Figure 8.9
Tropical savanna. (A) An African bull elephant (Loxodonta africana) in tropical savanna near the Okavango Delta, Botswana. (B) Climate diagram for Gaborone, Botswana. (Note that Gaborone is in the Southern Hemisphere, so the summer rainy season occurs mainly in November through March.) In tropical savanna, average annual temperatures range from 15°C to 30°C (59°F to 86°F). Winters are warm. Annual average rainfall ranges from 40 to 175 cm (16 to 68 in). Thorn woodland may receive as little as 30 cm (12 in) of rainfall per year. (C) Tropical savanna has many local names, as labeled here. Half of all tropical savanna is found in Africa, where the biome covers about 65% of the continent.(A. © AfriPics.com/Alamy)