2. location/climate
Soil-varies by bedrock and edaphic conditions + lateralization forms soil and low
fertility oxisols are expected
Temperature-range from 68° to 86°F
Rainfall- 6 - 8 month wet season, in dry season(4 - 6 months) there is less than 4
inches of rainfall per month.
The annual rainfall is around 30 inches per year.
4. Nutrient Flow Diagram
In Tropical Savannas, there is such a large biodiversity of animals that when they
die, they give off litter(making the soil fertile) eventually continuing the cycle back
to produce an abundance of grass, and therefore animals......
5. Animals On the Savanna
African Elephant:
-Live on the grasslands of Africa
-Herbivores
-Niche: Keep the savanna clear by eating shrubs/trees/
they also burrow in dry river beds forming watering holes
for large animals
-Skin and Size protect them from being eaten
-Adaptations: ears give off heat to keep
Them cool in the atmosphere
Trunk is an extended nose to help smell,
Lion
-Powerful predator
-Lives on the grasslands
-Their camouflage coats protects and
helps them hunt for food
-Lion is crucial to other animals survival
ironically; leaving behind scraps when
done eating
-Helps control
population
6. Animals On the Savanna
Chacma Baboon
-Live in mostly african
woodland Savanna and high
grasslands
-Eat plants, and bugs
-Niche: unintentionally feed
other animals by leaving food
behind
Adaptation:cheek pockets to
store food and razor sharp
teeth to defend themselves
Grant’s Zebra
-grazers which limit them to flat
open plains
-Herbivore
-Niche: they have stripes and
the fact they stay in herds to
confuse predators along with
strong teeth and sharp hooves
-Adaptation: eyes set far back in
skull for vision; strips for
disruptive pattern
7. Animals On the Savanna
Black Mamba
-open low habitats, rocky
places and open
woodlands; active during
the day
-feed on small mammals
-Niche: kills prey by
compressing it till their
muscles give up and it dies
Adaptations: high flexibility
and skeletal structure allow
great power against prey
Nile Crocodile
-in freshwater swamps, rivers
and lakes; digging dens to
hide in the hot
-Eat practically everything
-Niche: top predator of the
river ecosystem, main
stabilizer, and keeps
predatory species pop in
check
-Adapt: scales prevent from
oozing moisture in the heat
8. Plants On the Savanna
Baobab
-Found in african Savannas
around the equator
-Can live for several thousand
years
-9 months out of the year it is
leafless
-But during wet months their
trunks store water so it will
have water throughout these 9
months
-Bark can be used for cloth
and rope
Bermuda Grass
-Grows in open areas where
there are frequent
disturbances such as fire,
flooding and grazing
-Can grow in poor soil, during
dry months the tops will die off
but will keep growing from
underground
-its deep roots will always
collect water
-Prefers the warmer seasons
9. Plants On the Savanna
Candelabra Tree
- Found near the equator
- Can grow 30 to 40 feet tall
- Very poisonous sap that will blister skin and blind you if it gets in your eye
- Used as a living fence because of its sharp spines on its branches and
touching it causes burns
15. Gross Primary Productivity
- the rate at which an ecosystem's producers capture & store a given amount of
chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time
-rapid nutrient turnover from grass, wood, and animals causes a relatively high
gross primary productivity and therefore the diverse and abundant faunas typical of
savannas.
16. Net Primary Productivity
-Net Primary Productivity- the net amount of primary production remaining after a
fraction of energy is used by primary producers for cellular respiration and
maintenance of existing tissues.
--Savannas have relatively high levels of net primary productivity compared to
biomass. It is most evident right after the wet season when water is abundant for
plants to use.
17. Photosynthesis
process where plants capture energy from sunlight through chloroplasts & combine
with C02 to produce their own food (glucose)
In the savanna, solar energy is
absorbed by the abundance of
grasses, combined with the nutrients from decomposed organisms and
transformed into energy, which is then transferred to the
entire food chain.
18. Succession
primary succession is rare in Savannas, but if it were to occur it would likely be due
to a volcanic explosion in the Ngorongoro Crater Highlands
Secondary succession occurs as fires or especially in the dry season, affect the
community without totally destroying it. Seeds from outside areas blow back to this
area then the cycle begins again and produces a similar resulting community
19. Human Impact
Human impact on savannas is quite negative, the 3 most common forms of impact,
affecting savannas such as the Serengeti in Africa are:
● Poaching
● Population growth
● Tourism (Pro/Con)
In LDC’s Cattle Grazing is also limiting the availability of nutrients. Lack of proper
medicine has allowed for infected pets (rabies), which make contact with wildlife, to
spread disease. In 1994 Canine Distemper Virus (Basically rabies) spread to, and
killed ⅓ of Lion population in the Serengeti Savanna. While in MDC’s the constant
population growth only increases the amount of deforestation.
20. How It’s Handled; MDC vs LDC
LDC’s like Africa, where there are several savannas, factors like poverty don't allow for much
protection of such grasslands. With overgrazing, and agriculture several nutrients are lost.
While tourism has allowed some sections of these savannas to survive, it has also damaged it.
These savannas are made into “National Parks” but with hundreds of species it's hard to keep
all safe, and that's where poaching comes into effect. Not much is done to conserve these
areas.
MDC’s like Australia and its Tropical Savanna have a bright future as they may be able to
keep these grasslands alive, and thriving. Thanks to efforts from the World Wildlife Fund, they
have spread awareness to local communities to stop Brush fires for agriculture in order to
conserve dying species. With proper funds, assistance, and the spread of awareness MDC’s
like Australia have made a clear point that keeping these diverse grasslands thriving is
possible.
