Biodiversity is defined as the variety of life in the world or a particular ecosystem. In the case of the Tropical Grassland/Savanna biome, it is the variety between lion and gopher or acacia tree and star grass. Without biodiversity in the Tropical Grassland/Savanna region, or, really, any region, there would be no positive change to the biome. Everything stay the same and there would be no way for the animals to thrive, because they all have the same things to offer to each other. With biodiversity, there is an ecosystem productivity boost due to all the diverse plants and animals that interact with each other. A variety of plants means a variety of food sources for a new variety of animals, in turn enlarging the ecosystem. These biodiverse ecosystems are not only more productive, but also face a better chance against natural disasters with the ability to recover from them due to the diversity of plants and animals that allow a better chance at survival and recovery.
Human influence has had little, if any, positive impact on the Tropical Grassland/ Savanna biome. For the most part, human impact with this region is negative. Hundreds of acres of this ecosystem's land has been deforested and butchered up for farming usages and timber. This lack of trees and plants in the area leads to erosion and occasionally "desertification". Thousands of animals have been poached, Rhinos for their horns and elephants for their tusks. Sometimes, humans even accidentally (or, at times, on purpose) start their own fires that end up spreading quickly through the dry grasses and trees, causing a disaster that makes the area go through decades of secondary succession before it can return back to normal. Though we have very, very few positive influences upon the land, a few examples of which would be protecting the land from poachers or those trying to convert the land for their own needs. No major laws or restrictions have really been put into place to help restrict the amount of deforestation occurring, though many different companies and communities have started practicing a more efficient usage of the wood and have discovered alternative fuel sources-a loss of 30% of all the forests in the African Savanna is still projected by the year 2030.
Shown above and below are statistics showing the approximate amount of illegally poached Rhinos and Elephants. The WWF (the World Wildlife Foundation) established a Rhino reserve in 1997 that held nearly 9,000 white rhinos and 2,600 endangered black rhinos-to date both populations have nearly doubled in this safe reserve and some rhinos are even put under armed guard for 24/7 protection. Elephants, as well as many other endangered and threatened species, have a safe haven of their own by PAWS (the Performing Animal Welfare Society) which has an average total of 1,200 animals under their protection. The elephant population has also benefited from the 1989 banning of ivory trade, their population increasing slightly, even though their tusks still sell for a high profit on the black market. Though anti-poaching laws are in place today around the globe, not all of them are well enforced. Which is why the IAPF (the International Anti-Poaching Foundation) enforces rangers to be active fighters against the poachers who will go to extreme lengths to hunt down and exploit threatened species.