The Tropical Grassland/ Savanna Biome is teeming with life. Temperatures are warmer than most, the average never even dipping below 64° Fahrenheit! This tropical biome goes through a 6-8 month wet season and a 4-6 month dry season where precipitation can be less than 4 inches monthly; annual rainfall averages out between 20-50 inches. Below is a graph of the monthly average precipitation and temperatures. As you can see, the wet season starts between March and April and continues through late november while the dry season goes from December to February. The average temperature, on the other hand, stays fairly steady; ranging between 20-30° Celcius/77-86° Fahrenheit between both wet and dry seasons. Though temperatures do drop throughout the duration of the dry period. The two predominantly recognizable seasons in this area are Winter (the dry season; December to February) and Summer (the wet season; March/April to November).
The soil in this biome varies greatly with different types of soils being: lithosols, cracking clay, alluvial soils, and deep sand. Lithosol soil is commonly found in patches around the savanna/grassland region and is generally infertile. Cracking clay, because it is washed out in high rainfall times when on the coast, is found inland, holding its moisture for long periods of time and is fairly fertile. Alluvial soils are rich and found in floodplain regions while red/yellow earths while deep sand is found on the coasts and are typically saline and infertile.
Biodiversity in this biome is very high with the world's greatest diversity of ungulates (uhoofed mammals) in the savannas of Africa.
Biodiversity in this biome is very high with the world's greatest diversity of ungulates (uhoofed mammals) in the savannas of Africa.
The Umbrella Thorn Acacia tree is typically found in the Africa Savanna region, and is the tree most associated with Africa itself. This tree is an Xerophyte, meaning that it has adapted itself to store and retain water in a special way to survive the hot weather. One of the many ways that this tree interacts with its surrounding animals is that it serves as a giraffe's favorite snack. The thorny leaves on this tree were adapted to try to deter animals away from its sweet leaves, but, unfortunately, the giraffes managed to find a way around that. This tree is also favored by both birds and animals trying to escape the midday heat, it's wide boughs serving as a canopy of shade.
The African Lion is found across the majority of the regions of tropical grasslands/ savannas in Africa. A major adaptation that this animal has made is that it has blended it's fur coat into nearly the same tannish as it's surroundings to better stalk their prey unnoticed. The African Lion is most definitely a carnivore, preying upon animals such as the Zebra, Wildebeest, Rhinos, hippos, and sometimes even Elephants if food is scarce. They are very territorial with their land to other animals and even to other "outsider" lions.