Grasslands form a variety of ecosystems that are located in different climatic conditions ranging from near-desert conditions, to patches of shola grass lands that occur on hill-slopes alongside the extremely moist evergreen forest in south India.
Use of grasslands:
These are the grazing areas of many rural communities. Domestic animals like cattle, goats, sheep etc. are grazed in the common land of the village.
Fodder is collected and stored to feed cattle when there is no grass left for them to graze in summer.
Grass is also used to thatch houses and farm-sheds.
The thorny bushes and branches of the few trees in grasslands are used as a major source of fuel wood.
The grassland cover in the country is 3.7% of the total land. Over utilization or overgrazing has lead to degradation. Most grassland ecosystems are highly modified by human activities. Changing the grasslands to other forms of land use such as agriculture, tree plantations and industrialization poses a serious threat to this system. When fires are lit in the grasslands in summer too frequently, the grasslands begin to deteriorate.
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