Question

Distinguish between Prairies and Velds

Answer 1

Answer:

Natural grasslands are critical to a healthy ecosystem. Grasslands go by different names in different places. In North America, these are referred to as prairies and in South Africa, they are referred to as Veld.

Veld is specific to southern Africa. Although it describes a grassland, its better description is a wide expanse of land devoid of many trees in a sub-tropical environment. The grass genus Themeda makes its home here in varying varieties along with the genus Hyparrhenia or thatching grasses.

Now prairies like veld can be described as a wide expanse of land devoid of trees and bushes but the grasses are different due to how prairies are created which is the result of glaciers carving them out. There are four primary types of grass found on the prairies, Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, and Switchgrass.

Prairies tend to have a more diverse plant life as compared to the veld and tend to be perfect environments for commercial agriculture. Hope this helps.