BIOTIC FACTORS
FOOD WEB
The vegetation (producers) for large groups of grazers like zebras and elephants include plentiful grasses, shrubs and trees in the African Savannah. These herbivorous groups are the primary consumers of the biome and live together in the same area but have their own food preferences according to the needs and time of day for each group. These herbivorous groups then become the prey of carnivorous animals (secondary consumers) like cheetahs and lions. When the secondary consumers leave the half-eaten bodies of their prey behind, scavengers such as termites, hyenas and vultures consume the remained bits of the dead bodies. The decomposers in the African Savannah are mushrooms, micro-organisms and insects that feed on the decaying organisms. This vital process leads to the growth and development of new organisms within the biome.
FOOD WEB
The vegetation (producers) for large groups of grazers like zebras and elephants include plentiful grasses, shrubs and trees in the African Savannah. These herbivorous groups are the primary consumers of the biome and live together in the same area but have their own food preferences according to the needs and time of day for each group. These herbivorous groups then become the prey of carnivorous animals (secondary consumers) like cheetahs and lions. When the secondary consumers leave the half-eaten bodies of their prey behind, scavengers such as termites, hyenas and vultures consume the remained bits of the dead bodies. The decomposers in the African Savannah are mushrooms, micro-organisms and insects that feed on the decaying organisms. This vital process leads to the growth and development of new organisms within the biome.
FIVE ANIMAL SPECIES
AFRICAN ELEPHANT- LOXODONTA
Niche: Elephants are a crucial niche in their ecosystems. They can burrow in dry riverbeds, forming watering holes for large animals. Their footprints gather rainwater, creating watering holes for smaller animals. They are quite secure from predators because of their size and other characteristics.
Adaptations: Elephant ears give off heat to help keep them cool in the warm African atmosphere. An elephant's trunk is an extended nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things like a potential meal.
CHACMA BABOON- PAPIO URSINUS
Niche: In the dry season, they pull up grasses and feed on the underground stems. Baboons unintentionally feed other creatures by leaving food behind when they eat. Other creatures hunt through the waste. When a predator grasps and kills a baboon, it becomes a meal for that predator and its family and other hunters.
Adaptations: The tail is short and brightly colored rough spots on their rear legs provide cushioning, sitting is the baboons’ special position for feeding and sleeping. They have cheek pockets to store food and also have razor sharp teeth to defend themselves against predators.
GRANT’S ZEBRA- EQUUS QUAGGA BOEHMI
Niche: The species actually has a very powerful kick that can cause serious injury to other animals, so lions, hyenas and African wild dogs are very careful about any approach. Zebras also have stripes and stay in a herd in order to confuse predators so they will see a blur of stripes. Grant’s Zebra have strong teeth and sharp hooves to protect themselves from predators.
Adaptations: The Zebra uses its powerful hind legs to kick, and its teeth as a defense against predators. A zebra’s stripes form a disruptive coloration pattern, which breaks up the body’s outline, making them less obvious to predators. Their eyes are set far back in the skull giving them a wide field of vision.
NILE CROCODILE- CROCODYLUS NILOTICUS
Niche: The Nile Crocodile is a predator that hunts in the water and at the water's rim. The crocodile's niche is a top predator of a river ecosystem. The Nile crocodile is a main stabilizer in the ecosystems in which it exists. It will for instance keep the populations of predatory species like the Barbel catfish in place; species that could otherwise force other species of fish close to extinction by gorging them. This would cause severe problems for animals that depend on those species for food.
Adaptations: Their scales prevent them from oozing moisture from the body and survive during the scorching hot and dry period. Their metabolism rate is very slow. During natural calamities when not much of preys are to be found around, they can still survive without eating.
BLACK MAMBA- DENDROASPIS POLYLEPIS
Niche: They hunt on smaller animals, such as birds or rats. The Black Mamba kills its prey by compressing it until its muscles give up and it dies. Black Mamba has also been known to prey on bush babies, bats, and small chickens. It favors to consume omnivores.
Adaptations: They high flexibility and a skeletal structure that allows great power against both high surface areas (such as the ground) and low contact areas (such as tree branches. They use their venom when prey comes near them.
FIVE PLANT SPECIES:
BAOBAB- ADANSONIA
In wet months baobab stores water in its thick and corky trunk so that it has water in the dry ones.
BERMUDA GRASS-CYNODON DACTYLON
It is productive during the months of June, July and August, when the taller grasses are scarcer, meaning it doesn’t have to compete for light/nutrients etc. It has deep roots to collect more water.
CANDELABRA TREE - EUPHORBIA COOPERI
The candelabra tree is beautiful, but poisonous. If a drop of the white sap from the inner tree comes in contact with the skin a blister will form.
It will blind you if it touches the eyes and even breathing the fumes burns. This sticky poisonous latex along with its sharp spines makes it so animals don't feed on it. The candelabra tree is sometimes used as a living fence probably because it has sharp spines on its branches, and touching it burns.
UMBRELLA THORN ACACIA- ACACIA TORTILIS
It has a deep tap root so that it can get water during the dry season. The acacias umbrella shaped tops enable the tree to capture large amounts of sunlight with the smallest possible leaves.
WHISTLING THORN-ACACIA DREPANOLOBIUM
The whistling thorn acacia protects itself with pairs of long thorns up to 3 inches long. Interspersed with these are thorns, called stipular spines, which are joined at the base by hollow bulbous swellings.
The stinging ants protect the tree by swarming out of their nests and attacking an intruder at the smallest movement. The whistling thorn acacia, like other acacias, has developed several ways to survive the severely hot and dry climate in which it lives. Because of the heat the tree must find ways to conserve moisture. Their leaves have developed into many tiny leaflets which can turn to absorb sunlight, or avoid it and reduce transpiration.
KEYSTONE SPECIES: AFRICAN ELEPHANT:
A keystone species that has a major impact on the ecosystem of the African savannah is the African Elephant. They feed on trees and break them up by pulling them up by the roots and crushing them, as they move across the savannah. The grassland would soon turn into a woodland if the African Elephant doesn’t clear the trees. Gazelles, zebras, ostrich, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, wildebeest, meerkat, baboon, termites and dung beetles are only adapted for grassland life and not woodland life. The African Elephant is responsible for clearing these animals’ habitat and keeping it a grassland. Then, animals like cheetahs, lions, hyenas, crocodiles, jackals, wild dogs and vultures are species that feed on these animals. These animals rely on the African elephant to keep the grasslands safe enough for survival. Grasses increase due to the elephants controlling the tree population which sustains grazing animals like antelopes, wildebeests and zebras. It becomes easier for smaller animals like mice and shrews to burrow in the warm, dry soil of the savannah. The savannah is accountable for providing predators such as lions and hyenas with their prey.
TWO SPECIFIC RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE AFRICAN SAVANNAH:
There is a mutualistic relationship with termites and the Jackal Berry Tree. The heavy soils of the termite load provide a good source of moisture for the tree and in return the roots provide protection for the termites, who don't eat the living wood. Because the jackal berry tree is a producer termites feed on the tree ensuring it to have enough moisture. The secondary or tertiary consumer will eat the termites in order to survive. So if the tree population decreases the termites wouldn't be able to survive and if the termites die, the secondary and tertiary consumers would have a limited food source which lead to reduce population and a competitive relationship.
The parasitic relationship between the African Elephant and the tick. The African Elephant is the host to the tick, the parasite, which feeds off of the elephant's blood, benefiting by gaining a food source. The elephant is harmed because it is losing blood and it can also be immune to harmful diseases from the tick. This is bad because it affects the elephant in a negative way. If elephants are prone to the diseases from the tick it will be passed on from one generation to the other. Due to the elephant being a primary consumer other animals from the trophic levels could be infected with the disease the elephant has.
AFRICAN ELEPHANT- LOXODONTA
Niche: Elephants are a crucial niche in their ecosystems. They can burrow in dry riverbeds, forming watering holes for large animals. Their footprints gather rainwater, creating watering holes for smaller animals. They are quite secure from predators because of their size and other characteristics.
Adaptations: Elephant ears give off heat to help keep them cool in the warm African atmosphere. An elephant's trunk is an extended nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things like a potential meal.
CHACMA BABOON- PAPIO URSINUS
Niche: In the dry season, they pull up grasses and feed on the underground stems. Baboons unintentionally feed other creatures by leaving food behind when they eat. Other creatures hunt through the waste. When a predator grasps and kills a baboon, it becomes a meal for that predator and its family and other hunters.
Adaptations: The tail is short and brightly colored rough spots on their rear legs provide cushioning, sitting is the baboons’ special position for feeding and sleeping. They have cheek pockets to store food and also have razor sharp teeth to defend themselves against predators.
GRANT’S ZEBRA- EQUUS QUAGGA BOEHMI
Niche: The species actually has a very powerful kick that can cause serious injury to other animals, so lions, hyenas and African wild dogs are very careful about any approach. Zebras also have stripes and stay in a herd in order to confuse predators so they will see a blur of stripes. Grant’s Zebra have strong teeth and sharp hooves to protect themselves from predators.
Adaptations: The Zebra uses its powerful hind legs to kick, and its teeth as a defense against predators. A zebra’s stripes form a disruptive coloration pattern, which breaks up the body’s outline, making them less obvious to predators. Their eyes are set far back in the skull giving them a wide field of vision.
NILE CROCODILE- CROCODYLUS NILOTICUS
Niche: The Nile Crocodile is a predator that hunts in the water and at the water's rim. The crocodile's niche is a top predator of a river ecosystem. The Nile crocodile is a main stabilizer in the ecosystems in which it exists. It will for instance keep the populations of predatory species like the Barbel catfish in place; species that could otherwise force other species of fish close to extinction by gorging them. This would cause severe problems for animals that depend on those species for food.
Adaptations: Their scales prevent them from oozing moisture from the body and survive during the scorching hot and dry period. Their metabolism rate is very slow. During natural calamities when not much of preys are to be found around, they can still survive without eating.
BLACK MAMBA- DENDROASPIS POLYLEPIS
Niche: They hunt on smaller animals, such as birds or rats. The Black Mamba kills its prey by compressing it until its muscles give up and it dies. Black Mamba has also been known to prey on bush babies, bats, and small chickens. It favors to consume omnivores.
Adaptations: They high flexibility and a skeletal structure that allows great power against both high surface areas (such as the ground) and low contact areas (such as tree branches. They use their venom when prey comes near them.
FIVE PLANT SPECIES:
BAOBAB- ADANSONIA
In wet months baobab stores water in its thick and corky trunk so that it has water in the dry ones.
BERMUDA GRASS-CYNODON DACTYLON
It is productive during the months of June, July and August, when the taller grasses are scarcer, meaning it doesn’t have to compete for light/nutrients etc. It has deep roots to collect more water.
CANDELABRA TREE - EUPHORBIA COOPERI
The candelabra tree is beautiful, but poisonous. If a drop of the white sap from the inner tree comes in contact with the skin a blister will form.
It will blind you if it touches the eyes and even breathing the fumes burns. This sticky poisonous latex along with its sharp spines makes it so animals don't feed on it. The candelabra tree is sometimes used as a living fence probably because it has sharp spines on its branches, and touching it burns.
UMBRELLA THORN ACACIA- ACACIA TORTILIS
It has a deep tap root so that it can get water during the dry season. The acacias umbrella shaped tops enable the tree to capture large amounts of sunlight with the smallest possible leaves.
WHISTLING THORN-ACACIA DREPANOLOBIUM
The whistling thorn acacia protects itself with pairs of long thorns up to 3 inches long. Interspersed with these are thorns, called stipular spines, which are joined at the base by hollow bulbous swellings.
The stinging ants protect the tree by swarming out of their nests and attacking an intruder at the smallest movement. The whistling thorn acacia, like other acacias, has developed several ways to survive the severely hot and dry climate in which it lives. Because of the heat the tree must find ways to conserve moisture. Their leaves have developed into many tiny leaflets which can turn to absorb sunlight, or avoid it and reduce transpiration.
KEYSTONE SPECIES: AFRICAN ELEPHANT:
A keystone species that has a major impact on the ecosystem of the African savannah is the African Elephant. They feed on trees and break them up by pulling them up by the roots and crushing them, as they move across the savannah. The grassland would soon turn into a woodland if the African Elephant doesn’t clear the trees. Gazelles, zebras, ostrich, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, wildebeest, meerkat, baboon, termites and dung beetles are only adapted for grassland life and not woodland life. The African Elephant is responsible for clearing these animals’ habitat and keeping it a grassland. Then, animals like cheetahs, lions, hyenas, crocodiles, jackals, wild dogs and vultures are species that feed on these animals. These animals rely on the African elephant to keep the grasslands safe enough for survival. Grasses increase due to the elephants controlling the tree population which sustains grazing animals like antelopes, wildebeests and zebras. It becomes easier for smaller animals like mice and shrews to burrow in the warm, dry soil of the savannah. The savannah is accountable for providing predators such as lions and hyenas with their prey.
TWO SPECIFIC RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE AFRICAN SAVANNAH:
There is a mutualistic relationship with termites and the Jackal Berry Tree. The heavy soils of the termite load provide a good source of moisture for the tree and in return the roots provide protection for the termites, who don't eat the living wood. Because the jackal berry tree is a producer termites feed on the tree ensuring it to have enough moisture. The secondary or tertiary consumer will eat the termites in order to survive. So if the tree population decreases the termites wouldn't be able to survive and if the termites die, the secondary and tertiary consumers would have a limited food source which lead to reduce population and a competitive relationship.
The parasitic relationship between the African Elephant and the tick. The African Elephant is the host to the tick, the parasite, which feeds off of the elephant's blood, benefiting by gaining a food source. The elephant is harmed because it is losing blood and it can also be immune to harmful diseases from the tick. This is bad because it affects the elephant in a negative way. If elephants are prone to the diseases from the tick it will be passed on from one generation to the other. Due to the elephant being a primary consumer other animals from the trophic levels could be infected with the disease the elephant has.