HUMAN IMPACT ON THE SAVANNA

Humans can have negative impacts on the savanna if their activities are not controlled. These can lead to areas of the savanna becoming deserted.

These activities include:

·         Man-made fires – These are made to burn areas of grassland to help aid the better growth of young grass in subsequent seasons. The use of fire however, destroys particular plant species who cannot withstand the fire, leaving areas to only accommodate pyrophytic plants species such as the baobab and acacia tree. Also fires can damage the soils making it harder for vegetation to grow in certain areas.

·         Grazing – Cattle grazing results in certain plants being killed leaving behind the so-called animal repellent plants behind such as thorny bushes, shrubbery and acacia trees. Also areas are cleared for farmland which in some extremes can lead to desertification of the area when the soil becomes infertile.

·         Hunting – Some animals in the savanna are hunted for their valuable body parts e.g. elephants for their tusks, lions for their fur and bison for their meat. Many animals have been hunted to the point they are verging on extinction. Despite certain measure being put into place, only 1% of grasslands are protected by the Government.

Here’s another video from BBC Bitesize to help students: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/savannah_grassland_video.shtml. I am not keen on the video as I do not think it gets the point across effectively due to it being so brief, however I am currently struggling to find a more useful video.

And so it has taken me 15 posts to establish how to get a video onto the blog, it feels quite an achievement to say the least as I am no computer expert. This second video shows an African savanna, it shows what a savanna looks like, how it accommodates particular animal species and how the species are playing a role in shaping the savanna.  

Links:

http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol7/iss1/art9/des_human_influence.html

http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/schools/blythebridge/gcseecosystemsavanna.htm