The Olympic Peninsular in North America is a good example. An annual rainfall of as much as 150 inches produces a lush forest of conifers. Grasslands Grasslands are also known as prairie or plains . A large proportion of this falls as rain early in the growing season. The photo shows grassland in the Badlands National Monument in South Dakota.
Fire is probably the factor that tips the balance from forest to grasslands.
Thanks to their underground stems and buds, perennial grasses and herbs are not harmed by fires that destroy most shrubs and trees. The abundance of grass for food, coupled with the lack of shelter from predators, produces similar animal populations in grasslands throughout the world. The dominant vertebrates are swiftly-moving, herbivorous ungulates. In North America, bison and antelope were conspicuous members of the grassland fauna before the coming of white settlers. When cultivated carefully, the grassland biome is capable of high net productivity .