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2E1 Group 1: African Savannah

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on April 6, 2009 at 5:26:03 pm
 

2E1 Group 9: Arctic tundra

 

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Overview 

                                   MAP

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.

      

The most famous of the savanna people of Kenya and Tanzania are the Maasai tribe.

The Maasai people are just one of the many groups that live on the savanna of Africa. The Maasai tribe have lived in Africa for hundreds of years. They raise cattle. Families live together in groups of ten to twenty huts. Women build the houses and go for water. Sometimes they have to walk many miles to find water. Their main food is milk. They raise sheep and goats for meat.

As in other parts of Africa, people build their homes from materials they find on the land(branches,twigs,grass,mud)

 

 

African Savannah: The Ecosystem

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.

 

 

 

be seasonal, the channels and the networks remain, and are organized into drainage networks. These networks are an integral part of

Water: moves across Earth’s surface through organized networks of channels, known as rivers or streams. Although the flow of water may

drainage basins

Watersheds play a critical role in the natural functioning of Earth’s environment. Physically, they integrate the surface water runoff

into organized drainage nets. Economically, they play a critical role as sources of water, food, hydropower, recreational localities, and

transportation routes. Ecologically, watersheds provide habitats for a wide range of flora and fauna.

Throughout history human settlement has been drawn to rivers and

rivers creates fertile soils for agriculture. For example, 95 percent of Egypt’s rapidly growing population lives within the narrow watered

strip along the Nile River Valley. The first developments of sedentary agriculture and urbanization began in the great river valleys of the

world, among which are the Nile, Indus, Hwang Ho, and Tigris-Euphrates systems. In virtually all agrarian and industrial societies, river

valleys, and especially floodplains, are among the most attractive yet hazardous environments for settlement.

or watershed systems, which function as physical regions.river valleys since alluvial material from deposition along some

Watershed and Drainage Divides

DIVIDES

SUB-WATERSHED

10 of 21

More educational resources are available at

www.nationalgeographic.com/geographyaction Copyright © 2006 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. 11

Content Guide:

PHYSI CAL Geography of Africa

A central concept of

damaging to the natural systems. In whatever manner the river and watershed system is utilized, those uses affect the entire watershed

and even areas beyond the watershed. Thus, use in one state or country may be affected by decisions made in another state or country.

Individual rivers have different physical characteristics along their courses and create many of the landforms and landscapes within

watersheds. Thus, the particular use of a river system is influenced by the nature of the individual river, the nature of the topography

associated with the river, and where within the watershed one is located. African rivers often have unusual courses, waterfalls, and

rapids, and some lack deltas at the shore.

management and conservation of rivers and watersheds is planning for human use that is the least disruptive and

 

 

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)

    

Elephant grass is a tall grass that originally came from Africa in 1913. It grows in dense clumps of up to 10 feet tall. In the savannas of Africa it grows along lake beds and rivers where the soil is rich. Local farmers cut the grass for their animals, carrying it home in huge piles on their backs or on carts.

Yellowish or purple in color,the stems are coarse and hairy, and about 1 inch thick near the base. The leaves are 2 to 3 feet long, pointed at the ends, and about 1 inch wide. The edges of the leaves are razor-sharp. This makes stands of elephant grass nearly impenetrable. Many bird species make their home in the stands.

 

 

Animals

 

Herbivores with species ranging from insects such as grasshoppers, to large ungulates such as zebra and giraffe.  

HERBIVORES:      

                                                                                

       

CARNIVORES :meat eaters

      

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.

Classification of Living Organisms

Producers- Plants,trees, shrubs and short grasses

 Primary Consumers-zebras and elephants

Secondary Consumers- lions, tigers, cheetahs, hyenas.

Decomposers-Mushrooms, insects and micro-organisms.

 

 

Food Web 

Food web means a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.

Below is the food web and hope you can understand them:)

Interrelationship in Ecosystem

Predator-prey relationship

Predator means animal that kills and eats other animal.

Prey means an animal hunted by another for food.

Lions- Gazalle

Lions-zebras

Parasitism

Mutualism

Useful Links

Include the links of websites you took information from. 

For example:

Wild World @ nationalgeographic.com ( http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/terrestrial.html )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plants of the savannas are highly specialized to grow in this environment of long periods of drought.The grasses have adaptations that discourage animals from grazing on them; some grasses are too sharp or bitter tasting for some animals, but not others, to eat. Every species of animal has something to eat.

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