PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY Module 3

Business Department People and the Earth Ecosystem

Module 3
Lesson 2
PEOPLE, GRASSLAND AND SCRUB
Specific Learning Outcomes:
After working on this module, the students will be able to:

1. discover that grasslands are more than hay and species;

2. explain what is scrub;
3. understand the benefits of scrub for certain species groups.

INTRODUCTION
Over centuries humans mostly saw the value of grasslands in their ability to provide food for domestic
animals. Grassland biomes have many other benefits not just animal fodder providers. In this lesson, we will
study the concept of ecosystem services, with particular emphasis on grasslands.

1. Various components and dimensions

At first people usually tend to see mostly grass, by taking a closer look; we can discover that the grass
actually includes a number of various plant species. Some grassland habitats are particularly rich. Grassland
plant species provide habitats for many animals. One can see plenty of insects flying above or hiding in grass:
nice butterflies, beetles and grasshoppers and, flies and gadflies, etc. Moreover, this is only the visible part of
the world of insects. Many of them live in the soil. Grasslands also serve larger animals - various birds, such as
corncrakes and white storks, amphibians (frogs and toads), and reptiles (lizards and snakes). Even larger
mammals (roe deer, wild boars) benefit from grasslands for stealing grass from cattle and sheep, or like foxes
hunting for mice. We usually perceive grasslands only in the dimension of grass. In addition, there is the soil
below the grass that feeds plants and hosts plenty of soil animals (worms, snails) and various microorganisms.
If you raise your eyes, there are insects and birds flying above in the air. All these dimensions form the
ecosystem characteristics for grasslands, which are highly valued by humans.

2. Various processes
Every ecosystem maintains various processes linking together the living (biotic) and non-living (or
abiotic) environments. For the maintenance of a functional and healthy natural and man-made environment,
the preservation of these processes is as important as the protection of species and habitats. Numerous
processes in nature ensure the availability of essential resources, such as water, oxygen and nutrients, for
organisms - including humans. Although these processes are common for different ecosystems, they differ in
their performance. While overall biomass production can be similar in both forests and grasslands, the biomass
flow is much more intensive in grasslands - opposite to forests, where biomass is mostly being accumulated in
timber. Also, soil formation processes are different in both ecosystems. In grasslands, the accumulation of
organic matter is much more intensive.

The picture in the right side

shows various processes in
grasslands.

3. Providing hay and honey

There are many ways for direct use of grasslands products, which can be collected, consumed or sold,
thus contributing to human well-being. Grasslands have been a source of food for domestic animals, either in
the form of raw grass or hay for feeding in winters. Although more and more farms start using crops for
feeding, grass remains as the most natural forage for cattle, horses, and sheep providing minerals, vitamins
and other active substances supporting living processes and providing healthy meat and milk for people.
Nowadays, when grass is losing its primary role due to a decrease in forage, still, it may be used for energy

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Course Instructor: Iniego H. Jusayan Jr./
 PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY Module 3
Business Department People and the Earth Ecosystem

production
needs. Some places uses local grass for burning and heating houses that also helps to maintain high nature
value grasslands and keeps a healthier environment by using renewable biomass instead of fossil oil-shale.
Medical plants are another important good, and the more diverse the grassland is, the more possibility to find
the species needed to improve your health. Tea of the meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria picked in a wet
meadow will let you relax after a stressful day. But in dry meadows, you can find the cowslip Primula veris,
which is being used for fighting cough, and more. Nothing sweetens life like good honey collected by bees in a
diverse natural meadow. It is also good for the health. Medical properties of other bee products - pollen,
ambrosia and propolis - beat many pills. Did you know that some grassland plants might be used as natural
dyes for colouring clothes? E.g. St. John’s wort Hypericum perforatum offers red and brown colours. Rest
assured, there are more ways how to use the grass!

4. Protecting soil and cleaning water

When you step on arable land and look back, usually you see a deep footprint in the soil. If you step on
grassland, you hardly see changes in the soil. Thus, grassland plants with their root system keep the soil
stable and prevent erosion – the washing out of soil particles by water and wind. This is particularly important
in hilly places. Often in spring, you can hear in the media about the damage done to settlements by flooding. A
huge amount of melting snow water quickly runs through ditches and straightened rivers, significantly raising
the water level. Before, when humans had not changed the natural flow of water streams, excess water was
stored in floodplain meadows that served like a sponge and regulated the water flow. Traditionally, society tried
to solve the flooding problem by building dams around settlements, but the smartest people restore floodplain
meadows. Grasslands have also another benefit related to water – they clean it by removing solid particles,
nutrients and other substances, which results in cleaner surface waters. Have you heard of people in China
going to fields and pollinating crops by hand? Or beehives are transported across long distances to ensure
pollination of crops where no natural pollinators are available? The easiest (and cheapest) way is to maintain
natural grasslands nearby – bees, bumblebees and flower flies will visit the crop field and provide pollination.

5. Providing inspiration and keeping traditions

The role of grasslands goes far beyond providing products and regulating natural processes. It is a
significant part of the cultural landscape, which has formed the traditional mosaic living environment over many
centuries in Europe. A landscape itself has a scenic value for many people enjoying it through a car window or
a walk in the countryside. Can you imagine the countryside only with forests? Mosaic landscapes are used for
many recreational activities including hiking, riding a bike, skiing, and animal watching. Grasslands give
inspiration for the arts: painters and photographers produce nice pictures, which are later enjoyed by other
people. The beauty of grasslands has inspired people to create folk songs. All these benefits are physically
intangible and are not usually perceived in everyday life, but they highly improve the quality of human living.
They are probably the most difficult to measure, however, most people will admit that they gain some pleasure
when seeing or being in grasslands.

SCRUB, ITS VALUE FOR WILDLIFE AND HOW TO MANAGE IT

Scrub is an extremely valuable habitat and one on which many species depend for their survival.
However, if left unmanaged, it can rapidly take over areas such as grassland and heathland. The following
leaflet is designed to highlight the importance of scrub for many of our native species and to give you some
general recommendations on how to manage scrub on your land.

Scrub - is often described as a ‘successional habitat’, meaning that it is temporary and in transition between
one habitat (more open areas such as grassland and heathland) and another (generally woodland, unless the
soils are very poor). It can be a few scattered hawthorn bushes, a patch of nettles and bramble, a dense
thicket next to woodland or some young birch trees and gorse bushes growing on heathland. Very different
plant and animal communities will be present, depending on factors such as soil type, levels of grazing,
topography, and drainage. Scrub can generally be classified into type’s e.g. lowland dry scrub on chalk soils,
wet scrub or dune scrub.

In the past, natural processes such as fire, storms and grazing by large herbivores would have opened
up areas where scrub could grow. More recently, scrub provided a much valued asset for many local
communities who would use it for fuel, animal fodder, tools, medicine, bedding, wine making, basketry, dyes,
thatching spars and furniture making. Many of those uses have stopped since World War II and scrub has
often been grubbed out to allow for more intensive agricultural practices or development. In other areas where
grazing has declined, the scrub has become woodland.

BENEFITS OF SCRUB FOR CERTAIN SPECIES GROUPS

Plants

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Course Instructor: Iniego H. Jusayan Jr./
 PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY Module 3
Business Department People and the Earth Ecosystem

Most shrub
and tree species found in scrub are common. Shrubs can support plants such as lichens, fungi and mosses,
which in turn provide a source of food and shelter to invertebrates. Other species associated with scrub and
found in the grassland in and around the shrubs include nationally scarce plants such as lady orchid, found in
woodlands and scrub on chalky soils, and man orchid, which is found only on the edge of chalk grassland.

Birds
There are many species of birds uses scrub as habitat; many of these are farmland bird species which
have suffered severe declines over the last few decades as a result of agricultural intensification. Some will
prefer more open scrub; others such as the nightingale require very dense thickets. As well as using the scrub
to nest or shelter in, birds feed on invertebrates and berries and they also act as seed dispersers for some
shrub species. The berries are particularly important as a source of winter food to both migratory species and
resident species.

Reptiles and amphibians

It is the physical structure of scrub and any surrounding habitat which seems particularly important to
reptiles. This is in part due to the fact that reptiles regulate their body temperature by using the external
environment and scrub can provide a source of sunny, sheltered places with nearby cover from predatory birds
and mammals (south facing banks are particularly good). Root systems, stumps and dead wood provide
refuges, overnight shelter and hibernation sites for both reptiles and amphibians. Dense humid scrub with good
layers of leaf litter and a mix of tall and short vegetation that connect up the scrub can help these species to
disperse across the landscape. This habitat also presents good hunting grounds for prey such as
invertebrates, molluscs and small mammals.

Mammals
Many species of mammal benefit from the presence of scrub, including dormice which feed on nectar
and fruit, and other rodents and shrews which feed on insects or use the undergrowth for shelter and denning.
Bats use the edge of woodland/scrub habitat to hunt for insects and larger mammals may shelter in scrub.

Invertebrates
Many types of invertebrate use scrub including bees, spiders, ants, wasps, two winged flies, aphids,
leaf mining micro-moths, gall mites, midges and butterflies. Some invertebrates have associations with families
of plants e.g. shrubs from the Rose family (which includes blackthorn and hawthorn), some rely on a particular
species, and some are generalists. Species may use very specific parts of the shrub – for example, the blue
carpenter bee nests in the cut ends of bramble stems. Grass tussocks, tall and short grass and bare ground in
and around the shrubs will also provide shelter, basking sites, mating areas, food such as nectar and pollen,
overwintering sites and nesting habitat for many species.
ASSESSMENT:
1. How do grasslands benefit humans? (Concise discussion)
2. Describe grassland and scrub biomes in your own words.
3. Discuss the importance of scrubs.

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Course Instructor: Iniego H. Jusayan Jr./