Sahelian Acacia Savanna

Threats and Solutions:

Abiotic Factors:

#1: Threat: Desertification. Parts of this ecoregion border on the edge of a desert, and deserts tend to spread into places such as savannas. This puts the creatures of this ecoregion in danger. Solution: Plant drought-resistant plants on the borders of the ecoregion and the desert to halt or slow the spread of the arid desert.

#2: Problem: Human involvement. When poachers kill an elephant of lion for tusks or gorgeous fur, or when a tribal group carves a tree for tools, they are actively destroying the environment. Solution: Put in place heavy laws that forbid poaching of any kind, to halt humans from destroying the homes of other creatures.

#1: Weather. During the winter-dry season, the savanna is cool. During the summer-rainy season, the savanna is humid and wet.

#2: Climate. The savanna is typically warm year-round. This ecoregion does not receive enough rainfall to be classified as a rain forest, nor is it dry enough to be a desert. There are two seasons (wet and dry).

#3: Soil. During the dry seasons, soil becomes unfertile and many grasses and shrubs die off. In wet seasons, soil becomes fertile and promotes producer growth.

#4: Water. During dry seasons, finding water is a chore for native animals. During wet seasons, water is abundant and allows plants and animals to thrive.

Soil

The Food Web:

Limiting Factors:

= flow of energy

Acacia Trees:

= nitrogen cycle

Ecoregion Project:

• Small green leaves on a fern-like stalk
• Pea-shaped, budding yellow flowers positioned on the edges of the airy branches
• Giraffes, butterflies, and even ants use the tree's parts fo nutrition
• 40 feet tall, with leaves out of reach of most creatures
• Acacia thrive in dry areas

#1: Rainfall. There are about six months of dry weather in this ecoregion, which makes it a struggle to obtain water for half of the year.

#2: Fire. Due to the terrifically dry weather, wildfires dangerously and sporadically sprout up.

#3: Predation. There are dangerous predators in the savannas, such as lions, which makes thriving hard for organisms lower on the food chains.

#4: Competition. Competition for both meals and water cause difficulty with certain competing species.

Bermuda Grass:

Lions:

• Provides nutrition to a majority of the animals in the savanna
• Short, green, dry grass that thrives better in the sun
• Survives drought, and perserveres through wildfire.

• "Kings of the Savanna
• Top of the food chain- no predators
• Carnivores- eat most meats
• Female lions tend to do hunting and raising of young, while males rule the pride
• Vulnerable creatures, on their way to being endangered

Sahelian Acacia Savanna

Similarities to other Ecoregions:

Warthogs:

Rudd's Mouse:

• Their four short tusks help protect them from predators
• Warthogs dig up roots from below the ground for nutrition
• They can go up to five months without consuming water
• Mostly herbivores, but also known to eat insects and rodents.

• Feed on plants and small insects
• Incisors aid in eating and protecting
• Small, usually less than a foot in length
• White feet, white tails, and predominately brown bodies

Since this ecoregion would be classified as a savanna, it is similar to many other ecosystems that are also savannas, which are particularly widespread on the continent of Africa. This would include ecoregions such as: Beni Savanna, Guianan savanna, Brigalow tropical savanna, Einasleigh upland savanna, and East Sudanian savanna. Like the Sahelian Acacia savanna, all of these ecoregions have a population of dry grasses, acacia trees, field mice, and lions. Similarly, all of these ecosystems are, for the most part, in the realm of Afrotropics, and are mainly tropical and subtropical grasslands savanna.

Giraffes:

Hannah Van Elk

• Necks can be up to seven feet long
• Travel in small groups of about half a dozen
• Eat strictly plants, mostly leaves from the tops of trees
• No two giraffes have the same coat
• At birth, giraffes fall five feet from mother to earth

Air

Differences to other Ecoregions:

Humans!

This warm, almost arid ecoregion would have the most obvious contrast when compared to a northern bioregion. One good example is comparing the Sahelian Acacia savanna to the Northern Canadian Shield taiga. Where the Sahelian Acacia savanna has animals such as lions as its mighty predators, the Northern Canadian Shield taiga has mighty predators such as American Black Bears. Where the Sahelian Acacia savanna is categorized as an Afrotropic realm, the Northern Canadian Shield taiga is categorized as Nearctic. The plants in the Afrotropics are suited for drastic warm, hot, and humid weather, but plants in Nearctic are scarce and resistant to constant chilly weather.

Humans do not naturally belong in the Sahelian Acacia savanna. Mostly, humans harm the environment with their poaching and pollution. Animals are killed for their skins, furs, bones, tusks, or other precious materials. The gasses constantly released by human beings into the atmosphere deplete ecosystems worldwide. To save the ecoregion, humans should halt their poaching and destroying of the world.