Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands are grassland terrestrial biomes located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes.
Description
Grasslands are dominated by grass and other herbaceous plants. Savannas are grasslands with scattered trees. Shrublands are dominated by woody or herbaceous shrubs.
Rainfall in tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is between 500 and 1300 millimeters (20 to 50 inches) a year,[1] and can be highly seasonal, with the entire year's rainfall sometimes occurring within a couple of weeks.
Occurrence
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands occur on all continents but Antarctica. They are widespread in Africa, and are also found all throughout South Asia, the northern parts of South America and Australia, and the southern United States.
African Savannas occur between forest or woodland regions and grassland regions. The climate varies, with an average temperature of 27 °C with peaks of 30 °C in April and October, and between 300 and 1500 millimetres of rain per year. Flora includes:
- Acacia (Tree)
- Loses leaves in dry season to conserve moisture
- Leafy canopy in rainy season (flattened by winds)
- Baobab (Tree)
- Stores water in trunk
- Thick bark to protect it from fires in dry season
- Long tap roots to reach underground moisture
- Few leaves to reduce water loss through transpiration
- Grass
- Grow quickly to 3 or 4 meters in clumps
- Shoots die in dry season leaving only roots
- Low shrubs
- Drought resistant
- Small
- Thorns not leaves
Ecoregions
|
Angolan Miombo woodlands |
Angola |
Angolan Mopane woodlands |
Angola, Namibia |
Ascension scrub and grasslands |
Ascension Island |
Central Zambezian Miombo woodlands |
Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia |
East Sudanian savanna |
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda |
Eastern Miombo woodlands |
Mozambique, Tanzania |
Guinean forest-savanna mosaic |
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo |
Itigi-Sumbu thicket |
Tanzania, Zambia |
Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands |
Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe |
Mandara Plateau mosaic |
Cameroon, Nigeria |
Northern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets |
Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda |
Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic |
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Uganda |
Sahelian Acacia savanna |
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan |
Serengeti |
Kenya, Tanzania |
Somali Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets |
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia |
Southern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets |
Kenya, Tanzania |
Southern Africa bushveld |
Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe |
Southern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic |
Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Southern Miombo woodlands |
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Saint Helena scrub and woodlands |
Saint Helena |
Victoria Basin forest-savanna mosaic |
Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda |
West Sudanian savanna |
Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal |
Western Congolian forest-savanna mosaic |
Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo |
Western Zambezian grasslands |
Angola, Zambia |
Zambezian and Mopane woodlands |
Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands |
Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
See also
References
- ↑ Jill Rutherford (2009). IB Environmental Systems & Societies: Course Companion. Oxford University Press. p. 43. ISBN 0199152276.
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