By: Melisa Stoner

• A rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees• Can be found

between a tropical rain forest and a desert

• A savannah is also known as tropical grasslands

• They are also found in a wide band on either side of the equator between 15-25 degrees N. and S. on the edges of a tropical rainforest

ClimateAverage Annual Temperature:

During dry season 93degrees

During wet season 61degrees

Not enough rain falls on a savannah to support forests

Average Annual Precipitation = 59in.More rainfall occurs during the summer vs. the winter

Seasons• Have warm temperatures year round.

There are two different seasons

-Summer- -Winter-

•Very long•Dry

•Very wet•Lots of rain •Hot and humid

In this biome, ocean air masses are blocked by mountain ranges to the west and south. Which allows polar air masses to dominate in the winter months and in the summer, continental air mass to dominate.

Geology

•Savannah are located in the dry tropics and the subtropics often bordering a rain forest.•This environment

is intermediate between a grassland and a forest.•Savannahs are

located in Africa, Madagascar ( an island off the east coast of Africa), Australia, South America, India, and the Myanmar-Thailand region of southeast Asia.

•Savanna’s are distinguished by their warmer drier climates, and their seasonal droughts.

Noun: The part of the year during which rainfall and temperature allow plants to grow.

Growing Season

•The growing season in a savanna biome is year round (limited during seasonal drought)•The longer the dry period the fewer the trees.

Soil•Porous, with rapid drainage of water.

•Has only a thin layer of humus (the organic portion of the soil created by partial decomposition of plant or animal matter), which provides vegetation with nutrients.

Melisa’s Sources• Strahler, Arthur N., Strahler, Arthur H.,

Elements of Physical Geography. John Wiley & Sons, 1984.

• Biome Habitats, copyright 2000-2010 Enchanted learning .com

• Plants, created by SLW, October 1996; update 02/02/05 by SLW

• Savanna, copyright 2000 www.worldbiomes.com last modified; October 30,2009

• Koeppen’s Climate Classification, FAO-SDRN- Agrometeorology Group- 1997

Savanna

By: Dustin Boyer

4/21/11

S a v a n n a s a r e l o c a t e d i n S o u t h A m e r i c a , A f r i c a , A u s t r a l i a , a n d S o u t h A s i a

A nim als

O v e r 4 0 d if f e r e n t s p e c ie s o f h e rb iv o re s

M o s t a n im a ls in t h e s a v a n n a h a v e lo n g le g s s o t h ey a re a b le t o do lo n g m ig ra t io n s

T h e s a v an n a is a p e r f e c t p la c e fo r b ird s o f p re y . T h e w id e , o p e n p la in g iv e s t h e m a c le a r v ie w o f t h e ir p re y , h o t a ir u p d ra f t s k e e p t he m s o a r in g , a n d t h e re is t h e o c c as io n a l t r e e t o r e s t o n .

h u m a n s h u n t e d rh in o s a n d e le p h a n ts fo r t h e ir h o rn s a n d tu s ks t h ey a re n o w e n d a n g e re d

In A u s t r a lia t h e re a re e m u s , k o a la s , a n d k a n g a ro o s .

Plant s

A lo t o f g rass

S c attered trees

Afr ic a has a lo t o f ac ac ia trees

P lan ts o f the savannas are h igh ly sp ec ialized to gro w in th is env iro nm ent o f lo ng p er io d s o f d ro ught. T hey have lo ng tap ro o ts that c an reac h the d eep water tab le, th ic k b ark to res is t annua l f ires , trunks that c an s to re water .

A c a c ia t r e e

H u m an A ctiv itie s

I n A f r ic a p e o p le ha ve b e e n us in g t he s a va n na s to g r a ze t h e ir c a t t le a nd go a ts . G r a s s ge t s e a te n up . S o o n i t s ta r ts to t u r n in to a d e s e r t f r o m o ve r gr a z in g a nd fa r m in g .P o a c h in g in s a va n na s o c c ur a lo t a l s o P o a c h in g is h u n t in g a n im a ls i l le ga l ly

Fire s

• F ires o cc ur a lo t in savann as o ften c aused b y p o ac hers who want to c lear aw ay d ead grass to see an im a ls

• T hund ers to rm s also c ause fires

• Dry he at

C o n se rv a tio n s

• T h e S eren ge t i an d th e N g oron g oro C on s erva t ion A rea to ge th er h av e be en n am e d a W o rld H e r ita ge s ite .

E nerg y P yram id

gr a s s

Z e b r a

L io n

4/21/11

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