Where is it Usually Located? Tropical Wet/Dry is found near the equator, usually on the outer edges of Tropical Wet climate areas. The largest areas of Tropical Wet/Dry are found in Africa, Brazil, and India.

Tropical wet-dry climate, major climate type of the Köppen classification characterized by distinct wet and dry seasons, with most of the precipitation occurring in the high-sun (“summer”) season. The tropical wet-dry climate is abbreviated Aw in the Köppen-Geiger-Pohl system.

Climate: A tropical wet and dry climate predominates in areas covered by savanna growth. Mean monthly temperatures are at or above 64° F and annual precipitation averages between 30 and 50 inches. For at least five months of the year, during the dry season, less than 4 inches a month are received.

Tropical savanna climates are most commonly found in Africa, Asia and South America. The climate is also prevalent in sections of Central America, northern Australia, the Pacific Islands, in sections of North America and some islands in the Caribbean.

The savanna is home to many large land mammals, including elephants, giraffes, zebras, rhinoceroses, buffalo, lions, leopards, and cheetahs. Other animals include baboons, crocodiles, antelopes, meerkats, ants, termites, kangaroos, ostriches, and snakes.

WEATHER: An important factor in the savanna is climate. The climate is usually warm and temperatures range from 68° to 86°F (20 to 30°C). Savannas exist in areas where there is a 6 – 8 month wet summer season, and a 4 – 6 month dry winter season. The annual rainfall is from 10 – 30 inches (25 – 75 cm) per year.

Savanna Plant Life The savanna is covered by grasses such as Rhodes grass, red oats grass, star grass, lemon grass, and some shrubs.. There are various types of trees that will grow in particular areas of a savanna biome. They include pine trees, palm trees, and acacia trees..

The African savanna ecosystem is a tropical grassland with warm temperatures year-round and with its highest seasonal rainfall in the summer. The savanna is characterized by grasses and small or dispersed trees that do not form a closed canopy, allowing sunlight to reach the ground.

The first one is the cold, dry season characterized by high mid-day temperatures of about 29oC but experiences lower temperatures of about 21oC during the night.

January

However, in order for the savannas to survive, they must have the long dry periods. If it rained all year, the savannas would become tropical forests, filled with trees and tall vegetation. For grasslands to survive, they need the dry periods that prevent trees from taking over.

Savannas typically get very little rain – about 4 inches (100 mm) of rain – in the dry season, and they will often not get any rainfall at all for many months. This is a long time for plants to go without water, which is why you don’t see many trees. However, the wet season gets lots of rain.

Low rainfall, wildland fires, and grazing by animals are three factors that maintain grasslands. In grassland regions, the climate is ideal for the growth of grasses only. The low precipitation rates are enough to nourish grasses but not enough for a forest of trees.

PLANTS: Grasses dominate temperate grasslands. Trees and large shrubs are rarely found in grassland areas. There are many species of grasses that live in this biome, including, purple needlegrass, wild oats, foxtail, ryegrass, and buffalo grass.

Grassland plants and animals Grasslands support a variety of species. Vegetation on the African savannas, for example, feeds animals including zebras, wildebeest, gazelles, and giraffes. On temperate grasslands, you might find prairie dogs, badgers, coyotes, swift foxes, and a variety of birds.

Grazing has been shown to benefit California’s annual grasslands in many ways—by reducing the risk of a catastrophic wildfire, maintaining and enhancing habitat for many native grassland plants and animals, and maintaining the open character of our iconic grasslands and oak savannas.

Tropical grasslands have dry and wet seasons that remain warm all the time. Temperate grasslands have cold winters and warm summers with some rain. The grasses die back to their roots annually and the soil and the sod protect the roots and the new buds from the cold of winter or dry conditions.

The Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands are characterized by rainfall levels between 90-150 centimetres per year. However, there may be great variability in soil moisture throughout the year. Grasses dominate the species composition of these ecoregions, although scattered trees may be common.

Tropical grassland is often referred to as savanna which is defined as a vegetation form that denotes a continuous graminoid stratum, more or less interupted by trees or shrubs (Jones and Tothill, 1985).