THE SAVANNA

By Arlene Sosa


Where can you find a savanna?

Savannas are mostly found in Central and South Africa, but they are also found in Central and South America, South Asia, and Australia

Source: "Savanna Biome | PlantZAfrica." Pza.sanbi.org, pza.sanbi.org/vegetation/savanna-biome






What Is The Climate In A Savanna?

The climate in the savanna depends on the season, in the wet season it is warm and rainy with the monthly precipitation being between 30in-60in, and the average temperature being 64 degrees Fahrenheit, while in the dry season it is hot and with rarely any rain. They get a monthly precipitation of 4in.

Source: Tropical Savannas | Biomes of the World. php.radford.edu/~swoodwar/biomes/?page_id=105#:~:text=Climate%3A%20A%20tropical%20wet%20and



Biodiversity In A Savanna

Although commonly misunderstood, the savanna is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Some of its commonly found plants are lianas, Rhodes grass, acacia tree Some of the commonly found animals are giraffes, elephants, and cheetahs.

Some of the plants found in the svanna are:

Some of the animals found in the savanna are:

Sources:

Murphy, Brett P., et al. "The Underestimated Biodiversity of Tropical Grassy Biomes." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 371, no. 1703, 19 Sept. 2016, p. 20150319, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0319

kazilek. "Plants of the Savanna." Askabiologist.asu.edu, 27 May 2014, askabiologist.asu.edu/plants-savanna.

Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. "Cheetah." Smithsonian's National Zoo, 11 June 2018, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/cheetah.



Why Is The Savanna So Biodiverse

The savanna is one of the most biodiverse biomes when it comes to grasses, grazers, and large carnivores. The reason it is more diverse in animals than plants like a tropical rain forest is because of the amount of rain it gets and the type of soil it has, since the savanna doesn't get much rain and has less soil mostly grasses grow there, but because of that there is immense diversity in animals that eat grass. Since there are so many animals that eat grass this allows carnivores that eat those animals to also thrive. An example of this is can be seen with the different types of grasses and trees in the savanna and what animals eat it. Some grasses and trees in the savanna are Rhodes grass and the acacia tree, since there is so much of that there are more animals that eat it like giraffes and elephants, and since there are so many giraffes and elephants, there are more animals that eat them like cheetahs. All of this together creates a chain reaction that causes biodiversity.

Source: Murphy, Brett P., et al. "The Underestimated Biodiversity of Tropical Grassy Biomes." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 371, no. 1703, 19 Sept. 2016, p. 20150319, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0319


Watch a video about elephants!


Want to learn some more?

Learn about Pangolins here!

Learn about natural disaters in the savanna here!