poulnabrone pasture landscape with green grassland and sheep

>For alternative meanings, see nature (disambiguation). Nature (also called the material world, the material universe, the natural world, and the natural universe) is all matter and energy, especially in its essential form. Nature is the subject of scientific study, and the history of the concept is linked to the history of science. The English word derives from a Latin term, natura, which was in turn a translation of a Greek term, physis (φύσις). Natura is related to the Latin words relating to "birth", while physis relates to Greek words relating to "growth". In scale, "nature" includes everything from the universal to the subatomic. This includes all things animal, plant, and mineral; all natural resources and events (hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes). It also includes the behaviour of living animals, and processes associated with inanimate objects - the "way" that things change. See more at Wikipedia.org...

and is one of several types of terrestrial biomes, where grasses form the predominant vegetation, usually mixed with herbs and sometimes with shrubs, but usually without trees. Grasslands dotted with trees are called savanna.Grasslands usually get 250-750 mm (10-30 inches) of rainfall annually. Fires, natural and human-caused, are important in the maintenance of many grasslands.Grasslands may occur naturally or as the result of human activity. Grasslands created and maintained by human activity are called anthropogenic grasslands. Hunting peoples around the world often set regular fires to maintain and extend grasslands, and prevent fire-intolerant trees and shrubs from taking hold. The tallgrass prairies in the American Midwest may have been extended eastward into Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio by human agency. Other anthropogenic grasslands include pasture, where forest or shrublands were cleared to create land for intensive grazing. See more at Wikipedia.org...