Sudanian Savanna

Introduction to the Sudanian Savanna:

The Sudanian Savanna is an ecosystem marked by diversity and endemism. This tropical grassland is home to over 1000 endemic plants (World Wildlife) and a number of animal species. The area covers almost 100,000 square kilometers and is marked by long grasses, shrubs, and occasional trees. This ecosystem spans across a great number of Central and Southern African nations including Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, CAR, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda (World Wildlife). Unfortunately this ecosystem now finds itself with a relatively dangerous conservation status and is now defined as a critical or endangered area. This is primarily the result of increased human activity.

Modern Day Sudanian Savanna

"Ecoregions." Encyclopedia of Earth.        

                

Map of Sudanian Savanna (area in pale yellow)

"African Savanna." Apassionforscience

Historic Characteristics of Sudanian Savanna:

Historically this ecosystem was marked by a variety of trees and wooded areas that collectively created a closed dry forest.  These areas were home to various large and tall trees and relatively dense forests. Moreover about eight thousand years ago this area was home to a relatively cool climate that was very different from the hot and dry climate seen today. Evidence for this can be found in the pollen record from Lake Tilla in Northeast Nigeria researched by Ulrich Salzmann and documented in his article “Are modern savannas degraded forests? - A Holocene pollen record from the Sudanian vegetation zone of NE Nigeria”.

Salzmann explains that as the years progressed the climate became increasingly dry and hot. This therefore lowered the levels of the lakes, and changed the composition of the fauna and flora found in this region. The gradual transformation from a closed dry forest to an open savanna and open woodland can be attributed to this climatic change. Long ‘elephant’ grasses and large tree species now mark the Sudanian Savanna, however these trees are sparse due to the destruction of the original closed dry forest (Salzmann 2). It is likely that the appearance of human activity throughout the area exacerbated this transformation particularly as a result of fire.

An image of historic dry forest of the Sudanian Savanna

"Herpetology of Ethiopia & Eritrea." Biodiversity

Human Impact:

Unfortunately this ecosystem has been heavily hit by human activity. With the increase in population there came an increase in hunting, agriculture, herding, and most importantly fires.

As humans began to settle in this area, the vegetation suffered irreversible changes. These groups used the area for agriculture therefore introducing non-native plant species and putting pressure on the ecosystem as a result of seasonal farming (Forkour, Landmann, Conrad, and Dech 22). Even more critically damaging to the Sudanian Savanna, people began to cut down trees and small bushes in order to use the wood. Humans tended to burn this wood for cooking and warmth, and unfortunately these fires often became fully-fledged wildfires. These fires have been detrimental to this ecosystem and played a huge role in changing the area from closed dry forest to grasses and shrubs (World Wildlife).

Another unfortunate affect of human presence in the Sudanian Savanna is the prevalence of hunting. Groups of people historically hunted wild animals all over this area, and this practice still continues today.  The hunting of large animals for food and sport resulted in a huge decrease in the population of a great number of species including giraffes, wild dogs, elephants, and lions (World Wildlife).  The effect of this hunting can be seen specifically through the example of the black rhinoceros. This animal was hunted so heavily that its population has been completely destroyed and it no longer lives in this area (World Wildlife).

Table from “Policy, environment and development in African Rangelands”

“Fig. 4. Aerial census data on wildlife populations in the Mara National Reserve” (Homewood 138)

Environmental Science & Policy

This table demonstrates a 58% reduction in the total population of wildlife over a period of twenty years in the Mara National Reserve, Kenya (Homewood 138). This is therefore evidence to demonstrate the threat of human activity on wildlife throughout this region, even within those areas that are designated as protected reserves.

A final problem associated with human activity is the drainage and pollution of the Sudanian wetlands. People have begun to use this water for agriculture thus disrupting the ecosystem by converting the wetlands into dams or irrigation systems (World Wildlife). Much wildlife, in particular birds and migratory animals, depend on the location of these wetlands for survival. Therefore the human use of this water supply is critically harmful to these animals. Furthermore the wide array of plant life that inhabit these wetlands are displaced and therefore their species begin to deplete.

How humans benefit:

The fundamental way in which humans benefit from this ecosystem is through agriculture. For a great number of years humans have cultivated this land in order to sustain themselves. As explained in “Farming Systems of the African Savanna” by Andrew Ker, the growth of the human population and the increase in agricultural technology in this region has led to increasingly heavy farming. This is beneficial for humans as they are able to grow their crops, and support their diet through the hunting of large mammals. Unfortunately whilst these activities benefit human life, they are detrimental to the conservation status of the Sudanian Savanna. The increased risk of wildfires, the depletion of animal species, and the destruction of wetlands and plant species are all extremely harmful to this ecosystem and have been responsible for the increasing disappearance of native plants, the forest like ecosystem, and a number of large mammals (Ker 31).

Protected areas:

Protected areas do exist throughout this region, and in fact they cover a large expanse of land. Unfortunately these areas are little more than ‘paper parks’ meaning that whilst they are acknowledged as protected areas on paper, little is done to actually protect the wildlife. This is primarily a result of a lack of funding and government ability to properly enforce regulations. Particularly in densely populated regions such as Nigeria, these protected areas fail to stop the spread of logging, human induced fires, and poaching, thus the fragmentation of remaining forest areas persists (World Wildlife).

In particular we can see this by looking at the Kainji Lake National Park in Nigeria. The park was established in 1976 and is therefore one of the region's oldest parks. However, due to continual political instability, poor infrastructure, and most importantly lack of money, this park remains un-policed and unregulated. As a result the park continues to be subjected to deforestation, hunting, and the spread of wildfires. Fishing in particular has become an issue for this area as unregulated fisheries are established causing a huge decline in the number of fish (BirdLife International).

What the future holds:

Unfortunately, the future for the Sudanian Savanna is not positive!

United Nations Environment Programme

Global Resource Information Database - Sioux Falls

This graph demonstrates the expected population growth for countries within the Sudanian Savanna region: Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Thus it seems that a decrease in agriculture or deforestation is unlikely due to the hypothesized population growth. Moreover without the finances or the benefit of a stable political scene to create regulations, a thorough conservation of this area is unlikely. Thus the future for this ecosystem is bleak.

Projections for the area depicted by the article “Agricultural land use mapping in the Sudanian Savanna of West Africa: Current status and future possibilities” point towards further depletion of typical savanna and the fragmentation of forests due to farming. In particular studies predict the disappearance of remaining dry forest due to deforestation and wildfires, a change in the characteristics of the savanna elephant grasses due to intensified agriculture, and the depletion of large mammal populations due to hunting (Forkuor, Landmass, Conrad, and Dech 23). Finally the drainage, pollution, and reconstruction of wetlands will probably increase thus putting even more of a strain on the animals and plants that depend on this ecosystem

All of these activities will be exacerbated by climate change.  Unfortunately with the increasing heat and lack of precipitation, this region is unable to regenerate in the same way it has historically. Thus as the authors of “Food Security in the Horn of Africa: The Implications of a Drier, Hotter and More Crowded Future” suggest, agriculture will be even more detrimental to the conservation of the environment as climatic changes intensify.

What can be done?

In order to try and save the Sudanian Savanna, policies of conservation need to be implemented immediately. Governments need to increase their regulation and surveillance of so called protected areas in order to stop or at least significantly decrease the human use of this land.  Furthermore the strengthening of laws surrounding use of land for agriculture, logging, fishing, and hunting should be implemented. With the added difficulty of climate change, this ecosystem simply cannot regenerate itself due to increased temperatures and a lack of rainfall (United Nations Environment Programme). To conserve the area steps need to be taken to dramatically reduce human activity.

Beuchner and Dawkins depict in their article “Vegetation Change Induced by Elephants and Fire in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda” that the Murchison Falls National Park is threatened by human activity even though it is a protected area. The authors state that vegetation throughout the park is under immense threat due to human induced fires. Thus a fundamental way in which this ecosystem can be preserved is by strengthening laws against any unlicensed human presence on protected lands. Furthermore as we have seen fire is a huge threat to this ecosystem, thus it would be hugely beneficial to enforce regulations against unlicensed fires within the savanna area, and to create more substantial safety regulations surrounding logging and agricultural practices in order to minimize the risk of wildfire. In a similar fashion more emphasis on hunting and logging prevention should be initiated to decrease the destruction of both wildlife and tree populations.

Unfortunately these tasks take a significant amount of human and financial capital. Thus in order to begin protecting the environment these countries need to achieve some kind of political and financial stability. There are various ways in which this can be encouraged including the introduction of ecotourism. If this practice could be promoted it would benefit the country financially and moreover create an incentive for governments to preserve the savanna in order to reap the economic rewards of tourism. 

Works Cited

"African Savanna." Apassionforscience /. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://apassionforscience.pbworks.com/>.

Beuchner, H., and H. Dawkins. "Vegetation Change Induced by Elephants and Fire in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda." Ecology 42.4 (1961): 752-66. Web.

"Ecoregions." Encyclopedia of Earth. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://www.eoearth.org/>.

Forkuor, Gerald, Tobias Landmann, Christopher Conrad, and Stefan Dech. "Agricultural Land Use Mapping in the Sudanian Savanna of West AFrica: Current Status and Future Possibilities." IEEE International (2012): 22-27. Web.

"Global Resource Information Database - Sioux Falls." United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. <http://www.unep.org/>.

"Herpetology of Ethiopia & Eritrea." Biodiversity. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012.

Homewood. "Policy, Environment and Development in African Rangelands." Environmental Science & Policy 7.3 (2004): 125-43. Print.

"Important Bird Areas Fact Sheet: Kainji Lake National Park." BirdLife International. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. <http://www.birdlife.org/>.

Ker, Andrew. "Farming Systems." Farming Systems of the African Savanna. Ottawa, Canada: International Development Research Centre, 1995. 30-36. Print.

Salzmann, Ulrich. "Are Modern Savannas Degraded Forests ? - A Holocene Pollen Record from the Sudanian Vegetation Zone of NE Nigeria." Vegetation History and Archeobotany (2000): 1-15. Web.

"WWF Ecoregions." Wildlife Conservation, Endangered Species Conservation. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/>.