Threatened tropical grassland habitats

Name(s): 
Threatened habitats of subtropical grasslands
Nature 
***.
Background 
Tropical savanna habitat is largely dominated by grasslands but with shrubland, woodland and gallery forest elements. Savannas of one sort or another also cover almost half the surface of Africa (about five million square miles, generally of central Africa) and large areas of Australia, South America, India the Myanmar-Thailand region, and Madagascar. These are warm or hot climates, subtropical to tropical, where the annual rainfall is from about 500 to 1300 mm per year. It is crucial that the rainfall is concentrated in six or eight months of the year, followed by a long period of drought when fires can occur.

In northern South America, savanna areas with waterlogged soil are known as [llanos]. Savanna vegetation in South Africa is sometimes known as [bushveld], or [veld]. African savanna grasses are either high grasses (1.5 to 4.5 m tall) or shortgrasses (30 cm tall). The trees in African savanna are usually thorny and small-leaved; many are species of [Acacia]. Groups of trees such as palms or cactuslike [Euphorbia] species and single trees such as baobabs are also common.

Value(s) 
Type 
(E) Emanations of other problems