What Are Primary Consumers in Grassland Areas?
Primary consumers of grassland areas are herbivores, otherwise known as plant eaters. Plant-eating animals can differ slightly between the grasslands of the world such as African Savannas, Central Eurasian grasslands and the prairies of the United States.
The primary consumers of the African Savannah include impalas, cows, zebras and warthogs. Central Eurasian steppes have similar species of rodent-type plant eaters as well as deer, zebra and gazelle. The United States prairies have plant eaters such as prairie dogs, grasshoppers, jackrabbits and pronghorn antelope.
All primary consumers, no matter where in the world the grassland is located, tend to be grazers, such as deer and cows, or burrowers, such as mice and rabbits.
These animals eat the grasses and shrubs. These plants are known as producers. Plants, or producers, feed the primary consumers, or plant eaters, in a food web. The primary consumers, in turn, feed the secondary consumers such as the omnivores (plant and meat eaters) and carnivores (meat eaters). The consumption of beings creates the food web.
From elephants, zebra, gazelle, birds, rabbits, mice and other rodent-like species to grasshoppers and other insects, National Geographic notes that herbivores are the primary consumers of most grassland regions around the world.
