Ameadowis an openhabitat, or field,vegetatedbygrasses,herbs, and other non-woody plants.Treesorshrubsmay sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artificially created fromclearedshrub orwoodland. They can occur naturally under favourable conditions (seeperpetual meadows), but they are often maintained by humans for the production ofhay,fodder, orlivestock.[1]Meadow habitats, as a group, are characterized as “semi-natural grasslands”, meaning that they are largely composed ofspecies nativeto the region, with only limited human intervention.
Meadows attract a multitude ofwildlifeand supportfloraandfaunathat could not thrive in other habitats. They areecologicallyimportant as they provide areas for animalcourtship displays,nesting, food gathering,pollinatinginsects, and sometimes sheltering, if the vegetation is high enough. There are multiple types of meadows, including agricultural, transitional, and perpetual – each playing a unique and important part of theecosystem.
Likeother ecosystems, meadows will experience increasedpressure(including ontheir biodiversity) due to climate change, especially as precipitation and weather conditions change. However, grasslands and meadows also have an importantclimate change mitigationpotential ascarbon sinks; deep-rooted grasses store a substantial amount ofcarbon in soil.
