TROPICAL GRASSLAND/SAVANNA/SHRUBLAND

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• Nigeria is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. It's the world's 32nd-largest country
• The far south is defined by its tropical rainforest climate, where annual rainfall is 60 to 80 inches a year
• Everything in between the far south and the far north, is savannah and rainfall is between 20 and 60 inches per year
• This climate exhibits a well marked rainy season and a dry season due to its distance from the equator
• Temperatures are above 18 °C (64 °F) throughout the year.

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• Its warmth and high humidity gives it a strong tendency to ascend and produce copious rainfall
• Nigeria, like the rest of West Africa and other tropical lands, has only two seasons
• The vegetation consist mainly of forest swamps.
• Numerous sandy islands occur with fresh water vegetation
• Fresh water swamps gradually leave the mangrove on the landward side. About 70% of Nigeria's crude oil and gas production is from the area.

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• there are three types of vegetation: forests, savannah, and montane ( mountain)
• This region is mainly grassland crossed with trees growing alongside streams and on hillsides, with the constantly occurring fires keeping back the growth of trees in open country.
• The climate of the grasslands range from cool to hot summers and may even range to ice in winter in higher latitudes.
• The mixture of forest and grassland provide habitat for a range of species from large mammals
• human settlement is in large area including the cities of Ibadan, which means where the forest meets the savanna,

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• The parental material refers to the bedrock on which the soil has been formed.
• Floods during havy rains, scorched conditions in high summers or ice formation in winter all contribute to the grassland ecosystem
• The water that recedes when the flood is over the top soil and a bit of clay into the river, changes the whole balance of the delicate ecosystem
• Soil fertility is traditionally restored by fallowing.
• The savanna becomes more open in the far north and is characterized by scattered stunted trees and short grasses

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• Economically valuable, the oil palm grows wild and is usually preserved when forest is cleared for cultivation
• the southwest large areas of forest have been replaced by cacao and rubber plantations
• In densely populated areas of the savanna the vegetation has been reduced.
• Wild animals like forest elephants, and chimpanzees live in the rainforest belt

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• Nigeria has the highest population of any country in Africa.
• Nigeria has the highest population of any predominantly black nation in the world.
• The banks of the Niger River are desirable and ideal locations for people to settle.
• The river provides water for drinking, bathing, cleaning, and fishing for both the dinner table and trading to make a profit.
• As the people have settled along the shores of the rivers and coasts, marine and terrestrial habitats are being lost and ecosystems are being drastically changed

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• This incredibly well-endowed ecosystem contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet
• We witnessed the slow poisoning of the waters & the destruction of vegetation & agricultural land by oil spills that occur during petroleum operations
• Some spills are caused by sabotage and thieves, however most are due to poor maintenance by oil companies such as Shell.
• Plants had significant changes in their populations between 1981 & 1991

CITED SOURCES

• http://www.onlinenigeria.com/links/bioticadv.asp?blurb=525
• http://www.tutorvista.com/biology/abiotic-and-biotic-factors-of-the-grassla...
• http://nigerianflooding.weebly.com/abiotic-and-biotic-factors.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria#Environmental_issues
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414840/Nigeria/55285/Climate