Sahelian Acacia Savanna

Biodiversity

Positive and negative effects

growth limitation

Positive- There are very few, if any, positive human impacts of the Grassland Savanna. The reason of this is because there is not many things humans can do to help the biome besides leave it alone and let everything happen naturally because everything has adapted to survive and live on their own, and that's what they are doing and why human impact does not do many positives things.

Negative- Humans impact the Grassland Savanna by lessening the area of the land by making new space for industrialization. The trees and animals have less space to be so the population decreases with the land, making everything smaller.

Water supply and Competition

- In the dry season, many rivers and streams dry up, resulting in less drinking water for the Savannahs inhabitants.

- Less water for the same number of inhabitants results in competition within the population

Forest fires

-during the dry season, forest fires become more relevant due to the heat and dry conditions, though most are caused by hunters.

-Elephants, termites, eucalyptus and everything in between are equally important to the health and survival of the African Savanna. All species in the African Savanna play a vital role in maintaining a viable ecosystem. Biodiversity is the variety of life in a particular habitat and it is the most important factor behind a productive, healthy ecosystem.

Food web

Living organisms

-Autotrophs (producers): are the plants

-Heterotrophs (consumers): are the animals prey and predators for example lions, cheetahs, and leopards.

-Herbivores: zebra and rhinoceros

Biotic

Some animals like: elephants, giraffes, zebras, gazelles, hippopotamus, wildebeest, emu, cheetah, loin, crocodile, plants, Jackal berry tree, whistling thorn, Manketti tree.

Sahelian Acacia Savanna

Major Biome

-Savannas are a grassland terrestrial biome located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of the subtropical and tropical latitudes

Abiotic

Abiotic: fire is the most important one without it the savanna could turn into a tropical forest. Soil, its most important to plant and the animals that eat plants. Air without it survival would be impossible. Water during dry seasons. There isn't a lot of water but trees store water during the wet seasons so they have water during the dry seasons.

Location

- The Sahelian Acacia Savanna stretches across from northern Senegal and Mauritania on the Atlantic coast to the Sudan on the Red Sea.

- total land mass is 1,178,800 square miles

- it's a terrestrial ecosystem

Organisms

- The secretary bird feeds on insects, small mammals and snakes while vultures scavenge for meat from large predator.

- Tailed dragons feed on insects flushed from the grasses by fires. Termites are important decomposers breaking down dead plant and animal material to release much needed nutrients into the ecosystem. - The trampling of trees and grasses by elephants is also beneficial as it encourages the growth of other grasses that are important to diets of smaller herbivores. All living things depend on each other for survival.

interaction

-The african savanna is home to many different species forming a complex and ever changing ecosystem. Savanna grasslands are characterized by drought such as acacia and baobab trees and carnivorous predators like lions, cheetahs, and leopards. As well as some known herbivores for example: the zebra, rhinoceros, greater kudu, and the several species of giraffe.

By: Diana Gonzalez & Salma Fernandez