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Meadow
A '''meadow''' is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants. It may be cut for hay or grazing|grazed by livestock such as cattle, sheep or goats.
Agricultural meadow
Especially in the United Kingdom, the term meadow is commonly used in its original sense to mean a haymeadow – grassland mown annually for hay (Old English language|Old English ''mædwe''). "Pasture" is used in contrast for land which is primarily grazed, which may include grassland ("grass pasture"), but also includes non-grassland habitats such as heathland, moorland and wood pasture. "Grassland" is used to include both meadow and grass pasture.
Transitional meadows
A transitional meadow occurs when a Field (agriculture)|field, pasture, Farmland (farming)|farmland, or other cleared land is no longer farming|farmed or heavily grazing|grazed and starts to overgrow. Once meadow conditions are achieved, however, the condition is only temporary because the early colonizers will be shaded out when woody plants become well-established.
In North America prior to European people|European colonization, Algonquian peoples|Algonquian, Iroquois and other Native Americans in the United States|Native American people regularly cleared areas of forest to create transitional meadows where deer could find nutrition and be deer hunting|hunted. Many places named "Deerfield" are located at sites where Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans once practised this form of land management.
Perpetual meadow
A perpetual meadow is one in which environmental factors restrict the growth of woody plants indefinitely. For example:
- Alpine meadows occur at high elevations and are maintained by harsh climatic conditions
- coast|Coastal meadows are maintained by seawater|salt sprays
- desert|Desert meadows are restricted by low Precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation
- Prairies are maintained by periods of severe drought and are subject to wildfires
- Wet meadows are semi-wetland areas saturated with water throughout much of the year.
See also
- Coastal plain
- Field (agriculture)|Field
- Flooded grasslands and savannas
- Flood-meadow
- Grassland
- Pampa
- Pasture
- Plain
- Plateau
- Prairie
- Rangeland
- Savanna
- Sods
- Steppe
- Tundra
- Water-meadow
- Wet meadow
- Veld
References
- Cornell University
- The Washington Post, "Today, 32,000 seedlings; tomorrow, a meadow"
External links
- UK Wild Meadows Website
- Flora locale - information on creating wildflower meadows
- Meadow Planting
- A Year in a Meadow (Ottawa Canada)
- Grow a Back Yard Meadow (Ottawa Canada)
Category:Grasslands
Category:Agricultural land
simple:Meadow
bat-smg:PėivaRelated Images
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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