Characterized by their flat, open pastures and abundance of nutrient-rich soil, more than a quarter of the world’s land—and about 70 percent of its agricultural land—is covered by grasslands.

This biome is home to a range of flora and fauna, which add to its resilience against natural disasters such as droughts or wildfires. In fact, native grassland plants have adapted to extreme weather conditions to such an extent that savannas, a subset of grasslands found in Africa, Australia, South America, and India, require seasonal droughts and wildfires to maintain biodiversity. (Read more about grasslands here.)

But this resiliency does not equate to immunity.

Grasslands are threatened by habitat loss, which can be caused by human actions, such