site

  1. myWWF Sign in
  2. Sign up
  3. Help
  1. Home
  2. Who We Are
  3. What We Do
  4. About Our Earth
  5. How You Can Help
  6. News
  7. Climate
  1. Home
    1. What We Do
      1. Priority Places
        1. Amazon
          1. The area
            1. Ecosystems

Amazon savannas

Natural habitat: Amazonian savannah grassland And scattered bushes and small trees Cajari extractive reserve Amapá, Brazil

Natural habitat: Amazonian savannah grassland And scattered bushes and small trees Cajari extractive reserve Amapá, Brazil

© WWF-Canon / Juan PRATGINESTOS

Unexpected landscapes in the Amazon

Where do you find vast grasslands, with a spattering of trees and shrubs?

Well, not only in Africa. The Amazon has its own ‘grasslands’, which may either be wet, or dry and sandy. Here, such areas are called Amazon savannas and they are seasonal, formed through a combination of climatic effects, burning and various soil characteristics.

Fires as a matter of fact

Savannas are found in low altitudes, typically less than 1,200 m, occur on a variety of soils and experience a range of climatic extremes. Natural occurrences of fire are a common aspect of savannas, which are well adapted to its effects.

While savannas cannot rival rainforests in the variety of wildlife that they harbour, South American savannas have the highest plant diversity of any similar ecosystem globally1. Plants that are found here are particularly well adapted to extended periods of dryness.
Nine-banded armadillo or Common long-nosed armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus.

© WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEY

Nine-banded armadillo or Common long-nosed armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus.

Different species from the rainforest
Species found in savannas are different to that found in rainforests, and include:
  • Deer
  • Gray fox
  • Jaguarondi
  • Tayra
  • Armadillo
  • Giant anteater
<em>Myrmecophaga tridactyla</em>, Giant anteater Threatened, the giant anteater eats ants and termites in vast quantities, sometimes up to 30,000 insects in a single day. It is found in the coastal savannas. French Guiana

© WWF-Canon / Roger LeGUEN

Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Giant anteater Threatened, the giant anteater eats ants and termites in vast quantities, sometimes up to 30,000 insects in a single day. It is found in the coastal savannas. French Guiana

Human impact on savannas
When rainforests are logged or burned to increase pastureland for cattle-ranching, the soil becomes infertile. This makes it suitable only to savanna vegetation.

Because there are far more birds found exclusively in savannas than are found exclusively in rainforests, there is a higher probability the savanna species would become extinct if their habitat was lost.

------------------------------------------------
1Huber, 1987 in Kricher, 1997

Next [Amazon wildlife] >>

Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence. RSS/Web Feeds

@import url('http://s3.amazonaws.com/getsatisfaction.com/feedback/feedback.css');