The African Savanna by Zalma Felix
Savannas are found between the desert biome and the rainforest biome, they are found near the equator. The largest savanna is the African one and it takes nearly half of Africa. Africa is covered with savanna grasslands. The African Savanna is in danger because the result of human interference with the natural balance of the ecosystem. Many of the animals of the savanna are endangered because of over hunting and the loss of habitat. Another problem is overgrazing and that is when the grasses don't grow back. When the grasses don't grow back it turns into a dessert it is to the point that the savanna is moving into the Sahara at the rat of 30 miles per year.
The African Savanna covers up
- Guinea
- Sierra Leone
- Liberia
- Cote D'ivore
- Ghana
- Togo
- Benin
- Nigeria
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Sudan
- Ethiopia
- Somalia
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Angola
- Uganda
- Rwanda
- Burundi
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- Malawi
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Mozambique
- Botswana
- South Africa
Animals Found in the Ecosystem
Primary Consumers- Gazelle, Ostrich, Wildebeest, Giraffe, Zebra, Elephant
Secondary Consumers- Lion, Cheetah, Secretary Bird, Harrier Eagle
Plants Found in the Ecosystem
Producers
Bermuda grass, star grass
Rhodes grass
Baobab tree, Acacia tree
The plants in this ecosystem need to survive with the dry climate and through droughts. Some of the plants store their own water and energy within their roots.
- Gazelle and ostriches with their speed they are able to run away predators
- Giraffes uses their height to spot predators from far away
- Elephants with them being so big and so strong they keep predators away
- The cheetah is the fastest and catches its prey really fast
- Lion and hyenas hunt for food in groups
Decomposers and Detrivores
Dung Beetle
- Bacteria
- Fungi
Biodiversity
- The Savanna Biome is the biggest Biome and it is located in the southern part of Africa.
- The biome has a grass layer (ground layer) and the upper layer I'd like the trees the place obtains
- Altitude ranges from sea level to 2,000 m and the rainfall varies from 235 to 1000 mm per year
- Since sometimes there is very little rainfall it can cause the upper Layer to cause fires
- Of the top layer comes down that. Use mean that the ground layer is very important it is like the dominant layer
- The variation of different animals in the African savanna are the biggest then any other savanna they are more diverse
History
- The Bushmen are a tribe that has been living in the African Savanna for over thousands of years.
- Are the oldest inhabitants of Africa
- The bushmen are the remnants of Africa's oldest cultural group
The Masai
- They are recognized by the color red they wear
- They farm so they move around and take their animals with them
- They rely on animals for food, milk, meat
- The Masai men herd cattle and carry spears to protect their cattle from lions
- The African savanna goes through droughts where there is no water so they have to move to different places where there is water
The Bushmen
- They are indigenous people, with a population of 100,000
- They have lived in Africa for over tens of thousands of years
- They are hunters but they usually just eat plent food like nuts, roots, berries
- They aren't a tribe they are seen as a loose family and make decisions on discussions
Interspecific Competetion
- An example of this in my ecosystem would be a Zebra that eats long dry grass. After the zebra finishes the wildebeest eats the remainders of the grass. After the gazelle eats the tender new growth. With this happening it prevents the predators from hiding begging the tall grass. Cheetahs are usually the ones that hunt for gazelle and it gets easier for them because they are easily seen.
Predation
- An example of this in my ecosystem would be when a when a lion hunts for its prey and one of its prey is the gazelle. It runs and catches the gazelle and feeds on it.
Paratism
- An example of paratism would be when a tick is on a elephant. A tick is taking advantage of the elephant because it is going to take blood away from the elephant to benefit them.
Mutualism
- An example of mutualism would be between the acacia tree and ants. The ants live in a hive the tree and they protect the tree. So when a giraffe tries to eat from the tree the ants come out to irritate the giraffe. The giraffe ends up leaving and the ants end up getting nectar for the babies to feed them.
Commensalism
- An example Of commensalism would be that many animals feed on grass and birds follow the. The birds get the benefit on eating all the bugs that the other animal didn't eat.
Biome
- The African Savanna is a grassland that has isolated trees and shrubs spread around
- Tropical rainforest and desert biome
- There isn't enough rain in the savanna to support lots of vegetation
- Savanna is also known as tropical grassland
Resource Partitioning
- An example of resource partitioning would be with a cattle and a Zebra. The zebra is originally living in the savanna and they eat grass. A farmer family moved in with their cattle. Well a cattle eats grass and let's say the cattle are grass where the zebra would eat everyday well for now on the zebra has to go on and look for food somewhere else because the cattle has like kicked the zebra out.
K Selected Species
K- Selected Species
- Large size animals that live very long, that have few large offspring, their population growth rate is slow, they have a constant population size that it is close to carrying capacity.
Elephant
Giraffe
Zebra
Lion
Cheetah
Ostrich
R Selected Species
- Small sized animals with fast development but live for short time. They reproduct early in life and have many small offspring. They also have fast population growth rate.
Dung Beetle
Secondary Succession
- In the African Savanna I see secondary succession happening. Secondary Succession is when like a community changes and disturbed a place because they are new and they probably bothered someone that already lives there. I'm the savanna people started moving in and farmers and they would bring cattle and would feed them grass and maybe they didn't even know they were taking someone else's food that was already been living there. The disturbance was the people because if the people hadn't moved in there wouldn't have been a problem and the more people move in the less food send has it's the living things that were already there would have.
Fresh Water or Salt Water?
The African Savanna goes through bad droughts that plants themselves have to store water in their roots to maintain living
Population
- The population in the African Savanna varies because of the climate
- Many people have made the African Savanna their home because they ha built factories, mines, house, and farms
- With all the people moving in it has affected the environment
- Since people have been settling in the animal population has been decreasing
- People have many different things like coal, oil, salt
- People that farm have brought cattle and the cattle takes homes away from other animals that were there before them
Impact of Humans
- Human has been the ones affecting the Savanna
- With people having factories there has been problems with air pollution from the exhaust and fumes. With the bad air the animals breath that it can make them die
- If the carbon dioxide increases the heat will increase animals won't get used to the time changing, and that can make the seasons change and it will affect their daily routine for example hibernating
People Helping
- African Safaris
- Sabona Wildlife Reserve
- Zambia- The Real Africa
- Eco Travel Africa Wildlife Parks
- Kakadu National Park
Meet The Activist
Hi my name is Zalma and I am a senior about to graduate high school. I am 17 years old I sum the youngest of three siblings. My birthday is on September 9 and that I'd when I will turn 18. I wonder how college is going to be I hope it goes good and I'm actually pretty excited.