1. TROPICAL GRASSLANDS (SAVANNA)
BINISH ISLAMUDDIN & JAZLYN BENITEZ
PERIOD 2

4. CLIMATE Distinctly dry in the winter, wet during the summer
Average temperature during the winter is 68°– 78° F. During the summer is 78° - 86° F. 
Annual precipitation of 10 – 30 inches. Hardly any rain falls from Dec. - Feb. 

5. BIOTIC FACTORS ABIOTIC FACTORS Animals
   --elephants, zebras, monkeys, lions, rhinos, snakes, wallaroos, hedgehogs, etc. 
Bacteria
Fungi
Trees & Plant life
   --acacia senegal, baobab,  bermuda grass, candelabra tree, elephant grass
Warm weather year round
 Wet/ dry climate
Nutrient-rich, pourous soil 
Water Availability
10-12 hours of sunlight
Precipitation (Rains mainly in the wet season)

6. NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY
 Plants in this specific biome produce a net 3,000 (kilocalories/ square meter/ year) of chemical energy. 
Savannas have relatively high levels of net primary productivity.
Most evident after the summer (wet) season when water is ample for plant use. 
8 kilocalories per day

7. SECONDARY SUCCESSION 
It starts out with bare soil, followed by lichens and mosses 
Plants such as star grass and red oat grass will grow
 These plants eventually lead into the development of larger plants and trees, such as the Acacia and Baobab trees
 Small animals, like the mouse and hare, will slowly populate the area
 Followed by larger animals like  lions, wild dogs, hyenas, and gazelles
Example of secondary succession
Arnhem Plateau after 2004 wildfire
Arnhem Plateau today

8. FOOD CHAIN

9. FOOD WEB

10. PYRAMID OF NUMBERS
ENERGY PYRAMID  

11. BIOMASS PYRAMID

12. TROPHIC LEVELS

13. HABITAT
Include the savanna usually associated with Africa, and also found in India, Australia, Nepal and the Americas. 
Located near the equator, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. 

14. THE SAVANNA'S ANIMALS AFRICAN ELEPHANTS OLIVE BABOONS
Niche: They can dig holes in dry riverbeds, creating watering holes for large animals; and their footprints collect rainwater, creating watering holes for smaller animals.
Adaptation: Tusks can measure up to 11 ft. in length and are used for fighting, digging, marking, and feeding. 
Niche: The African elephants and the olive baboons have created a symbiotic relationship. Baboons drink from watering holes dug by the elephant, and the elephant rely on baboons that are sitting on tree tops to warn them about an incoming predator.
Adaptations: Sleep in high, rocky cliffs where they are safe from predators. 

15. THE SAVANNA'S ANIMALS GIRAFFES ZEBRAS
Niche: Their long neck gives them the ability to eat where no other herbivore feeds, so they have a friendly relationship with other herbivores because lack of competition. 
Adaptations: A giraffe can consume 12 gallons of water at one time from a watering hole, but can also go weeks without it. 
Niche: They are food to various carnivores such as lions, cheetahs, leopards, tigers and hyenas. 
Adaptations: Their long legs, helps them runaway from predators.   

16. THE SAVANNA'S ANIMALS LIONS RHINOS
Niche: To help control the population of animals by hunting and eating them. 
Adaptation: Sharp claws to kill and tear flesh. 
Niche: Skin harbors many external parasites that are eaten by tickbirds and egrets. 
Adaptation: Thick, layered skin protects rhinos from sharp grasses and thorns.   

17. THE SAVANNA'S ANIMALS AFRICAN HEDGEHOGS WALLAROO
Niche: food to large birds
Adaptations: manipulates its backbone in order to curl up into a ball when faced with a predator so that only its spiny armor is exposed
Niche: food to dingoes and foxes
Adaptations: furry pads that allow it to climb on rocks     and to dig for underground sources of water

18. THE SAVANNA'S ANIMALS TERMITES SNAKES
Niche: termite droppings create highly fertile patches of earth with a higher percentage of nitrogen and phosphorous than ground farther away, which invites the growth of grasses, shrubs, and trees
Adaptations: develop blue pouches that can explode to harm their enemies
Niche: farmers that use the savannah for farm land think the rock python is useful because they eat large cane rats
Adaptations: non-venomous so they kill their pray through constriction; death is thought to be caused by cardiac arrest.

19. THE SAVANNA'S PLANTS BAOBAB TREE ACACIA TREE
Niche: elephants and other animals chew on its bark during dry season
Adaptation: stores water in its trunk to survive the dry season
Niche: giraffes eat some leaves before they become inedible
Adaptations: thorns to protect it from large herbivores, bad-tasting chemicals
GRASSES
Niche: herbivores and omnivores eat the grass
Adaptations: goes dormant during dry periods and then grow rapidly once the rains come

20. THE SAVANNA'S PLANTS JACKALBERRY TREE CANDELABRA TREE
Niche: its purple fruit feeds the animals
Adaptation: develop flattened ridges on their trunk that help buttress and support them
Niche: birds eat the fruit and seeds, while cane rats and porcupines sometimes feed on the roots
Adaptations: poisonous sap can blind an animal or a person if the sap comes in contact with the eyes, burns skin

21. HUMAN ACTIVITY
Large areas of grassland have been turned into farmlands for growing crops and for rearing cattle.
Sometimes, fires are started by human and they spread quickly through grasses and damage the soils.
A large number of animals have been hunted for their valuable body parts (elephants were shot for their tusks, lions were killed for their fur, and bison were hunted for their meats).
There have been efforts to restore savannas and remove any invasive species.

22. CASE STUDY (GOOD)
A degraded savanna in southwestern Wisconsin is being restored using intensive cutting of undesirable shrubs and selective removal of trees that are crowding the open. Management involves controlled burns and extensive weed control. Removal of invasive shrubs and trees has exposed the ground layer to higher light intensities and stimulated the growth of savanna forbs and grasses. A number of typical herbaceous savanna species have reappeared after clearing or have been successfully introduced from local sources. One savanna species endangered in Wisconsin (purple milkweed) was first seen in the savanna after a single controlled burn, and appears to be spreading. The redheaded woodpecker, a typical savanna bird, was first seen after shrub and canopy clearing in the savanna. About 70 acres of the savanna have been restored during nine years. 

23. CASE STUDY (BAD)
KP Quarries was the first quarrying company to mine the Aripo savannas (Trinidad). In 1979, KP began operations on 16 hectares of the northern part of the Aripo Savannas on a one year lease. Mining operations continued until 1996 when KP Quarries pulled out of the ASESA (Aripo Savannas Environmentally Sensitive Area). During the 17 year period, the company mined approximately 60 hectares of the area. However, KP Quarries was not the only mining operator during this time. In 1982, six companies were known to be operating on 162 hectares of the savannas and royalties were being accepted by the government on a gravel load basis. Mining operations physically damaged the savannas, and in some areas intense excavation and wash plant activities irremediably destroyed the ecology. 

24. CASE STUDY (COMPARISON)
Similarities
Differences
They were both caused by human interference.
Elements of the savanna were removed.
The good case study restored the savanna while the bad one destroyed it.
The bad case study was a result of human greed, but the good one’s goal was to protect the savanna.