Tropical Grasslands
Savannas
Tropical Grasslands Background
Grasslands are lands covered with grass, simple as that. Grasslands are usually warm. They are not as dry as deserts. But they are drier than forests. Not many shrubs or trees grown in the grassland.That is because there is not enough water in this biome for them to grow.Tropical grasslands are also known as savannas. Tropical grasslands can be found in Australia, India, Africa, and South America. They surround tropical forests.There is a warm and wet summer season. There is also a cooler winter season. Winter is long and dry. Fires burn through grasslands during the dry season.
Location Of Grasslands Around The World
The location of the Grasslands around the world are located near the equator. They cover the majority of Africa and and large areas in Australia and parts of South America and India. The Savanna is the most known tropical grassland around the world by covering much of Africa. There are also llanos in Colombia and Venezuela, campos of the Brazilian highlands, pantanals of Upper Paraguay, plains in Australia and the Deccan Plateau of India. They are usually found in the interior of continents and have such rich soil.
Organisms and Evolution
Grassland biomes are heavily dominated by grasses as tall as 3 to 6 feet tall. Some plants evolved to be drought-resistant, fire-resistant or browse-resistant trees. 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. Herbivores like: eland, impalas, gazelles oryx, gerenuk and kudu. Buffalo, wildebeest, plains zebra, rhinos, giraffes, elephants and warthogs are part of the African savanna. Some carnivores that live in the grasslands include: lions, leopards, cheetahs, jackals, wild dogs and hyenas. Termites are also a great part of the tropical grasslands world. Since grasslands are an open space biome, it allows animals to reach top speed when running like cheetahs and gazelles. Over time speed has become a great factor and part of the species in the tropical grasslands.Lacking trees, rocks or other structures to hide behind, grassland animals have often evolved highly effective camouflage, which allows them to hide while in plain sight.
Dominant Vegetation
Acacia Tree
Baobab Tree
Elephant Grass
Elements Affecting Grasslands
An abiotic factor that affects grasslands is climate. It is one of the most crucial aboitic factors that shape the ecosystem and includes rainfall, temperature, wind flow, ground moisture etc. Climate can also cause some natural disturbances like floods during heavy rains or scorching conditions in high summers. All these factors to the grassland ecosystem. Another factor that can affect animals in the tropical grassland is hunters kill animals for sport and collect their skins and other parts of their bodies for them to sell. Animals like the Elephant are endangered because of humans hunting them down for many decades for their ivory tusks.
ABOUT US
Julian is a 17 year old student at Morristown High School. He lives a normal spoiled life, being an only child. Julian is currently not doing any sports at the moment. He has put off doing other sports in order to reach is personal physical goals. He began working out seriously about a year ago. On the weekdays from 9:30 to 4 he enjoys trading stocks while still paying attention in school. Julian wants to be the first in his family to go to college and study business. His dream would be to work on Wall street as a stockbroker or go into a field in marketing. He wants to get a job to get enough money for himself, his parents, and for the rest of his family in Colombia who he loves dearly. In the future where he will be able to balance his job, family, friends, and have a healthy life in general.
Matt is 17 years old and has lived in Morristown for all his life. He has a brother, age 18, who is currently a senior at Morristown. He also has a sister who is in middle school. Matt enjoys playing sport especially baseball. He plays 2B for the high school varsity team and is trying to play at the college level. He also like working out and playing video games in his spare time. He tries to get good grades in school so he can go to college one day. He likes to hangout with his friends and family.