversity of these ecosystems. Some types of
disturbance, such as annual flooding of riparian
areas along rivers and streams, can be predicted
while others, such as a fire after a lightning
storm, happen unexpectedly.

17. Flooding
 The flooding waters can alter stream and river
banks and move soil, broken trees and shrubs
downstream.
Lightning Storms
 Since grassland plants burn readily, fire spreads
very quickly, and is thought to have been an
important factor in maintaining the grasslands
ecosystem. Fires are important for returning
nutrients to the soil.

18. Biotic factors of Grasslands
 The biotic factors of the grassland ecosystem
includes the autotrophs, and the heterotrophs, that
is the producers, primary consumers, secondary
consumers and the tertiary consumers.
 Primary producers: The primary producers
include the autotrophs that can photosynthesize
and includes the grasses, sedged, rushes,
cyanobacteria. lichens, mosses, trees etc.

19.  The primary and the secondary consumers
includes the rabbits, moles , hares, elks,
small dears in some places along with the
phytophagous insects , snakes, preying
birds, insect feeders and in some
grassland ecosystems like in Africa where
there are carnivores like the panthers. lions,
foxes, wild dogs, etc
The bacteria , fungi and other micro-
organisms form the detritus food chain that
is involved in the nutrient cycling of the
grassland.