What is the grasslands biome

Biomes are regions that share similar ecological and climatic characteristics. The grasslands biome, covering roughly a third of the country and occurring mainly across 6 provinces, is the largest of South Africa's 9 biomes. It can be separated into 2 climatically-controlled types: temperate inland grasslands, which includes mountain and Highveld grasslands; and sub-tropical grasslands along the coastal belt of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

The term ‘grassland’ creates the impression that the biome consists only of grass species. In fact, it is a complex ecosystem, including rivers and wetlands, where only one in six plant species are grasses, with the bulk being bulbous plants such as arum lilies, orchids, red-hot pokers, aloes, watsonias, gladioli and ground orchids. This, in turn, is the habitat for a myriad bird, mammal, insect and reptile species – many endemic.