(a) Highlight four differences… | Geography

Question 1 Report

(a) Highlight four differences between the Tropical Grassland and the Temperate Grassland.

(b) Describe the climate associated with one of the vegetation belts in (a) above.

Answer

Answer Details

(a) Four differences between Tropical Grassland and Temperate Grassland:

Point	Tropical Grassland (Savanna)	Temperate Grassland (Steppe/Prairie)
Location	Between about 5° and 15° N and S of the Equator	In the continental interiors of middle latitudes (about 30°-55° N and S)
Grass height	Tall, coarse grasses (up to 3-4 m) with scattered trees	Short, fine, nutritious grasses with almost no trees
Trees	Scattered drought-resistant trees present (e.g. acacia, baobab)	Practically treeless
Temperature/rainfall	Hot all year with a marked wet and dry season; higher rainfall	Warm summers and cold winters with a large annual temperature range; lower rainfall

(Also acceptable: savanna supports big game/wildlife, steppe is a major zone for wheat and cattle/sheep ranching.)

(b) Climate of the Tropical Grassland (Savanna):

High temperatures throughout the year, averaging about \(24^{\circ}\text{C}\), with the hottest period just before the rains.
Distinct wet and dry seasons: the wet season comes with the overhead sun, the dry season when the sun is overhead in the opposite hemisphere.
Moderate rainfall, about \(500\text{ to }1000\text{ mm}\) a year, brought by convectional storms in the wet season.
A relatively small annual temperature range but a marked contrast between the rainy and dry periods; skies are cloudy in the wet season and clear and dusty (harmattan) in the dry season.

(a) Highlight four differences between the Tropical Grassland and the Temperate Grassland. (b) Describe the climate associated with one of the vegetation be...