The Savanna biome has a wet/dry climate. Its Köppen climate group is Aw. The A stands for a tropical climate and the w for a dry season in the winter.
Savannah refers to grassland.
Savannah vegetation can be sub-divided into two:
Savannah woodlands
it has a continuous cover of dense trees with little growth of grass.
Savannah grasslands
It has a continuous cover of grass with scattered trees
Distribution of savanna climate
The savanna or Sudan climate is confined within the tropics.
- The belt includes West Africa Sudan, and then curves southwards into East Africa and Southern Africa north of the Tropic of Capricorn.
- In South America, there are Llanos of the Orinoco basin and the Campos of the Brazilian Highlands.
- The Australian Savanna is located south of the monsoon strip running from West to East, north of the Tropic of Capricorn.
Savanna climatic condition has the following characteristics:
- In the savanna climate there is a distinct dry season, which is in the winter. Savannas get all their rain in the summer months. During the distinct dry season of a savanna, most of the plants shrivel up and die. Some rivers and streams dry up. Most of the animals migrate to find food.
- In the wet season all of the plants are lush and the rivers flow freely. The animals migrate back to graze. In West Africa the rainy season begins in May.
- It is usually cooler during the dry season by a few degrees. Because it is in the tropical latitudes that is still hot enough. The savanna climate has a temperature range of 20° – 30° C. In the winter, it is usually about 20° – 25° C. In the summer the temperature ranges from 25° – 30° C. In a Savanna the temperature does not change a lot. When it does, it is very gradual and not drastic.
- There is an annual precipitation of 10 to 30 inches (100 to 150 cm) of rain. From December to February hardly any rain falls at all.
CHARATERISTICS OF TREES IN THE SAVANNA
- By having small shiny leaves
- They are resistant to fire
- They have an umbrella shape to shield the roots from heat from the sun
- They have long tap roots to reach underground water
- They have thick barks and swollen trunks to conserve water
- Trees are deciduous which means they drop their leaves once in a year
Characteristics of Natural Vegetation in savanna
- The savanna type of vegetation is made up of tall grass and short scattered trees
- They have long roots and thick bark to reduce loss of water due to transpiration.
- Many trees are Umbrella- shaped to shield their roots from the scorching heat.
- Trees are drought resistance trees such as Baobab.
- Trees are deciduous in nature that is they shed their leaves during the dry season.
