Animals in the African Grasslands
The grasslands has lots of unique animals, like the ones above. Some other animals in this area are buffalo, impalas, warthogs, leopards, jackals, and gazelles.
Predator/Prey Relationships
In the African Grasslands, there are a lot of predator prey relationships since many of the animals in this area are near the top of the food chain. All of these predator animals have to compete for the weaker animals. Lions, at the very top of the food chain in this area, is just about a predator to everything. Some of the other predators are leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas, who have predator/prey relationships with the weaker animals in the grasslands like zebras, gazelles, giraffes, impalas, and wildebeests.
Here is a graph describing the relationship between lions and gazelles:
Here is a graph describing the relationship between lions and gazelles:
As you can see by the graph, when the gazelle population goes down, the lions population goes down closely after because they dont have as much food as they need for all the lions to survive. The gazelle population goes down from animals hunting them, but also because they get to a point where there isn't enough resources for all the gazelles to live. Once there are less lions and less gazelles, the population can go up again. When it goes up, so does the lion population because they have lots of food again. This pattern repeats.
Adaptations
In the grasslands, with so many predators and prey, its important to have adaptations to keep yourself safe. One adaptation that many animals have in this area is fur or skin that camouflages to the environment. Animals like giraffes, cheetahs, leopards, and hyenas all have fur that blends in with their surroundings.
Over time, animals in this biome have adapted so that they can survive better. Here are some other examples of adaptations that these animals have:
Over time, animals in this biome have adapted so that they can survive better. Here are some other examples of adaptations that these animals have:
- Giraffes - Giraffes are a very distinguishable and unique looking animal. Giraffes have an advantage over other animals with regards to finding food, because their long neck allows them to eat leaves and twigs in tall trees that the other animals cant reach.
- Elephants - Elephants are another very unique animal compared to other organisms. Since they're so large, its hard for them to bend all the way down to eat. Instead, they have a long truck to pick up their food and water and put it in their mouth. They also have tusks to protect themselves, but because of their size adult elephants don’t have many predators.
- African Wild Dogs - African wild dogs aren't like the cute dogs that we have as pets. They started from the same animal, but have adapted and separated from each other over thousands of years and now they are hardly related at all. African wild dogs are carnivores, so they have strong teeth to break through bone, good eyesight to hunt in the night and day, and long slim legs that are good for running to tire their prey out.
- Gazelle - Gazelles are prey for a lot of animals. Because of this, they've developed some adaptations to protect themselves. They have strong legs to allow them to jump high and run fast to get away from predators, and they have pointy horns that face inwards to fight other animals for territory & to defend themselves. They also have short fur that doesn’t give them much insulation, to keep them cool in the hot climate.
Invasive Species
Fire Ants
The fire ant is native to South America, but is now invading many other countries, such as Africa and the US. The fire ant is not only a danger because its replacing the native ants, but its also a danger to people and animals. The fire ant can bite animals and then inject a toxic venom that can kill. They are harming the native ants by taking over their trees and occupying them for themselves. |
Freshwater Crayfish (Cajun, Red Swamp)
These crayfish, originally located in North America, have made their way into Africa. They are eating the native fish and crustaceans, and since they don’t have a natural predator there isn't anything controlling their population. We are now trying to control the crayfish because they are eating the native species and effecting the population of them, and because Africa is home to many species that aren't found anywhere else they are trying to keep the populations as high as they can. |
Food Chain
This is an example of a typical food chain in the African grasslands.
Food Web
Here is the food web for the African grasslands.
How are humans affecting these webs?
Humans are affecting this food web because its stopping species from getting as much food as they need. Predator and prey animals have a natural pattern of their population increases and decreases, but humans are messing up that pattern. Humans are poaching the animals for their furs, horns, or other features, but not realizing that what we're killing for our desires is what's keeping another animal alive.
If one animal doesn’t have enough food to live, their population starts to go down. From that population going down, another predator species (that hunts for that animal) population will also go down because they wont have enough food. This pattern continues, which ends up messing up the whole food web. This is causing many species to become endangered. If a species becomes extinct, the job that the animal had in the biome will be gone and the biome will not be able to survive as it did.
Humans are affecting this food web because its stopping species from getting as much food as they need. Predator and prey animals have a natural pattern of their population increases and decreases, but humans are messing up that pattern. Humans are poaching the animals for their furs, horns, or other features, but not realizing that what we're killing for our desires is what's keeping another animal alive.
If one animal doesn’t have enough food to live, their population starts to go down. From that population going down, another predator species (that hunts for that animal) population will also go down because they wont have enough food. This pattern continues, which ends up messing up the whole food web. This is causing many species to become endangered. If a species becomes extinct, the job that the animal had in the biome will be gone and the biome will not be able to survive as it did.
Species at Risk
Since the animals in this biome are so different to the animals in the rest of the world, many of the animals in this area are endangered - and humans are the ones causing most of it. Hunters are killing the animals for their unique furs or horns or tusks to make into things to sell. Elephants, wild dogs, zebras, and rhinos are some of the most threatened/endangered species in this biome.
There used to be around 15000 Grevy's zebras, and now there's only around 2500 remaining. They are hunted by humans for their striped coat, which is often made into carpets.
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Elephants are also quite endangered. They are victims of poaching for their tusks, which are ivory, and are then made into various things like piano keys.
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