Savannah (African steppe) is a vast territory covered with rare trees and shrubs and herbaceous vegetation, which belongs to the subequatorial, which is marked by a pronounced division into dry and rainy seasons.
Description
The African savannah steppe is a typical example of the area, the image of which appears in the majority of people when they mention this continent. The territory is dominated by rainforest evergreen forests and deserts, between which there is a beautiful, unstable and wild savannah - a huge area overgrown with single trees and grass. Scientists have determined the approximate age of this natural phenomenon - about 5 million years. Consequently, it is considered the youngest zonal type in Africa.
Geographical position
The African steppe occupies almost 40% of the mainland. It is located around the equatorial evergreen forests.
The Guinean-Sudanese savanna is bordered by equatorial forests in the north, stretching for 5,000 km from the east coast of the Indian Ocean to the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean. From r. Tana Savannah extends to the valley of the river. The Zambezi, then, turning 2500 km to the west, passes to the Atlantic coast.
Weather dependent
The African savannah steppe is directly dependent on the weather, whose whims are felt here very strongly by representatives of flora and fauna. Dry seasons are not like the others here. Nature every year has to adapt to the changes coming with the climate. Only one thing is inevitable - the savannah in each such period loses its vitality, brightness, juices, turning into a sea of sultry despondency and withered grass. With the arrival of the rainy season, the landscape changes so rapidly that in just a couple of days nature becomes completely unrecognizable. If you compare images of the savannah before the arrival of the rainy season and after a week of heavy rainfall, it will not be easy to find their similarities.
The flora of the savannah
On the black continent, typical savannah plants are all kinds of acacia, oilseeds, baobabs, lanceolate lauphiers, grass, anisophylls, and a variety of cereal grasses. By the way, the latter adapted better than others to the conditions of regular changes in humidity and temperature conditions. After all, if during a drought period xerophytic trees can simply throw off their foliage and stand in this form in anticipation of a new wet season, then it is much more difficult for grasses to survive. Although nature was able to take care of the preservation of the viability of the grassy cover of the savannahs. In cereal representatives of the African flora, the leaves are hairy, narrow, very tough and have a waxy coating that retains moisture in the cells.
Savannah fauna
Many are surprised and interested in the African savannah steppe. Animals in its vastness live in huge numbers. They got here due to natural migration phenomena that are associated with changes in temperature on Earth. At some point, millions of years ago, the mainland was covered entirely with rain forests, only the climate gradually became drier, due to which huge parts of the forest disappeared, while in their place were fields overgrown with grassy vegetation and open woodlands. This, in turn, led to the emergence of various new species of animals, which were looking for good conditions for food.
Thus, the African steppe developed. The giraffes from the jungle were the first to come here, followed by elephants, all kinds of antelopes and other herbivores. Following them, according to the law of nature, predators began to inhabit the savanna: servals, lions, jackals, cheetahs and others. And since an incredible number of worms and insects live in the soil and grass of the savanna, the fauna was replenished with all kinds of representatives of birds that flew to Africa from different parts of the world. In this place of birds there is an opportunity to see red-billed quillies, storks, vultures, marabou, horned ravens, vultures, etc. There are also many lizards, crocodiles and snakes.
Living in a dry season
During a drought, large animals try to stay near a watering hole, but due to strong competition during this period, the struggle for survival becomes more fierce than the African steppe (savanna), the photo of which is presented in this article. Small ones who are not capable of long movements in search of food and water fall into hibernation all summer.
The African steppe is a place of unique ecosystems and diametrically opposite landscapes. Here, a serious struggle for survival is in absolute harmony with the amazing beauty of nature, while the richness of flora and fauna - with a real African flavor, as well as surprisingly attractive exoticism.
