By: Chelsea Gallagher, Jena Keating & Matt Alden

Map of Africa’s Savannas

Temperature and Precipitation Usually the temperature ranges from 68 to 86 degrees throughout the year during the wet and dry seasons. There can be inches of rainfall annually but usually not much precipitation falls during the winter months.

Types of Plants Bermuda grass The Bermuda grass grows in the open areas where there are frequent disturbances such as grazing, flooding, and fire. There in climates around 45 degrees. It’s called Bermuda grass because it was founded in the Bermuda island. It can grow 47 to 59 inches deep, most of the root mass lies 24 inches under the surface. Blades are gray-green color, there short, usually 1 to 4 inches long with rough edges. The erect stems can grow.3 to 1.3 feet tall. Stems are flat and are inflorescent purple in color. It can grow in poor soil. Prefers moist and warm climates. They feed sacred cows. They used to squeeze the juice out of the stem to stop bleeding and cure cuts. Elephant grass The Elephant grass is the tallest grass in africa in It grows in dense clumps of up to 10 feet tall, along lake beds and rivers where the soils is rich. Local famers cut the grass for their animals. Their yellow-ish/purple in color. The stems are coarse and hairy. They leaves are 2-3 feet long, pointed at the end and about 1 inch wide, the edges of the leaves are razor sharp. They reproduce sexually and the like tropical weather. Kangaroo Paw The leaves are red and green and grow up to 10 cm long. The green furry flowers are attached to the sturdy red stem. The leaves of the plant are usually about cm long. There named Kangaroo Paw because of the plants bright red ovary and its paw shaped flowers. Only in southwest Australia. Their specific spots are shark bay, Scotts river, and Mt. Barker. Their common around Manijump along the Maurchison river, Busselton, lake Muir and kings park near Perth. Grows in sandy or gravely soils, burnt areas. Natural habitat, it bloms between august and octuber. It defends itself by the tiny uttle hairson the flower to make it taste weird.

Types of Animals African Elephants, also known as the savanna elephants, are the largest land mammal In the world. They weigh up to 10,000 pounds and grow to 12 feet tall. They have a long trunk that is very flexible and has nostrils on the end. They have thick, gray skin on their bodies that protects them from deadly predator bites. The Grant’s Zebra is the horse of the savanna. They are the most abundant of the 3 species of zebra. Its easy for the zebra to be seen in a grassland because of its white and black stripes. The Koala Bear is a fuzzy marsupial is very muscular, quite lean, and is about 33 inches long. It used to be endange red, but there are now laws in Australia that forbid you to hunt koalas.

Adaptations An animal with special adaptations to live in the savanna would be an elephant. They have thick skin to protect themselves from their predators bites so they can protect their young. An emu had the ability to fly away from predators, but they became the top of the food chain in their environment so they lost the ability to fly, rendering them defenseless from hunters. A mongoose’s teeth have adapted to tearing the flesh off the poisonous snakes that they eat.

Human Impact In savannas, humans have been slowly destroying the natural element. They have been burning them to make room to grow and harvest more crops for the growing populations, and poachers have been invading to illegally kill animals to make a profit off of rare animals and their body parts.

Commercial Value They would cut down trees and plants and build farms. Kill the animals and used certain parts of their bodies to sell and make money. They use the trees for everyday objects for life.

Geological Features The landscape of the tropical Savanna can be described in many ways. In places the landscape consists of gently rolling hills covered with high grasses, a few trees and several rocky outcrops, in others rocky plateaus with deep gorges, trickling creeks and pockets of rainforest are found. Closer to the coast the landscape of the tropical Savannas may be described during the wet season as consisting of wide flooded coastal plains dominated by Melaleuca forest, or swampy tidal mangrove forests.

Questions What are some geological features of the Savanna? What is a type of animal in the Savanna? What’s the largest mammal in the Savanna? What is a type of plant in the Savanna? How much rainfall each year? What month is the least amount of precipitation?

Resources Black Biology textbook Blue Biology Google Images