Amazing African steppe: flora and fauna. Fauna of Africa Plants and animals of the savannah

The giraffe is an adornment of the savannah, thanks to its graceful gait and surprisingly long neck. Translated from Latin, the name of the giraffe is translated as "camel-leopard", apparently the discoverers considered it a cross between these animals. In addition to a long neck, a giraffe is also characterized by a tongue up to 45 cm long. These animals feed mainly on tree leaves, growth allows you to get the youngest and most delicious foliage. But drinking a giraffe is quite inconvenient, you have to spread and bend your legs. The long neck of the animal has as many cervical vertebrae as in all mammals (7 pieces).

Elephants living in the savannas are especially large, they are also called steppe or African elephants. They are distinguished by more powerful tusks and wide ears. Like ungulates, elephants strongly trample the vegetative surface of the savannah. Animals live in groups led by a large female elephant. Thanks to their tusks, these heroes were on the verge of extinction a hundred years ago, but with the help of reserves, this situation has returned to normal.

You can not ignore the main predator of the savannah, the king of animals - a lion. Almost all the inhabitants of the plains become its prey. Lions usually live in groups (prides), which include adult males and females, as well as their cubs. Responsibilities are very clearly distributed among the members of the pride: lionesses are engaged in the extraction of food, and large and strong males protect the territory.

The open plains of Africa are home to the cheetah, the fastest animal on Earth. While chasing its prey, it can reach speeds of up to 110 km/h. The special flying movements of the cheetah are explained by the peculiarities of its run, where the animal relies on only two paws. The cheetah is both strong and amazingly fast, allowing it to overtake prey such as antelope or zebra.

However, it is impossible to describe all the diversity of the animal world of the savannah. All this can be seen more clearly and colorfully in documentaries dedicated to the species richness of the fauna of this natural area.

A series of films about nature - Savannah. Animal world

Savannah occurs in areas with a hot climate, where all seasons of the year are reduced to two periods: dry and wet. This formation resembles a steppe with tall grass, and with sparsely scattered trees, most often acacias, whose crowns look like umbrellas. The dry period forced savanna plants to develop biological adaptations in the process of evolution that determined their drought resistance. The rainy season is the equivalent of a steppe spring or short period rain in the desert. the main task plants - use the rainy season as fully as possible for intensive development and then survive the drought. Herbaceous plants are well adapted to this. Trees are harder. There is not enough water in the savannah for forests to grow there. The lack of water available to plants determines that the trees here are sparse. The sun is beating down with unheard-of force. There is not enough soil water, and many trees lose their leaves during the drought period, as we do in winter. They are immersed in the "winter sleep" and so spend the dry season.

But in the rainy season, the savannah just explodes with life. There is plenty of water, the temperature is high and constant, without sudden changes during the day, the soil is quite fertile. Everything is green and growing at a frantic pace, trying to make up for the time lost due to the drought. Plant productivity is high, and the mass of phytoproducts allows a huge number of herbivorous animals to live in the savannah.

Almost all of Africa south of the Sahara is a huge savannah. The only exceptions are the mountains, the basin of the Congo River and the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, occupied by tropical forests, and in southern Africa - the Kalahari Desert and part of the southernmost tip of the mainland. Taken together, this whole area does not even make up half the area covered by the savannah.

The landscape of the savannah is quite diverse depending on the microclimate of its individual sections. Trees are rare in drier areas. Sometimes they completely disappear, and a strip of "tropical steppe" is formed. In other places the trees grow thicker. Near the sources they form whole groups. In the valleys of rivers and streams, in places where the groundwater level is high due to the relief, small groves and even forests grow.

The composition of the invertebrate fauna of the savanna resembles that of the steppe fauna. Insects include locusts and ants. They are preyed upon by spiders, salpugs and scorpions. There are also gastropods in the savannah, which are adapted to endure drought.

Unlike the steppes, termites are an important element in the fauna of the savannah. Wherever you look - everywhere their buildings. A termite mound is sometimes just a half-meter mound, sometimes it looks like a small castle with towers and walls, sometimes the termite buildings are a six-meter-high “Hercules club”. Inside, behind the thick walls of such a fortress, whitish defenseless insects live, which never see daylight. The walls protect them from pursuers and from the heat. Termites provide themselves with moisture by gnawing passages to groundwater. They feed on wood and must lead an underground passage to a branch lying on the ground. Many animals are related to termites in one way or another. There are animals that feed mainly on them. These are lizards and anteaters. When the pangolin digs up a termite mound and, having had enough, leaves, birds feed on these “ruins”. Some species of birds make nests in the crevices of the walls of termite mounds or unceremoniously gouge their "hollow" into them. And even buffaloes and rhinos sometimes come to scratch on the walls of the termite mound or rest in the shade of this large farm of small builders.

There are few amphibians in the savannahs, there are no newts and salamanders. But there are frogs and toads that, during the rainy season, have time to mate and lay eggs, and tadpoles grow up and go through the stages of metamorphosis. During the dry season, all amphibians seek shelter and hibernate until the new rainy season. But many reptiles thrive in the savanna throughout the year. Covered with keratinized skin, they are not afraid of drought, and there is plenty of food here: for turtles - plants, for lizards - insects. The snakes here are perhaps the most numerous among the reptiles. Their prey is amphibians and lizards, as well as small mammals, mainly rodents. Many snakes are venomous.

The life forms of savannah birds are reminiscent of steppe birds. The bird fauna of the savannas is much richer and more diverse, mainly due to those species that nest in trees. So, for the savannas, a variety of weavers are typical (Ploceidae), among which the most numerous are small red-billed weavers - Quelia (Quelia quelia). They build their nests in the crowns of acacias, often forming entire colonies. Such an umbrella tree, hung with hundreds of nests and surrounded by a cloud of chattering residents, is a typical picture for the savannah. In the savannah, there are quite a few types of chicken: quail, various types of guinea fowl, francolins (Francolinus). Peculiar bush larks are common (Mirafra).

In the savannas, as in the steppes, running birds are typical. Here is the birthplace of the best runner among birds - the ostrich, which has completely lost the ability to fly.

Even among raptors, there was one species that, although capable of flying, prefers to walk. This is a long-legged secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) with a tuft hanging from the back of the head. To the first European travelers, she seemed like a secretary with a pen stuck behind her ear. Her favorite prey is snakes, even large and poisonous ones. Eats snakes and marabou (Leptoptilus)- a huge bird related to storks, with a large ugly bare head and bare neck, with a long thick beak. With a sedate step, she walks across the savannah, grabbing any animal that she can swallow. Even a puppy of a jackal can find its end in the beak of this glutton. There are many diurnal birds of prey in the savanna: hawks, kites, vultures. They have all kinds of food here. If there are many herbivorous mammals, then, of course, often some antelope dies either in the claws of a lion, or for some other reason.

There are a huge number of rodents in the savannahs, which are rarely seen and therefore hardly mentioned by travelers. However, they are a very important element of the biocenosis. Dozens of species of mouse-like rodents hide in the tall grass, and more open places jerboas are kept, in some places large striders are found (Pedetes caffer).

It should be noted that along with herbivorous jerboas, insectivorous jumpers are numerous here. (Macroscealididea), they can only be distinguished by their teeth. Exclusively in the African savannas, the family of spiny-tailed flying squirrels is common. Anamaluridae. These animals are similar to flying squirrels and also lead an arboreal lifestyle. They are able to jump from tree to tree, which is facilitated by a leathery membrane that connects the front and hind limbs.

Wood mice live on trees (family Dendromurinae) and squirrels (family Gliridae).

In places in the savannas, there are calm and phlegmatic porcupines, relying on their reliable “armor” of long and sharp needles.

Lagomorphs are represented by several species of hares, while in the savannah hares are smaller than in Europe.

But the most characteristic of the savannah are large ungulate mammals. The African savanna in the recent past was a paradise for hunters. Among the ungulates in terms of numbers and diversity of species, antelopes hold the lead, most of them graceful animals with large eyes, bearing horns on their heads. The smallest of the antelopes are gazelles. The genus of gazelles includes more than a dozen species. They are kind of the ecological equivalent of jerboas. (Antidorcas). Large impala antelopes are widespread (Aepyceros melampus).

Herds of waterbucks keep near the streams (kobus) with saber-curved horns. Antelopes of the genus Oryx (Oryx) reach a height of 1.3 meters at the withers. These are fast saber-horned antelopes. (Oryx algazel), east african oryx (Orix beisa) and others.

A whole group of species belonging to the genus Bubals is common in the savannah. (Alcelaphus). Ugly, long-necked and long-headed creatures with ugly twisted horns, they resemble a caricature of an emaciated horse. Wildebeest look like real freaks (Connochaetes). Their height at the withers is about 1.5 meters, that is, they are as tall as an average horse and look the same as a horse, but with a bull's head. The most valuable hunting trophies are long helical curved horns kudu antelope (Strepsiceros) especially big kudu (Strepsiceros strepsiceros). Antelopes of the genus Cannes (Taurotragus)- real giants among antelopes; they reach two meters in height and weigh up to one thousand kilograms.

Of the other bovids, large Kaffir buffaloes are typical. (Syricerus caffer). There are bulls 1.8 meters high at the withers. Hundreds of chilling hunting stories circulate about the dangers of hunting these formidable animals, and in this case they correspond to the truth.

Among other ungulates, giraffes stand out. They have not only a peculiar figure, but differ from other ungulates in that they feed exclusively on leaves, fruits and tree branches. This food is available to them due to their unprecedented growth. Although they have only small horns covered with hair on their heads, they are by no means defenseless. The blow of their long legs with sharp hooves can discourage even a lion from attacking.

In the London Zoo's giraffe pen, the poles are upholstered with 5mm steel sheet. One of them shows a deep print of a giraffe's hoof. The blow was aimed at the head of the caretaker, but he managed to dodge.

Everyone has heard of herds of zebras in the savannah. Wild donkeys are less known, and there are fewer of them. By the way, donkeys live only where there are no zebras. There are two types of them, one of them is the ancestor of the domestic donkey. There are three types of zebras.

Almost all herbivores live in herds. Herds migrate to the watering place, wander in search of pasture. In the savannah, herds are usually mixed and consist of several animal species. Zebras are almost never found without their companions - wildebeest and other antelopes. Ostriches often join them. A herd made up of several different species guarantees greater security for every member of the community. Some animals have better eyesight, others have better hearing, some have an excellent sense of smell. And it is enough for one to notice the enemy, as the whole herd flees.

The largest herbivores are rhinos and elephants. Rhinos live alone or in small herds of two to four animals. Elephants usually live in herds of several dozen individuals. Elephants and rhinos consume huge amounts of food. They don't have any enemies. Even lions rarely risk attacking their cubs.

Where there are many ungulates, there are also many predators. Contrary to popular belief, lions do not live in deserts. There they would die of hunger and thirst. Only in the savannah is the number of ungulates so great that this mighty predator can feed itself. Lions live in harem families, consisting of an old male, several females and sometimes a dozen kittens. Lions hunt collectively, and when the hunt is successful, the whole family begins to feast, observing a certain sequence.

Another large savannah cat is the leopard (Pantera pardus). It is smaller and lighter than a lion, lives alone, climbs trees, from where it swiftly jumps on prey. Its victims are small antelopes and calves of larger animals.

Smaller than a leopard, the size of a lynx, a serval cat (Felisserval). It attacks small antelopes, rodents and birds. Cheetahs lead a somewhat atypical lifestyle for most felines. They are somewhat similar to a large greyhound dog dressed in a leopard skin. The cheetah is a good runner and usually does not sneak up on prey, like other cats, but in broad daylight catches up with it in open space.

Terrible enemy of antelopes - hyena dog (Lycaon pictus). She is small in stature, about the size of a domestic average dog, but she hunts like a wolf in a pack. A pack of these animals drives the chosen victim, surrounds it and simply tears it apart. If any warlike bull tries to rebuff them, then this will not delay his death. While he is trying to hit one dog with his horns, four others will open his belly and release the insides.

Peculiar predators in the savannah - hyenas (Hyaenidae). These are strong animals with powerful jaws. They are not very fast on the run. More often they do not hunt healthy, strong animals, but slaughter those weakened by disease, old and wounded. Hyenas are not limited to ungulates. A lion dying of wounds is for them the same prey as an antelope. A hungry hyena eats mice, lizards, snakes, bird eggs, and even locusts and spiders. Most readily, hyenas feed on the carrion of large animals and sometimes wander after lions, hunters, or simply behind herds.

Jackals play a similar role in the savannah. (Thos). They are not large and can independently hunt only rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. But they destroy carrion, near which they feed for several days in a row.

Therefore, in the savanna, a certain complex of species is always found near the corpse of a large animal: hyenas, jackals and several species of raptors.

Small herbivores serve as prey for a number of small numerous and diverse predators. This is a wild African cat. (Felis ocreata)- probable ancestor of domestic cats; found here and caracal, known to us in the desert, and long-eared desert foxes (Otocyon, Fennecus). An important element of the fauna in the savannah - predatory civet (Viverriadae). The largest of them is the civet (Civettictis civetta) about the size of an average dog. Several species of mongooses live in the savannah (family herpes). They are known as snake hunters. In ancient Egypt, they were highly revered. These small predators feed mainly on rodents and birds, but also eat frogs, lizards and snakes; they do not neglect either insects or gastropods. The mongoose, more than anyone else, regulates the numbers of all the small animals of the savannah. However, hyenas, a serval, and other predators also take part in this.

There is another small group of extremely specialized mammals in the savannah, adapted to eating only termites. These are strange creatures. One of them is a lizard (Manis)- covered with large horny scales and belongs to the order of lizards (Pholidota). Another animal is a squat long-faced anteater (Orycteropus afer), belonging to a special order of aardvarks (Tubulidentata). These animals have powerful claws for digging up termite mounds, backward-pointing teeth, and a long, sticky, worm-like tongue for quickly picking up termites. Surprisingly, one species of hyena switched to feeding on termites (Proteles cristatus). Her specialization has not yet gone so far, but dental system has already undergone some changes.

In the savannah, especially among hilly areas, monkeys live, leading a predominantly terrestrial lifestyle. These are various baboons (Papio). They live in groups consisting of an old male - the leader, several females and ten to twenty young ones. Such groups can unite in herds, numbering tens and hundreds of monkeys. They eat everything that falls into their paws: leaves and locusts, fruits and caterpillars, all the way down to lizards, birds and mice.

In savanna biocenoses, deep internal catastrophic changes usually do not occur. But the life of the savannah is regulated by climate. In the dry season, when the springs dry up one after another, herds of animals go in search of pastures and watering holes. Sometimes they travel hundreds of kilometers. If the drought drags on and the springs dry up more than usual, then the animals die from the heat. Of course, this does not happen so often and only in exceptionally dry years.

<<< Назад

Forward >>>

IN equatorial belt African savannas occupy a huge area. These are flat or slightly hilly plains, where open, grassy areas alternate with groups of trees or dense thickets of thorny bushes. In the rainy season, the savannah is covered with tall grass, which turns yellow and fades with the onset of the dry season. Agriculture in the savannah is almost not developed, and the main occupation local population- cattle breeding.

African elephant.

The fauna of the savannah is a unique phenomenon. In no corner of the Earth in the memory of mankind has there been such an abundance of large animals as in the African savannas. As early as the beginning of the 20th century. countless herds of herbivores roamed the expanses of the savannas, crossing from one pasture to another or in search of watering places. They were accompanied by numerous predators - lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs. Carrion eaters followed the predators - vultures, jackals.

Big kudu.

The indigenous people of Africa have been hunting for a long time. However, as long as man was primitively armed, a kind of balance was maintained between the decrease in animals and the increase in their number. With the advent of white colonizers, armed with firearms, the situation has changed radically. Due to immoderate hunting, the number of animals quickly decreased, and some species, such as quagga, white-tailed wildebeest, blue horse antelope, were completely exterminated. The fencing of private properties, the laying of roads, steppe fires, the plowing of large areas, and the expansion of cattle breeding aggravated plight wild animals. Finally, the Europeans, unsuccessfully trying to fight the tsetse fly, staged a grandiose massacre, and more than 300 thousand elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeest and other antelopes were shot from rifles and machine guns from vehicles. Many animals also died from the plague brought from cattle. Now you can drive hundreds of kilometers through the savannas and not meet a single large animal.

Gazelle Grant.

Fortunately, there were far-sighted people who insisted on the creation of reserves, where all hunting and economic activities were prohibited. The governments of the newly independent states of Africa, which have thrown off the yoke of colonialism, have strengthened and expanded the network of such reserves - the last refuges for wild animals. Only there can one still admire the view of the primeval savannah.

Congoni antelope

Among the many species of ungulates that inhabit the African savannas, the most numerous are the blue wildebeest, belonging to the subfamily of cow antelope.

oryx.

The appearance of the wildebeest is so peculiar that you recognize it at first sight: a short dense body on thin legs, a heavy head covered with a mane and decorated with sharp horns, a fluffy, almost horse-like tail. Near herds of wildebeest, you can always find herds of African horses - zebras. Also characteristic of the savannah, but less numerous are the Thomson's gazelle, which can be recognized from a distance by its black, constantly twitching tail, and the larger and lighter Grant's gazelle. Gazelles are the most graceful and fast antelope of the savannah.

Giraffes.

Blue wildebeest, zebras and gazelles form the main core of herbivores. They are joined, sometimes in large numbers, red, gazelle-like impalas, huge heavy elands, outwardly awkward, but exceptionally swift-footed Congoni, with a narrow long muzzle and steeply curved S-shaped horns. In some places there are many grayish-brown long-horned waterbucks, relatives of the kongoni - swamps, which can be recognized by purple-black spots on the shoulders and thighs, marsh goats - medium-sized slender antelopes with beautiful lyre-shaped horns. Rare antelopes, which even in the reserves can be found only by chance, include oryxes, whose long straight horns resemble a sword, mighty horse antelopes and inhabitants of the shrub savannah - kudu. The kudu horns twisted into a gentle spiral are rightfully considered the most beautiful.

Impala.

One of the most typical animals of the African savannah is the giraffe. Once numerous, giraffes became one of the first victims of the white colonists: roofs for wagons were made from their huge skins. Now giraffes are everywhere under protection, but their numbers are small.

Zebra.

The largest land animal is the African elephant. Especially large are the elephants that live in the savannas - the so-called steppe elephants. They differ from forest ones in wider ears and powerful tusks. By the beginning of our century, the number of elephants had declined so much that there was a danger of their complete extinction. Thanks to the protection introduced everywhere and the creation of reserves, there are now even more elephants in Africa than there were a hundred years ago. They mainly live in reserves and, forced to feed in a limited area, quickly destroy the vegetation.

Blue wildebeest.

The fate of the black and white rhinoceroses was even more fearful. Their horns, which are valued four times more than ivory, have long been a coveted prey for poachers. Reserves have helped to preserve these animals.

Warthog

African buffaloes.

Black rhinoceros and lapwing.

There are many predators in the African savannas. Among them, the first place undoubtedly belongs to the lion. Lions usually live in groups - prides, which include both adult males and females, and growing youth. Responsibilities between members of the pride are distributed very clearly: lighter and more mobile lionesses provide food for the pride, and the territory is guarded by large and strong males. The prey of lions is zebras, wildebeest, kongoni, but on occasion lions willingly eat smaller animals and even carrion.

Leopard.

Cheetah.

Secretary bird feeding chick

Lions.

Horned raven.

Of the other predators of the savannah, the leopard and cheetah should be mentioned. These outwardly somewhat similar, but completely different in lifestyle, large cats have now become quite rare. The main prey of the cheetah is gazelles, while the leopard is a more versatile hunter: in addition to small antelopes, it successfully hunts African wild pigs - warthogs and especially baboons. When almost all leopards were exterminated in Africa, baboons and warthogs, having multiplied, became a real disaster for crops. Leopards had to be taken under guard.

Hyena with cubs.

Guinea fowl.

The picture of the animal world of the African savannah will be incomplete if termites are not mentioned (see the article “Public insects”). These insects are represented in Africa by dozens of species. They are one of the main consumers of plant residues. Termite buildings, which each species has its own special shape, are the most characteristic detail of the savannah landscape.

Marabou.

The fauna of the savannah has been developing for a long time as a single independent whole. Therefore, the degree of adaptation of the entire complex of animals to each other and each individual species to specific conditions is very high. Such adaptations include, first of all, a strict division according to the method of feeding and the composition of the main feed. The vegetation cover of the savannah can only feed a huge number of animals because some species use grass, others use young shoots of shrubs, others use bark, and others use buds and buds. Moreover, the same escapes different types animals are taken from different heights. Elephants and giraffes, for example, feed at treetop height, the giraffe gazelle and big kudu reach the shoots located one and a half to two meters from the ground, and the black rhinoceros, as a rule, breaks the shoots near the ground itself. The same division is observed in purely herbivorous animals: what the wildebeest likes does not attract the zebra at all, and the zebra, in turn, nibbles grass with pleasure, past which the gazelles pass indifferently.

African ostriches.

The second thing that makes the savanna highly productive is the great mobility of animals. Wild ungulates are almost constantly on the move, they never overgraze the way livestock do. Regular migrations, i.e. movements, of herbivorous animals of the African savanna, covering hundreds of kilometers, allow the vegetation to fully recover in a relatively short time. Not surprisingly, in recent years, the idea has arisen and strengthened that the rational, scientifically based exploitation of wild ungulates promises great prospects than traditional cattle breeding, primitive and unproductive. Now these questions are being intensively developed in a number of African countries.

Australia - the only continent where marsupials are preserved. In the photo: a marsupial koala bear.

The fauna of the African savannah is of great cultural and aesthetic importance. Untouched corners with pristine rich fauna literally attract hundreds of thousands of tourists. Each African reserve is a source of joy for many, many people.

In Australia, the oldest mammals of the monotreme order, the platypus and echidna, have also been preserved. Pictured: platypus.

The iguana from the Galapagos Islands is a harmless herbivorous lizard - it just looks so intimidating.

"Dragon from Komodo Island" - this is the name of this giant predatory lizard, reminiscent of extinct dinosaurs.

The fauna of the savannah is a unique phenomenon. In no corner of the Earth in the memory of mankind has there been such an abundance of large animals as in the African savannas. As early as the beginning of the XX century. countless herds of herbivores roamed the expanses of the savannas, moving from one pasture to another or in search of watering places. They were accompanied by numerous predators - lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs. Carrion eaters followed the predators - vultures, jackals.

The seasonally dry tropical regions of Africa, from light deciduous forests and light forests to low-growing spiny forests and the sparse Sahelian savanna, differ from evergreen forests, first of all, by the presence of a well-defined dry period unfavorable for animals. This determines the clear seasonal rhythm of most forms, synchronous with the rhythm of moisture and vegetation vegetation.

During the dry season, most animals stop breeding. Some groups, mainly invertebrates and amphibians, take shelter during drought and hibernate. Others store food (ants, rodents), migrate (locusts, butterflies, birds, elephants and ungulates, predatory beasts) or they are concentrated on small areas - stations of experience (surroundings of water bodies, drying up channels with closely spaced groundwater, etc.).

Animals appear in large numbers, constructing solid shelters. Strong cone-shaped termite mounds are striking, which are more than 2 m high. The walls of these structures seem to be made of cement or baked clay, and they can hardly be broken through with a crowbar or a pickaxe. The above-ground dome protects the numerous chambers and passages below, both from drying out in hot season, and from showers during wet times. Termite passages in depth reach aquifers of the soil; during a drought, a favorable moisture regime is maintained in the termite mound. Here the soil is enriched with nitrogen and ash elements of plant nutrition. Therefore, trees often regenerate on destroyed and near residential termite mounds. Of vertebrates, a number of rodents and even predators build burrows, ground and tree nests. The abundance of bulbs, rhizomes and seeds of grasses and trees allows them to harvest these feeds for future use.

The tiered structure of the animal population, characteristic of evergreen forests, in seasonally dry forests, light forests, and especially in savannahs, is somewhat simplified due to a decrease in the proportion of tree forms and an increase in those living on the surface and in the grass layer. However, the significant heterogeneity of vegetation, caused by a mosaic of tree, shrub and herbaceous phytocenoses, causes a corresponding heterogeneity of the animal population. But the latter is dynamic. Most animals are alternately associated with one or another plant group. Moreover, movements are not only on the scale of seasons, but even within a day. They cover not only herds of large animals and flocks of birds, but also small animals: mollusks, insects, amphibians and reptiles.

In the savannas, with their huge food resources, there are many herbivores, especially antelopes, of which there are more than 40 species. Until now, in some places there are herds of the largest wildebeests with a large mane, a powerful tail and horns bent down; Kudu antelopes with beautiful helical horns, elands, etc. are also common. There are also dwarf antelopes, reaching a little more than half a meter in length.

Remarkable are the animals of the African savannas and semi-deserts saved from extinction - giraffes, they are preserved mainly in national parks. The long neck helps them to get and gnaw young shoots and leaves from trees, and the ability to run fast is the only means of protection from pursuers.

In many areas, especially in the east of the continent and south of the equator, African wild zebra horses are common in the savannas and steppes. They are hunted mainly for their strong and beautiful hides. In some places, domesticated zebras are replacing horses, as they are not susceptible to tsetse bites.

Until now, African elephants have been preserved - the most remarkable representatives of the fauna of the Ethiopian region. They have long been exterminated for their valuable tusks, and in many areas they have completely disappeared. Elephant hunting is currently banned throughout Africa, but this ban is often violated by ivory poachers. Elephants are now found in the least populated mountainous areas especially in the Ethiopian highlands.

In addition, they live in national parks Eastern and Southern Africa, where their population is even increasing. But still existence African elephant how species in recent decades, it has come under a real threat, which can only be prevented by active joint activities of national and international organizations. Among the endangered animals are rhinos that lived in the eastern and southern parts of the mainland. African rhinos have two horns and are represented by two species - black and white rhinoceros. The latter is the largest of modern species and reaches a length of 4 m. Now it has been preserved only in protected areas.

Hippos are much more widespread, living along the banks of rivers and lakes in different parts of Africa. These animals, as well as wild pigs, are exterminated for their edible meat and also for their skin.

Herbivores serve as food for numerous predators. In the savannas and semi-deserts of Africa, lions are found, represented by two varieties: the Barbary, living north of the equator, and the Senegal, common in the southern part of the mainland. Lions prefer open spaces and almost never enter forests. Hyenas, jackals, leopards, cheetahs, caracals, servals are common. There are several members of the civet family. In the plain and mountain steppes and savannahs there are many monkeys belonging to the group of baboons: real Raigo baboons, geladas, mandrills. Of the thin-bodied monkeys, Gverets are characteristic. Many of their species live only in a cool mountain climate, as they do not tolerate the high temperatures of the lowlands.

Among rodents, mice and several types of squirrels should be noted.

Birds are numerous in the savannas: African ostriches, guinea fowls, marabou, weavers, a very interesting secretary bird that feeds on snakes. Lapwings, herons, pelicans nest near water bodies.

There are no less reptiles than in the northern deserts, often they are represented by the same genera and even species. Many different lizards and snakes, land turtles. Some types of chameleons are also characteristic. There are crocodiles in the rivers.

The great mobility of animals makes the savannah highly productive. Wild ungulates are almost constantly on the move, they never overgraze the way livestock do. Regular migrations, i.e. movements, of herbivorous animals of the African savanna, covering hundreds of kilometers, allow the vegetation to fully recover in a relatively short time. Not surprisingly, in recent years, the idea has arisen and strengthened that the rational, scientifically based exploitation of wild ungulates promises greater prospects than traditional pastoralism, primitive and unproductive. Now these questions are being intensively developed in a number of African countries.

Thus, the fauna of the savannah for a long time developed as a single independent whole. Therefore, the degree of adaptation of the entire complex of animals to each other and each individual species to specific conditions is very high. Such adaptations include, first of all, a strict division according to the method of feeding and the composition of the main feed. The vegetation cover of the savannah can only feed a huge number of animals because some species use grass, others use young shoots of shrubs, others use bark, and others use buds and buds. Moreover, different types of animals take the same shoots from different heights. Elephants and giraffes, for example, feed at the height of the tree crown, the giraffe gazelle and the large kudu reach the shoots located one and a half to two meters from the ground, and the black rhinoceros, as a rule, breaks the shoots near the ground. The same division is observed in purely herbivorous animals: what the wildebeest likes does not attract the zebra at all, and the zebra, in turn, nibbles grass with pleasure, past which the gazelles pass indifferently.

Introduction

Today, grassy plains occupy a quarter of all land. They have many different names: steppes - in Asia, llanos - in the Orinoco basin, veld - in Central Africa, savanna - in the eastern part African continent. All these areas are very fertile. Individual plants live up to several years, and when they die, they turn into humus. Leguminous plants, vetch, daisies and small flowers hide among the tall grasses.

The name "grass" combines a wide variety of plants. This family is perhaps the largest in the entire plant kingdom, it includes more than ten thousand species. Herbs are the product of a long evolution; they are able to survive fires, droughts, floods, so they only need an abundance of sunlight. Their flowers, small and inconspicuous, are collected in small inflorescences at the top of the stem and are pollinated by the wind, requiring no services from birds, bats or insects.

Savannah is a community of tall grasses and woodlands with low to medium sized, fire resistant trees. It is the result of the interaction of two factors, namely soil and rainfall.

The significance of the savanna lies in the conservation of rare species of animals and plants. Therefore, the study of the African savannas is relevant.

The object of study is the African savannas

The subject of the research is the study of the natural features of the African savannas.

This term paper is a comprehensive study of the types of African savannas.

The main tasks of the work are the following:

1.Consider the geographical location of the African savannas.

2.study animals and vegetable world savannah

.Consider the features of different types of African savannas.

.Consider modern environmental problems and ways to solve them in the savannas.

Chapter I. general characteristics African savannah

.1 Geographical location and climatic features of the African savannas

Savannah is a zonal type of landscape in tropical and subequatorial belts, where the change of the wet and dry seasons is clearly expressed at consistently high air temperatures (15-32°C). As you move away from the equator, the period of the wet season decreases from 8-9 months to 2-3, and precipitation - from 2000 to 250 mm per year. The violent development of plants in the rainy season is replaced by droughts of the dry period with a slowdown in the growth of trees, grass burning out. As a result, a combination of tropical and subtropical drought-resistant xerophytic vegetation is characteristic. Some plants are able to store moisture in the trunks (baobab, bottle tree). The grasses are dominated by high grasses up to 3-5 m, among them are rarely growing shrubs and single trees, the occurrence of which increases towards the equator as the wet season lengthens to light forests.

Vast spaces of these amazing natural communities are found in Africa, although there are savannahs in South America, Australia, and India. The savannah is the most widespread and most characteristic landscape in Africa. The savannah zone surrounds the Central African rainforest with a wide belt. in the north with tropical forest the Guinean-Sudanese savannas border, stretching in a strip 400-500 km wide for almost 5000 km from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, interrupted only by the White Nile valley. From the Tana River, savannas in a belt up to 200 km wide descend south to the valley of the Zambezi River. Then the savannah belt turns to the west and, now narrowing, now expanding, extends for 2500 km from the shores of the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic coast.

The forests in the frontier strip are gradually thinned out, their composition becomes poorer, patches of savannas appear among the massifs of continuous forest. Gradually, the tropical rainforest is limited only to river valleys, and on the watersheds they are replaced by forests shedding leaves for the dry season, or savannahs. Vegetation change occurs as a result of a shortening of the wet period and the appearance of a dry season, which becomes longer and longer with distance from the equator.

The savannah zone from northern Kenya to the sea coast of Angola is the largest plant community on our planet in terms of area, occupying at least 800 thousand km 2. If we add another 250 thousand km2 of the Guinean-Sudanese savannah, it turns out that more than a million square kilometers of the Earth's surface is occupied by a special natural complex - the African savannah.

A distinctive feature of the savannas is the alternation of arid and wet seasons, which take about six months, replacing each other. The fact is that for the subtropical and tropical latitudes, where the savannahs are located, the change of two different air masses is characteristic - humid equatorial and dry tropical. Significantly affect the climate of the savannas monsoon winds bringing seasonal rains. Since these landscapes are located between the very humid natural zones of the equatorial forests and the very dry zones of the deserts, they are constantly influenced by both. But moisture is not long enough present in the savannahs for multi-tiered forests to grow there, and dry "winter periods" of 2-3 months do not allow the savannah to turn into a harsh desert.

The annual rhythm of the life of the savannas is associated with climatic conditions. During the wet period, the riot of grassy vegetation reaches its maximum - the entire space occupied by savannahs turns into a living carpet of herbs. The picture is violated only by thickly low trees - acacias and baobabs in Africa, fan palm trees of Ravenal in Madagascar, cacti in South America, and in Australia - bottle trees and eucalyptus trees. The soils of the savannas are fertile. During the rainy period, when the equatorial air mass, and the earth and plants receive enough moisture to feed the numerous animals that live here.

But now the monsoon leaves, and dry tropical air takes its place. Now the time for testing begins. Grasses grown to human height are dried up, trampled down by numerous animals moving from place to place in search of water. Grasses and shrubs are very susceptible to fire, which often burns large areas. This is also “helped” by the indigenous people who make a living by hunting: by specially setting fire to the grass, they drive their prey in the direction they need. People did this for many centuries and greatly contributed to the fact that the vegetation of the savannas acquired modern features: an abundance of fire-resistant trees with thick bark, like baobabs, a wide distribution of plants with a powerful root system.

The dense and high grass cover provides abundant food for the largest animals, such as elephants, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, zebras, antelopes, which in turn attract such large predators as lions, hyenas and others. The savannas are home to the most big birds- ostrich in Africa and South American condor.

Thus, the Savannahs in Africa occupy 40% of the continent. The savannas frame the forested areas of Equatorial Africa and extend through the Sudan, East and South Africa beyond the southern tropic. Depending on the duration of the rainy season and the annual amount of precipitation, tall grass, typical (dry) and desert savannas are distinguished in them.

In savannah areas:

the duration of the rainy period ranges from 8-9 months at the equatorial borders of the zones to 2-3 months at the outer borders;

the water content of rivers fluctuates sharply; in the rainy season, there is a significant solid runoff, slope and planar runoff.

parallel to the decrease in annual precipitation, the vegetation cover changes from tall grass savannas and savanna forests on red soils to desert savannas, xerophilic light forests and shrubs on brown-red and red-brown soils.

savannah africa climatic geographic

1.2 Flora of the savannas

An abundance of tall grasses gilded by the sun, rare trees and shrubs, found more or less depending on the area - such is the savanna that occupies most of sub-Saharan Africa.

The savannah zones are quite extensive, therefore, on their southern and northern borders, the vegetation is somewhat different. The savannahs bordering the desert zone in the north of the zone in Africa are rich in drought-resistant short grasses, spurges, aloes and acacias with highly branched roots. To the south, they are replaced by moisture-loving plants, and along the banks of the rivers, gallery forests with evergreen shrubs and lianas, similar to humid equatorial forests, enter the savanna zone. In the rift valley of East Africa, the largest lakes of the mainland are located - Victoria, Nyasa, Rudolf and Albert lakes, Tanganyika. Savannahs on their banks alternate with wetlands where papyrus and reeds grow.

The African savannas are home to many famous nature reserves and national parks. One of the most famous is the Serengeti, located in Tanzania. Part of its territory is occupied by the crater highlands - a well-known plateau with ancient craters of extinct volcanoes, one of which, Ngorongoro, has an area of about 800 thousand hectares.

The vegetation of the savannah corresponds to the hot, with long dry periods, the climate that prevails in tropical places. Because the savannah is common in different parts of the world, including South America and Australia. But it occupies the most extensive territories, of course, in Africa, where it is represented in all its diversity.

The general appearance of the savannahs is different, which depends, on the one hand, on the height of the vegetation cover, and on the other hand, on the relative amount of cereals, other perennial grasses, semi-shrubs, shrubs and trees. The herbaceous cover is sometimes very low, even pressed to the ground.

A special form of savannas is the so-called llanos, where trees are either completely absent or are found in a limited number, with the exception of only damp places where palm trees (Mauritia flexuosa, Corypha inermis) and other plants form entire forests (however, these forests do not belong to savannahs). ); in llanos there are sometimes single specimens of Rhopala (trees from the Proteaceae family) and other trees; sometimes the cereals in them form a cover as tall as a man; Compositae, leguminous, labiate, etc. grow between cereals. Many llanos in the rainy season are flooded by the floods of the Orinoco River.

The vegetation of the savannas is generally adapted to a dry continental climate and to periodic droughts, which occur in many savannas for whole months. Cereals and other grasses rarely form creeping shoots, but usually grow in tufts. The leaves of cereals are narrow, dry, hard, hairy or covered with a waxy coating. In grasses and sedges, young leaves remain rolled up into a tube. In trees, the leaves are small, hairy, shiny ("varnished") or covered with a waxy coating. The vegetation of the savannas generally has a pronounced xerophytic character. Many species contain a large number of essential oils, especially species of the verbena, labiaceae and myrtle families of the flaming continent. The growth of some perennial grasses, semi-shrubs (and shrubs) is especially peculiar, namely, that the main part of them, located in the ground (probably, the stem and roots), grows strongly into an irregular tuberous woody body, from which then numerous, mostly unbranched or weakly branched, offspring. In the dry season, the vegetation of the savannas freezes; savannahs turn yellow, and dried plants are often subjected to fires, due to which the bark of trees is usually scorched. With the onset of rains, the savannahs come to life, covered with fresh greenery and dotted with numerous different flowers.

In the south, on the border with the equatorial tropical forests, a transitional zone begins - the forest savannah. There are not very many herbs, the trees grow densely, but they are small. Then comes the sparsely forested savanna - vast expanses overgrown with tall grasses, with groves or separately standing trees. Baobab dominates here, as well as palm, spurge and various types of acacia. Gradually, trees and shrubs become more and more rare, and grasses, especially giant cereals, thicken.

And finally, near the deserts (Sahara, Kalahari), the savannah gives way to the withered steppe, where only tufts of dry grass and stunted thorny bushes grow.

.3 Savannah wildlife

The fauna of the savannah is a unique phenomenon. In no corner of the Earth in the memory of mankind has there been such an abundance of large animals as in the African savannas. As early as the beginning of the XX century. countless herds of herbivores roamed the expanses of the savannas, moving from one pasture to another or in search of watering places. They were accompanied by numerous predators - lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs. Carrion eaters followed the predators - vultures, jackals.

During the dry season, most animals stop breeding. Some groups, mainly invertebrates and amphibians, take shelter during drought and hibernate. Others store food (ants, rodents), migrate (locusts, butterflies, birds, elephants and ungulates, predatory animals) or concentrate on small areas - survival stations (surroundings of water bodies, drying up channels with closely spaced groundwater, etc.). P.).

Animals appear in large numbers, constructing solid shelters. Strong cone-shaped termite mounds are striking, which are more than 2 m high. The walls of these structures seem to be made of cement or baked clay, and they can hardly be broken through with a crowbar or a pickaxe. The above-ground dome protects the numerous chambers and passages below from both dryness in the hot season and showers during the wet season. Termite passages in depth reach aquifers of the soil; during a drought, a favorable moisture regime is maintained in the termite mound. Here the soil is enriched with nitrogen and ash elements of plant nutrition. Therefore, trees often regenerate on destroyed and near residential termite mounds. Of vertebrates, a number of rodents and even predators build burrows, ground and tree nests. The abundance of bulbs, rhizomes and seeds of grasses and trees allows them to harvest these feeds for future use.

Until now, African elephants have been preserved - the most remarkable representatives of the fauna of the Ethiopian region. They have long been exterminated for their valuable tusks, and in many areas they have completely disappeared. Elephant hunting is currently banned throughout Africa, but this ban is often violated by ivory poachers. Now elephants are found in the least populated mountainous areas, in particular in the Ethiopian highlands.

In addition, they live in the national parks of East and South Africa, where their population is even increasing. But still, the existence of the African elephant as a biological species in recent decades has been under a real threat, which can only be prevented by the active joint activities of national and international organizations. Among the endangered animals are rhinos that lived in the eastern and southern parts of the mainland. African rhinos have two horns and are represented by two species - black and white rhinoceros. The latter is the largest of modern species and reaches a length of 4 m. Now it has been preserved only in protected areas.

Among rodents, mice and several types of squirrels should be noted.

Birds are numerous in the savannas: African ostriches, guinea fowls, marabou, weavers, a very interesting secretary bird that feeds on snakes. Lapwings, herons, pelicans nest near water bodies.

Chapter II. Features of the types of African savannas

.1 Tall grasses wet savannas

Tall grass savannas are various combinations of grassy vegetation with forest islands or individual tree specimens. The soils that form beneath these landscapes are referred to as red or ferralitic soils of seasonal rainforests and tall grass savannahs.

Tall grass savannas are wet. They grow very tall cereals, including elephant grass, which reaches 3 m in height. Among these savannahs are scattered arrays of park forests, gallery forests stretch along the riverbeds.

Tall grass savannas occupy an area where the annual precipitation is 800-1200 mm, and the dry season lasts 3-4 months, they have a dense cover of tall grasses (elephant grass up to 5 m), groves and massifs of mixed or deciduous forests on watersheds, gallery evergreen ground moisture forests in the valleys. They can be called a transition zone from forest vegetation to a typical savannah. Among the continuous cover of high (up to 2-3 m) grasses, trees (as a rule, deciduous species) rise. The tall grass savannah is characterized by baobabs, acacias, and terminalia. Red lateritic soils are most common here.

There is an opinion that the wide distribution of moist tall-grass savannahs, replacing deciduous-evergreen forests, is associated with human activity, which burned vegetation during the dry season. The disappearance of the dense tree layer contributed to the emergence of countless herds of ungulates, resulting in the renewal woody vegetation became impossible.

The Sahelian savannas and, to a lesser extent, the spiny forests of Somalia and the Kalahari are faunistically depleted. Many of the animals that are close or common with the forest disappear here.

2.2 Typical grass savannas

From the border of the hylae, the zone of cereal savannah begins. Typical (or dry) savannas are replaced by tall grasses in areas where the rainy season lasts no more than 6 months. The grasses in such savannahs are still very dense, but not very tall (up to 1 m). Grassy spaces alternate with light forests or separate groups of trees, among which numerous acacias and giant baobabs, or monkey bread trees, are especially typical.

Typical grass savannahs are developed in areas with an annual rainfall of 750-1000 mm and a dry period of 3 to 5 months. IN typical savannas ah continuous grass cover no higher than 1 m (species of the bearded vulture, temedy, etc.), palm trees (fan, hyphena), baobabs, acacias are characteristic of tree species, in East and South Africa - euphorbia. Most of the wet and typical savannas are of secondary origin. In Africa, north of the equator, the savannahs extend in a wide strip from the Atlantic coast to the Ethiopian highlands, while south of the equator they occupy the north of Angola. The height of wild-growing cereals reaches 1-1.5 m, and they are mainly represented by hyperrhenium and bearded vultures.

A typical grass savanna is a space entirely covered with tall grasses, dominated by grasses, with sparse individual trees, shrubs or groups of trees. Most of the plants have a hydrophytic character due to the fact that during the rainy season the air humidity in the savannas resembles a tropical forest. However, plants of a xerophytic character also appear, adapting to the transfer of a dry triode. Unlike hydrophytes, they have smaller leaves and other adaptations to reduce evaporation.

During the dry period, the grasses burn out, some types of trees drop their leaves, although others lose it only shortly before the new one appears; savanna becomes yellow; dried grass is annually burned to fertilize the soil. The damage that these fires bring to vegetation is very great, since it disrupts the normal winter dormancy cycle of plants, but at the same time it also causes their vital activity: after a fire, young grass quickly appears. When the rainy season comes, cereals and other herbs grow amazingly quickly, and the trees are covered with leaves. In the grass savanna, the grass cover reaches heights of 2-3 m. , and in low places 5 m .

Of the cereals here are typical: elephant grass, species of Andropogon, etc., with long, wide, hairy leaves of a xerophytic appearance. Of the trees, the oil palm 8-12 m should be noted. heights, pandanus, oil tree, Bauhinia reticulata - evergreen tree with broad leaves. Baobab and various types of doum palm are often found. Along the river valleys stretch several kilometers wide gallery forests resembling giley, with many palm trees.

Cereal savannas are gradually replaced by acacia. They are characterized by a continuous cover of grasses of lower height - from 1 to 1.5 m. ; of the trees they are dominated by various types of acacias with a dense umbrella-shaped crown, for example, species: Acacia albida, A. arabica, A. giraffae, etc. In addition to acacias, one of the characteristic trees in such savannahs is the baobab, or monkey breadfruit, reaching min diameter and 25 m height, containing a significant amount of water loose fleshy trunk.

In the cereal savanna, where the rainy season lasts 8-9 months, cereals grow 2-3 m high, and sometimes up to 5 m: elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), bearded vulture with long hairy leaves, etc. Individual trees rise among the continuous sea of grasses : baobabs (Adansonia digitata), doom palms (Hyphaene thebaica), oil palms.

To the north of the equator, the cereal savannahs reach approximately 12°N. In the southern hemisphere, the zone of savannas and light forests is much wider, especially off the coast of the Indian Ocean, where it extends in places to the tropic. The difference in moisture conditions in the northern and southern parts of the zone suggests that mesophilic deciduous forests grew in the more humid northern regions, while xerophytic light forests with a predominance of representatives of the legume family (Brachystegia, Isoberlinia) occupied only the southern regions of their modern distribution. To the south of the equator, this plant formation was called the "miombo" woodlands. The expansion of its range can be explained by resistance to fires, high rate of renewal. In eastern South Africa, woodlands occur in combination with other types of vegetation well south of the tropic.

Under grass savannahs and light forests, special types of soils are formed - red soils under savannahs and red-brown soils under forests.

In drier areas, where the rainless period lasts from five to three months, dry spiny semi-savannahs predominate. Most of the year the trees and shrubs in these areas stand without leaves; low grasses (Aristida, Panicum) often do not form a continuous cover; among cereals grow low up to 4 m heights, thorny trees (Acacia, Terminalia, etc.)

This community is also called the steppe by many researchers. This term is widely used in the literature on the vegetation of Africa, but does not fully correspond to the understanding of our term "steppe".

Dry thorny semi-savannahs are replaced with the distance from the acacia savannahs to the so-called thorny-shrub savannah. It reaches 18-19 ° S. sh., occupying most of the Kalahari.

2.3 Desert savannas

In areas with a wet period of 2-3 months. typical savannahs turn into thickets of thorny bushes and hard grasses with sparse turf. As the wet period is reduced to 3-5 months. and a general decrease in precipitation, the grass cover becomes more sparse and stunted, various acacias predominate in the composition of tree species, low, with a peculiar flat crown. Such plant communities, called desert savannas, form a relatively narrow band in the northern hemisphere north of the typical savannas. This strip expands from west to east in the direction of decreasing annual precipitation.

In the deserted savannahs, scanty rains are rare and occur only for 2-3 months. The strip of these savannahs, stretching from the coast of Mauritania to Somalia, is expanding to the east of the African continent, also this natural area covers the Kalahari Basin. The vegetation here is represented by turf grasses, as well as thorny shrubs and low leafless trees. In typical and deserted savannas, tropical red-brown soils are developed, not rich in humus, but with powerful alluvial horizons. In places of development of basic rocks and lava covers - in the southeast of Sudan, in Mozambique, Tanzania and the Shari River basin - significant areas are occupied by black tropical soils related to chernozems.

Under such conditions, instead of a continuous herbaceous cover, only turf grasses and leafless and thorny shrubs remain. The belt of semi-deserts or deserted savannahs on the Sudanese plains is called "sahel", which in Arabic means "shore" or "edge". This is really the outskirts of green Africa, beyond which the Sahara begins.

In the east of the mainland, desert savannahs occupy especially large areas, covering the Somali peninsula and extending to the equator and south of it.

Deserted savannahs are typical for areas with an annual rainfall of no more than 500 mm and a dry period of 5 to 8 months. Deserted savannahs have a sparse grass cover, thickets of thorny bushes (mainly acacias) are widespread in them.

Despite a number of common features, savannahs are distinguished by considerable diversity, which makes it very difficult to separate them. There is a point of view that most of the savannahs of Africa arose on the site of exterminated forests and only deserted savannahs can be considered natural.

Chapter III. Ecological problems of African savannas

.1 Human role in the savannah ecosystem

Among biocenoses of dry land, the steppes produce the largest biomass of animals per unit of surface, therefore, from time immemorial, they have attracted a person who lived mainly by hunting. This upright primate was created by nature itself to live in the steppes, and it was here that in the struggle for food and shelter, escaping from enemies, he turned into a rational being. However, improving, man increasingly complicated his weapons and invented new methods of hunting herbivores and predatory animals, which played a fatal role for many of them.

Whether ancient man was already involved in the extermination of a number of animal species is a moot point. In this regard, there are various, very conflicting opinions. Some scientists believe that many inhabitants of the African savannahs and steppes were already destroyed in the early Paleolithic, characterized by the use of a hand ax (the so-called Acheulean culture). According to supporters of this opinion, the same thing happened in North America when, about 40 thousand years ago, man first entered this continent through the Bering Bridge. In the end ice age 26 African genera and 35 North American genera disappeared from the face of the Earth large mammals.

Proponents of the opposite point of view insist that ancient man, with his still extremely imperfect weapons, cannot be considered guilty of their destruction. Mammals that went extinct at the end of the Ice Age are likely to have been victims of global changes climate, affecting the vegetation that served them as food, or on their prey.

It has been established that when, much later, well-armed people appeared in Madagascar, whose animal world did not know natural enemies, which led to very unfortunate consequences. In Madagascar, in a relatively short period of time, at least 14 species of large lemurs, 4 species of giant ostriches were exterminated, and, in all likelihood, the same fate befell the aardvark and pygmy hippopotamus.

However, it was only when the white man applied firearms, this led to a catastrophic imbalance between him and the world of large animals. By now, in all corners of the Earth, man has almost completely destroyed the large animals of the savannas, turning the once endless grassy plains into arable land or pastures for livestock.

The destruction of the original vegetation led to the disappearance of many small and medium-sized animals. Only in national parks and other protected areas are the remains of a unique community of living creatures that have been formed over millions of years. The man-hunter destroyed his steppe ancestral home and many animals generated by the amazing savannah ecosystem.

A hundred years ago, Africa was represented as a continent of untouched nature. However, even then, nature was significantly changed by human economic activity. At the beginning of the 21st century, the environmental problems that arose during the predatory campaigns of European colonialists escalated.

Evergreen forests have been cut down for centuries for redwoods. They were also uprooted and burned for fields and pastures. Burning of plants in slash-and-burn agriculture leads to a violation of the natural vegetation cover and deterioration of the soil. Its rapid depletion forced to leave cultivated land after 2-3 years. Now almost 70% of Africa's forests have been destroyed, and their remains continue to disappear rapidly. In place of forests, plantations of cocoa, oil palm, bananas, and peanuts arose. Deforestation leads to many negative consequences: an increase in the number of floods, increased droughts, the occurrence of landslides, and a decrease in soil fertility. Reproduction of forests is very slow.

The nature of the savannas has also been significantly changed. Huge areas are plowed up there, pastures. Due to overgrazing of cattle, sheep and camels, cutting down trees and shrubs, the savannas are increasingly turning into deserts. Especially Negative consequences such use of land in the north, where the savannah turns into desert. The expansion of desert areas is called desertification.

Aerospace images taken from artificial Earth satellites have convincingly shown that in the last half century alone, the Sahara has moved south by 200 km. and increased its area by thousands of square kilometers.

Protective forest belts are planted on the border with deserts, cattle grazing is limited in areas with sparse vegetation, and dry areas are watered. Big changes natural complexes occurred as a result of mining.

The long colonial past and the irrational use of natural resources have led to a serious imbalance between the components of natural complexes. Therefore, in many countries of Africa, the problems of nature protection have become acute.

3.2 Economic role of savannas

Savannahs play a very important role in economic life person. According to climatic and soil conditions, the savannas are favorable for tropical agriculture. At present, significant areas of savannas have been cleared and plowed up. Significant areas are plowed up here, cereals, cotton, peanuts, jute, sugar cane and others are grown. Animal husbandry is developed in drier places. Some species of trees growing in savannahs are used by humans for their own purposes. So, teak wood gives solid valuable wood that does not rot in water.

At present, it can be said with full confidence that a significant part of the wet and dry savannahs of Africa arose as a result of human activity on the site of mixed forests, almost extinct deciduous forests and light forests. Since man learned how to make fire, he began to use it for hunting, and later for clearing thickets for arable land and pastures. For millennia, farmers and pastoralists set fire to the savannah before the start of the rainy season to fertilize the soil with ash. Arable land, which quickly lost fertility, was abandoned after several years of use, and new areas were prepared for crops. In pasture areas, vegetation suffered not only from burning, but also from trampling, especially if the number of livestock exceeded the fodder "capacity" of pasture lands. The fire destroyed most of the trees. Preserved mainly only a few adapted to the fires tree species, the so-called "fire-loving", the trunk of which is protected by a thick bark, charred only from the surface.

Plants that reproduce by root shoots or have seeds with a thick shell have also survived. Among the fire-lovers are thick-bodied giant baobabs, the shea tree, or karite, called the oil tree, since its fruits give edible oil, etc.

The fencing of private properties, the construction of roads, steppe fires, the opening of large areas and the expansion of cattle breeding aggravated the plight of wild animals. Finally, the Europeans, unsuccessfully trying to fight the tsetse fly, staged a grandiose massacre, and more than 300 thousand elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeest and other antelopes were shot from rifles and machine guns from vehicles. Many animals also died from the plague brought with cattle.

3.3 Conservation action to protect the African Savannahs

Once virgin forests are being developed by man and gradually uprooted to clear land, or cut down for the purpose of harvesting building materials. Further, the soil, which is no longer reinforced by plant roots and protected by tree crowns, is washed away during tropical rains, and the natural landscape, rich in the recent past, becomes impoverished, transforming into a barren desert.

Often the interests of the wild inhabitants of Africa run counter to the needs of the local population, which makes the protection of wildlife in Africa complicated. In addition, environmental protection measures are also more expensive, and not every country's government can afford to finance them.

However, some African states are concerned about the state of wild flora and fauna on their territory, so nature protection is given increased attention. Wild animals are protected in the national parks of such countries, water bodies are to be cleaned for fish breeding, and comprehensive measures are being taken to restore forests.

The governments of the newly independent states of Africa, which have thrown off the yoke of colonialism, have strengthened and expanded the network of such reserves - the last refuges for wild animals. Only there can one still admire the view of the primeval savannah. For this purpose, protected areas are being established - nature reserves and national parks. They protect the components of natural complexes (plants, animals, rocks etc.) and is being research. Reserves have a strict environmental regime, and tourists who are required to comply with established rules can visit national parks.

In Africa, protected areas are large areas. They are arranged in various natural complexes - in the mountains, on the plains, in humid evergreen forests, savannahs, deserts, on volcanoes. Serengeti, Kruger, Rwenzori national parks are world-wide.

Serengeti National Natural Park- One of the largest and most famous in the world. Translated from the Maasai language, its name means boundless plain. The park is located in East Africa. It is called the African paradise for animals. Thousand herds of large ungulates live in its open spaces ( various kinds antelopes, zebras) and predators (lions, cheetahs, hyenas), which have been preserved intact as they have been since time immemorial.

Kruger National Park- One of the oldest on the mainland. It originated in southern Africa as early as 1898. Buffaloes, elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, various antelopes, marabou, secretary birds reign supreme in this region of the savannah. Each type of animal has thousands of individuals. By their diversity, the park is often compared to Noah's Ark.

Ngorongoro National Parklocated in the crater of an extinct volcano. Buffaloes, rhinos, antelopes, giraffes, hippos, and various birds are protected there.

At Rwenzori parkchimpanzees and gorillas are protected.

The creation of nature reserves and national parks contributes to the conservation of rare plants, unique wildlife and individual natural complexes of Africa. Thanks to protective measures, the number of many species of animals that were on the verge of extinction has been restored. The world's largest diversity of species makes Africa a real paradise for ecotourists.

Conclusion

The African savannas are the Africa of our imagination. Huge expanses of the earth, unusually amazing fauna, the greatest herds on the planet. And everything seems to exist here outside of time.

Savannah is incredibly changeable, fickle. A dense forest may appear in this place in a few years. But there may be another development of events: all the trees will disappear, only grass will remain.

Savannah life is subject to the weather, which is very capricious here. Every year there is a dry, hot season. But no year is like the previous one.

The significance of the savannas is enormous. This is, first of all, the biological value of the community as a habitat for many species of animals and plants, including those that are endangered. Also, savannahs, after the forest zone, give the highest yield of plant products.

Sadly, African wildlife was once even more diverse. Currently, unfortunately, part of the species of wild flora and fauna is completely destroyed, and some more are under the threat of extermination.

A great misfortune for the inhabitants of the African savannahs are hunters who harass commercial species of animals under the root. But no less problem was the advance of civilization on the original places natural habitat representatives wildlife Africa. The traditional routes of migration of wild animals turn out to be blocked by roads, and new human settlements appear in places of wild thickets.

Now humanity understands the need to protect nature on Earth - it can be hoped that in the near future the wildlife of Africa will not only not suffer even more from human activity, but will also, to some extent, restore its impoverished flora and fauna, returning to it its former splendor and diversity. .

List of sources

1. Boris Znachnov Radio Africa / Around the World No. 4, 2008 S. 84-92

Boris Zhukov Eden at the bottom of the boiler / Vokrug Sveta No. 11, 2010 P. 96-101

Vlasova T.V. Physical geography of continents and oceans: a textbook for students. higher ped. textbook institutions / T.V. Vlasova, M.A. Arshinova, T.A. Kovalev. - M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2007. - 487p.

Vladimir Korachantsev. Moscow. Armada-press, Africa-land of paradoxes (Green series 2001. Around the world), 2001- 413s.

Gusarov V.I. Aggravation environmental issues Africa /Kraєznavstvo. Geography. Tourism №29-32, 2007 pp. 7-11

Kryazhimskaya N.B. Planet Earth. Equatorial and subequatorial belt M., 2001 - 368 p.

Mikhailov N.I. Physical-geographical zoning. M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1985.

Nikolai Balandinsky The Pearl of Tanzania / Around the World No. 12, 2008 p118-129

Yurkivsky V. M. The land of the world: Dovid. - K .: Libid, 1999.

Http://ecology-portal.ru/publ/stati-raznoy-tematiki/geografiya/501524-afrikanskie-savanny.html

http://www.ecosystema.ru/07referats/slovgeo/740.htm

http://www.glossary.ru/cgi-bin/gl_sch2.cgi?RRgigttui:l!nut:

http://divmir.ru/etot-udivitelniy-mir/savannyi-afriki

http://zemlj.ru/savanny.html

http://www.poznaymir.com/2010/02/21/afrikanskaya-savanna-i-pustyni.html

Http://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/Earth_sciences/geologiya/TIPI_POCHV.html?page=0.11

http://geography.kz/slovar/natural-zony-afriki/

http://africs.narod.ru/nature/savannah_rus.html

Tutoring

Need help learning a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Submit an application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.