ASPECTS OF THE SERENGETI

A Diary Of A Visit By Matthew Anderson

Information and Geography I Learnt, Day 1 The Serengeti is a National

Park in Africa, a savanna ecosystem

The climate is hot and dry most of the year except in select months of the year when it gets a bit wetter for example the winter months (December to March)

I will show you the different aspects of the Serengeti through annotated photos and how they relate to each other as a whole and what we can do ourselves to protect this breakable ecosystem

History Of The Park I Learnt, Day 1 1890- elephants start getting targeted for their ivory by

hunters 1896/1900- Rinderprest (a cattle disease) combined with

hunting wiped out many species in the Serengeti 1910/1930- animals start returning to the Serengeti 1951- Serengeti declared a national park 1960/1976- the years when wildlife is more abundant,

increased rainfall makes grass burning harder and park officials strictly enforce poaching laws

1989- ivory trade is banned 2000- impala numbers increase around wooded areas 1990/2005- Increasing pressure on the Serengeti caused

by the civilian population in areas around the park

Animals I Saw On My trip

The Serengeti plays host to many animals: lions, leopards, cheetahs, zebras, elephants, impala, wildebeests, buffalos, giraffes, rhinos Assortments of birds, lizards and insects.

Effects Animals Have On The Ecosystem That I Observed On, Days 2 and 3

I observed on day 2 an elephant using its leg power to push down the tree, this decreases the number of older and bigger trees as more elephants inhabit the area

Also on day 2 an elephant eating the leaves and foliage of the tree, if elephants compete for this the trees will have difficulty capturing rainwater in their leaves and thus will take longer to growOn day 3 I saw a rhino Eating grass thus the grass stays relatively short and infrequent in the dry season so predators cannot use it for hidingThe grass will re-grow with enough rainfall due to the depth of its roots. Looks like dry season because the grass isn’t tall or lush looking

Effects Climate Has On Vegetation and The Ecosystem I Observed, Days 3 and 4

On day 3 I saw fog which indicates rain and humidity meaning rainy season

I noticed increased rainfall means an abundance of big, healthy, green trees like the acacia which has small leaves to allow the rain to go to its roots and so it soaks up less light and isn't dehydrated as easily Few trees indicating limited rainfall

and abundance of animals.

At sunset on day 4 I saw that only the acacia tree has survived the dryness and animals. They survive dryness because their roots have adapted to reach deep into the ground for untouched nutrients. They survive animals by hosting many ants which sting and bite the animals eating its leaves. Also the have many thorns and chemical protectors from giraffes who graze on the top to try and avoid these.

Effects People Have on the Ecosystem, Days 5 and 6

Elephant hunting was popular among natives to trade their valuable ivory, it is now illegal to trade ivory, but sadly, there are other uses of elephants

On day 5 I saw the increased amount of visitors and locals in the area has out enormous pressure on the ecosystem. Below is just two of the thousands of daily visitors, tourist and local.

The morning of day 6 I noticed that even the rangers effect it without meaning to. Their gas guzzling vehicles create vast amounts of CO2 in the area and if they leak it can create acid rain or sink into the soil

The tires crush grass which animals need to eat and, when it’s muddy, dig up the soil containing roots so they can’t grow back.

Final Safari, Day 7

On my last day I noticed animals basking under the shade of an acacia tree. My thoughts are stated below.

The trees roof like branches fan out to provide shade for the animals, in return they eat plants and grass down to a nub to ensure the tree remains tall.

The animals will graze for a while and the grass will be less for the next coming grazers so animals have to compete for food. In the dry season the competition can get violent due to lowering amount of plants and scarcity of grazing material.

Conclusion, Leaving the Serengeti It is sad to bring my trip to this beautiful place to an end

but I will leave with a book full of photos of what I saw and annotations and notes of what is going on and how it relates to the ecosystem

I have learnt that everything in an ecosystem relates to each other not unlike a food chain. For example, an increase in the amount of elephants and giraffes in an area decreases the amount of trees and vice versa.

Thank You For Watching

SOURCES:

Pictures:http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.freewebs.com/worldtravle/tanzania_serengeti_acacia_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.freewebs.com/worldtravle/africa.htm&usg=__6M-gY0a1jDfjb4kbyRxQZRYG7MI=&h=600&w=800&sz=89&hl=en&start=0&sig2=ymV_G3KrhJjZfdtz43hUHQ&zoom=1&tbnid=QfcLo5OGV1WPhM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=180&ei=6hb5TbuRLI2cgQfswb38Cw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dserengeti%2Bsavanna%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D625%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=129&vpy=90&dur=4811&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=175&ty=60&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&biw=1366&bih=625

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.blogcdn.com/www.pawnation.com/media/2009/11/3759021038_e280117d9c-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pawnation.com/tag/lions/&usg=__N7f-eqUB2f9du8TP5dCYICAozrA=&h=259&w=345&sz=84&hl=en&start=60&sig2=nAK2ExY2-FhWj7GkW8A8LA&zoom=1&tbnid=_Pe7ndgBijAUWM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=198&ei=RRz5TeyIE4bpgQfCzcHlCw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfunny%2Blions%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D625%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=335&page=4&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:60&tx=91&ty=29&biw=1366&bih=625

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.utalii.com/Serengeti/images/serengeti%2520map.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.utalii.com/Serengeti/Serengeti_Map.htm&usg=__BkXmHyyZX4rSfMCvOOJFEM0R-CM=&h=737&w=550&sz=42&hl=en&start=18&sig2=nEdld-VowHQzO-WLyzf_QQ&zoom=1&tbnid=8TcGgPbv72zvNM:&tbnh=140&tbnw=104&ei=T6zmTcHDEYb00gGG1ryZCg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bserengeti%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D625%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=540&page=2&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:18&tx=35&ty=6&biw=1366&bih=625

http://www.serengeti.org/ pictures from here, go to discover Serengeti page then click photo gallery at the bottom

Information:.  http://www.maasaimaracount.org/mara-ecosystem.htmlhttp://www.2020site.org/trees/acacia.htmlhttp://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/savannahP.htmlhttp://www.glcom.com/hassan/serengeti.html