2. Tropical Grassland Characteristics
• . Tropical grasslands are found in tropical wet and dry
climates. These areas are hot year-round, usually never
dropping under 18 degrees Celsius. Although these areas are
overall very dry, they do have a season of heavy rain. Annual
rainfall is from 50-120 cm per year. It is crucial that the
rainfall is concentrated in six or eight months of the year,
followed by a long period of drought when fires can occur. If
the rain were well distributed throughout the year, many
such areas would become tropical forest.
• Soil
• The soil of tropical grasslands is porous, with rapid drainage
of water. It has only a thin layer of humus (the organic
portion of the soil created by partial decomposition of plant
or animal matter), which provides vegetation with nutrients.
3. Animals Found in Tropical Grasslands
• ANIMALS
• Tropical grassland animals (which do not all
occur in the same area)
include giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, kangaroos,
mice, moles, gophers, ground squirrels, snakes,
worms, termites, beetles, lions, leopards,
hyenas, and elephants. The world's greatest
diversity of ungulates (hoofed mammals) is
found on the savannas of Africa. The antelopes
are especially diverse and include eland,
impalas, gazelles oryx, gerenuk and kudu.
Buffalo, wildebeest, plains zebra, rhinos,
giraffes, elephants and warthogs are among
other herbivores of the African savanna.
Carnivores include lions, leopards, cheetahs,
jackals, wild dogs and hyenas. Termites are
especially abundant in the tropical grasslands
of the world.
•
4. Plants
• Tropical grasslands are dominated by grasses, often 3 to 6
feet tall at maturity. They may have some drought-resistant,
fire-resistant or browse-resistant trees, or they may have an
open shrub layer. They develop in regions where the climax
community should be forest, but drought and fire prevent the
establishment of many trees.
• Grasses dominate temperate grasslands. Trees and
large shrubs are rarely found in grassland areas. There are
many species of grasses that live in this biome, including,
purple needle grass, wild oats, foxtail, ryegrass, and buffalo
grass
5. Location
• Tropical grasslands
are located near the
equator, between the
Tropic of Cancer and
the Tropic of
Capricorn. They cover
much of Africa as well
as large areas of
Australia, South
America, and India.
6. Threats
• This threat to a savanna
ecosystem include effects caused
by climate change, farming
practices, overgrazing,
aggressive agricultural irrigation,
which lowers the level of
the water table away from plant
roots, deforestation and erosion.
Each year, over 46,000 square
kilometers of African savanna
becomes desert.
7. Managing The Tropical Grasslands
• Continue education efforts on how to
protect the soil and prevent soil
erosion.
• Protect and restore wetlands, which
are an important part of grassland
ecology.
• Rotate agricultural crops to prevent
the sapping of nutrients.
• Plant trees as windbreaks.
• Conduct dry season burning to obtain
fresh growth and to restore calcium to
the soil that builds up in the dry
grasses.
