Water-meadow
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A water-meadow is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water-meadows have now largely disappeared, but the field patterns and water channels of derelict water-meadows remain common in areas where they were used, such as parts of Northern Italy, Switzerland and England. Derelict water-meadows are often of importance as wetland wildlife habitats.
The water meadow at Magdalen College, Oxford, is an island in the river Cherwell
Flooded derelict bedwork water-meadow at Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England. Winter flooding has filled an old carrier channel along the crest of a ridge (running from right foreground to middle distance), and has also flooded the drainage channels (on left and into distance, where they join the river). In use, water would have seeped from the carrier channel on the right, through the grass in the foreground into the drainage channel on the left, which would have looked almost empty.
Grassland
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A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on Earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area.
Nachusa Grasslands, spring 2016
Setaria pumila, a species of Poaceae (the dominant plant family in grasslands)
Coxilhas (hills covered by grasslands) in the Pampas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil
Black rhino