science

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands rather than just read about it. In short: Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes.

Key takeaways

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes. Tropical grasslands are mainly found between 5 degrees and 20 degrees in both North and south of the Equator.

Description Grasslands are dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants. Savannas are grasslands with scattered trees. Shrublands are dominated by woody or herbaceous shrubs. Large expanses of land in the tropics do not receive enough rainfall to support extensive tree cover. The tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands are characterized by rainfall levels between 90–150 centimetres (35–59 in) per year. Rainfall can be highly seasonal, with the entire year's rainfall sometimes occurring within a couple of weeks. African savannas occur between forest or woodland regions and grassland regions. Flora includes acacia and baobab trees, grass, and low shrubs. Acacia trees lose their leaves in the dry season to conserve moisture, while the baobab stores water in its trunk for the dry season. Many of these savannas are in Africa. Large mammals that have evolved to take advantage of the ample forage typify the biodiversity associated with these habitats. These large mammal faunas are richest in African savannas and grasslands. The most intact assemblages currently occur in East African Acacia savannas and Zambezian savannas consisting of mosaics of miombo, mopane, and other habitats. Large-scale migration of tropical savanna herbivores, such as wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and zebra (Equus quagga), are continuing to decline through habitat alteration and hunting. They now only occur to any significant degree in East Africa and the central Zambezian region. Much of the extraordinary abundance of Guinean and Sahelian savannas has been eliminated, although the large-scale migrations of Ugandan Kob still occur in the savannas in the Sudd region. The Sudan type of climate is characterized by an alternating hot and rainy season, and a cool and dry season. In the Northern Hemisphere, the hot rainy season normally begins in May and lasts until September. Rainfall varies from 25 cm to 150 cm and is usually unreliable. The rest of the year is cool and dry. Rainfall decreases as one goes either towards North in Northern Hemisphere or South in the Southern Hemisphere. Drought is very common.

Occurrence Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands occur on all continents but Antarctica. They are widespread in Africa, and are also found all throughout South Asia and Southeast Asia, the northern parts of South America and Australia, and the southern United States.

Ecoregions

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

In research: Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Grasslands, Habitats, Terrestrial biomes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands in simple terms?

Why does Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands.