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2E1 Group 1: African Savannah

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on April 5, 2009 at 10:27:18 pm

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Overview

The African savanna are big areas of land that are covered in shrubs and grasses with a few trees. The temperature is between 60º and 75º all year. The seasons are still different, though. In the winter the savanna might get 4 inches of rain a month. In the hot, dry summer it is possible for absolutely no rain to fall. Most of the plants die in the summer, but the roots can live underground. The grass will grow back in the rains of winter. Many of the animals that live on the savanna are herd animals like gazelles, giraffes, and zebras that live on vegetation. There are many national parks in the savannas of Africa. People visit to go on safaris: trips to see the animals that live in the grasslands.

Countries: Kenya,Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Uganda.

It is tropical grassland, open or dotted with trees and rocky outcrops.

Physical Factors

Temperature: between 60º and 75º all year .

No winter and summer seasons but there are two rainy seasons and two dry seasons a year. This varies according to latitude and may consist of one very short, wet season and one long, dry season. The changes between the wet and dry seasons are drastic and plants and animals must adapt to survive.

zebras

Seasonal Habitat Changes

During the wet seasons,most of the water does not soak into the soil but collects or becomes runoff.

Drinking water is abundant and humidity is high,reducing evaporation.

During the dry seasons, only permanent water remains and low humidity makes water loss extreme. Many small animal species either die or they leave their eggs to hatch with the rains. Large animals must migrate, change their diet, or do without food and water. Fires occur during the dry seasons, encouraging re-growth of grasslands.

Plants

The savannah grassland consists of many species of grasses (Elephant Grass)

Animals

Herbivores make up the great bulk of these,with species ranging from insects such as grasshoppers, to large ungulates such as zebra and giraffe. These in turn support an enormous number of carnivorous birds, mammals and reptiles.

African Savannah: Diversity

The number of species of animals present from season to season varies as a result of the following factors:

1.Life-cycles – many invertebrates and amphibians, such as grasshoppers and frogs, lay eggs and then die at the beginning of the dry season. The eggs do not hatch until the next day which rains.

2.Migration – animals dependent on daily water such as zebra move

to areas with permanent water during the dry season. Migratory birds such as eagles and swallows arrive with the rains from North Africa and Europe to escape the northern winter.

The population size of any one species is influenced by several factors:

Water availability – most species reproduce at the beginning of the rains but

carnivorous, aquatic birds reproduce when water is low and fishes are easy to catch.

Food availability – infant mortality in big cats increases as food becomes scarce;

scavengers are more abundant when other animals are dying from starvation.

Fire – both natural and man-made fires occur frequently, preventing the development of bush land but encouraging grasslands which generate well after fires.