All About Grassland Ecosystems
Welcome to the grasslands at Freshkills Park.
Imagine being in a huge field filled with high grass. This isn't just any field, though; the grass is taller than you, and you can hear birds chirping, see insects jumping, and smell flowers and fresh grass.
Welcome to the grassland!
A grassland is an ecosystem, or place that contains everything certain animals and plants need to survive. Grasslands contain mostly grasses, not trees, shrubs, sand, or water.
Grasslands are home to amazing plants, animals, insects, and birds.
Click and drag the picture to look around the grassland.
There are many famous grasslands in the world. Explore the map to learn about some of the world's biggest grassland biomes.
Grasslands are a rare ecosystem. Most of the grasslands in the world have been destroyed to build houses or farms, so people are working to conserve, or protect, the grasslands that are left.Less than 2% of historical grasslands in the world still exist today.
There are grasslands ecosystems in New York and other place on the East Coast. This picture shows the Hempstead Plains in 1902. The Hempstead Plains was a grassland that covered 40,000 acres in Long Island. Much of it was destroyed to build houses and other buildings. Today, less than 19 acres are left.
There are also new grassland habitats, like the grassland at Freshkills Park. Most of the grassland areas in New York City are made from reclaimed industrial areas like landfills. A landfill is a place where trash, or waste, goes after it is thrown away.
The waste is covered with layers of soil and plastic to keep the trash away from the air, soil, and water.
Look at the top layer. The soil is planted with native grass seeds, which can grow into a grassland.
Click on the green areas to learn more about grassland habitat in New York City.
These grasslands are much smaller than the Great Plains or the African Savannah, but they are very important to the plants and animals that live there.
What's special about a grassland? I see grass everywhere!
You may have seen many areas that are covered in grass. For example, soccer fields and front lawns are grassy areas. However, grasslands are very different from these areas. Click the arrow to scroll between the two pictures below. What differences do you notice between a grassland and a lawn?
Some of the differences between lawns and grasslands are:
- Lawns have very short grasses, only a few inches high. Grassland grasses are usually very tall, up to 6 feet or higher.
- Lawns usually only have one kind of grass. Grasslands have many different kinds of grasses. Can you see the different colored grasses in the pictures above?
- Lawns are made for humans and their pets to relax and play on. Grasslands are ecosystems that are home to many different species, not just humans and pets.
- Lawns can be small and you can walk across them quickly. Grasslands are much bigger.
Why are grasslands important?
Grasslands are important because they protect biodiversity, provide a home for migrating birds, and absorb carbon dioxide. Read the sections below to learn more about each of these special traits.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variety of types of life, such as plants, animals, and insects, in a specific ecosystem. You may recognize a word inside of “biodiversity”: Diversity.
Bio (life) + Diversity = Biodiversity.
Ecosystems that have a lot of biodiversity are healthier and more resilient, or able to handle change, than ecosystems with a low amount of biodiversity.
For example, grassy fields usually have one or two kinds of grass, but a healthy grassland will have many different kinds. How many colors of grass can you see in this picture?
How does biodiversity make an ecosystem healthier?
- Sometimes, an insect will come that eats one kind of grass. If there is only one kind of grass, the whole ecosystem will be destroyed. But if there are many different kinds of grass, the ecosystem can stay healthy even if something happens to one species.
- Different plants provide food and shelter to different animals. Having biodiversity allows many species to find what they need in an ecosystem.
Let's look closer to learn more about the different kinds of plants in the Freshkills grasslands.
What colors do you observe in this grass?
Little Bluestem grows in clumps, which provides shelter for small animals. The seeds are an important source of food for many birds and mammals.
If you could touch this grass, what textures do you think you would feel?
Switchgrass roots can grow over six feet deep. These root systems help keep the soil stable and healthy.
What insects are connected to this plant?
Flowers on blue-eyed grasses open during the day, when pollinators are active, and close at night.
How is this plant similar to and different from the other plants you've observed?
Indiangrass has deep roots that stabilize soil and prevent erosion.
A healthy grassland has high biodiversity. If something happens to one kind of grass, like an insect eats it, the grassland ecosystem will still be healthy because it has many different kinds of grasses. Biodiversity helps keep ecosystems healthy.
Migration
Grasslands provide a home for migrating birds, like the Bobolink and the Grasshopper Sparrow.
Migration is the movement of species from one area to another, usually related to a change in seasons.
You may see the word “migration” inside “immigration” because both words are related to moving from place to place.
Many grassland birds are specialists, which means they can only live in grassland habitat. These birds live in grasslands in North America during the summer. In the winter, they migrate to grasslands in Central and South America.
It's important to protect grassland habitats, like Freshkills Park, so that grassland birds have a safe place to migrate and build nests.
Scientists at Freshkills Park research which birds migrate to the grasslands throughout the year. Birds like the Grasshopper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Bobolink, and Eastern Meadowlark migrate to Freshkills Park to find foods, build nests, lay eggs, and raise young.
In this picture, scientists are using mist nests to study birds.
In 2020, the Sedge Wren migrated to Freshkills Park to build a nest and raise young. Sedge Wrens are grassland specialists. They used to nest in Queens and Staten Island but stopped migrating to New York City when their grassland habitat was destroyed. This was the first time Sedge Wrens built nests in New York City since 1960!
Migrating birds need healthy grassland habitats, like Freshkills Park, to build nests and raise young.
Absorbing Carbon Dioxide
Grasslands do another important thing for the planet: they absorb carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a gas that makes up part of our atmosphere.
Grasses breath in carbon dioxide. They store carbon dioxide in their roots and transfer it deep into the soil.
Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is also added to the atmosphere in other ways, like by burning fuels in cars and airplanes. All of the additional carbon dioxide is causing global climate change. But grasslands can help.
Grasses use sunlight to make energy from carbon dioxide and water. When they breathe in carbon dioxide, they take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Visitors to a grassland will see the colorful seeds and stems, but they won't see the grass roots, which are hidden under the surface. Grasses like Switchgrass and Big Bluestem can grow roots that are more than six feet deep!
Grassland soils store carbon from plant roots. When roots decay, they leave carbon in the soil. The soil becomes healthy and nutritious for plants and other species.
Trees fight climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide. But did you know that grasses are more stable at absorbing carbon than forests?
That is because trees absorb carbon dioxide and hold it in their trunks. If something happens to that tree, like a forest fire, all that carbon gets released back into the atmosphere.
On the other hand, grasslands hold carbon in their roots and in the soil, where it is not released even if something happens to the grasses.
Grasses absorb carbon dioxide and store it in the soil through their roots, which helps fight climate change.
Grassland Conservation
Researchers, scientists, and community members are working to conserve, or save, grasslands. Even though grasslands are such important ecosystems, many of them have been destroyed.
Grasslands are the world’s most endangered ecosystem, and less than 2% of historic grasslands remain in the world.
Because grasslands don’t contain trees or water, they are easy to destroy to build new houses and buildings. Sometimes grasses are destroyed to build farms. Farms can help grow food, but that means that the plants and birds that used to live in the grassland can't live there anymore.
Freshkills Park, a former landfill, is being rehabilitated as a healthy grassland ecosystem. The waste is covered with a landfill cap that contains the trash and allows a grassland to grow on top.
Freshkills Park scientists and researchers study the plants and animals that live in the grassland.
They’re seeing an increase in grassland birds, like the Grasshopper Sparrow and Sedge Wren, that are returning to New York after decades. The grasslands at Freshkills Park provide a healthy habitat for animals like the red fox, along with birds, plants, and insects.
Grasslands are destroyed to build farms and houses, but people are working to conserve grassland habitat.
Northeast Grasslands are an amazing ecosystem that protects biodiversity, provides a home for migrating birds, and absorbs carbon dioxide. However, they are one of the rarest ecosystems in the Northeast United States. That is because many grasslands were destroyed to build buildings and farms. They are now so rare that many people have never seen them and do not know that they exist! Together, we can protect this amazing ecosystem.
Learn more about grassland ecosystems at Freshkills Park:
