The flora and fauna of Africa is very diverse. On this mainland there are large and full-flowing rivers, such as the Congo, which is second only to the Amazon in terms of water content and affects the flora and fauna in its own way. There are huge lakes like Victoria and deep ones like Tanganyika. Africa is home to the largest desert in the world, the Sahara. The nature of Africa is unique and beautiful. And her animal world is very amazing.
In Africa, landscape types vary from arid and hot deserts to equatorial rainforests. Zoning alternates in the correct order. There are alpine landscapes, and mangroves, and coral reefs. From the equator, first moist forests diverge in different directions, then zones of variable forests, savannas, semi-deserts and deserts, and evergreen hard-leaved forests grow in the extreme south and north of the continent. There are not so many mountain ranges on the mainland, so the zonality is not strongly violated.
Moist equatorial forests, vegetation
These are very dense and humid forests located along the equator. They grow along the Gulf of Guinea and occupy the basin of the large Congo River. These forests arose thanks to warm equatorial airthe masses. High temperatures are combined with year-round strong moisture. Therefore, on one hectare, from 400 to 700 large trees coexist here, of which there are 100 species. Some of them are very valuable: black (ebony), red, sandalwood, polysander trees.
There are over 3,000 species of plants, and they form different layers of the forest. The upper tier is formed by tall trees (sometimes reaching 80 meters). These are ficuses, palm trees (wine and olive), ceiba. In their shade, lower ones grow, among them there are coffee and banana trees, rubber and lianas and valuable species - mahogany and sandalwood. Tree ferns also grow. There is almost no light at the very bottom, so there are very few grasses and shrubs in the equatorial forests. There are spore plants - club mosses, ferns, selaginella. Some flowering and fruiting representatives of the flora have adapted to live on trunks and branches. Like an orchid. Flowering plants in the equatorial forests are represented by 15,000 species.
Wide areas of moist equatorial forests have been cut down, light-loving trees and other plants are quickly appearing in those places. A tree can grow several meters in height in one year.
Equatorial forest fauna
The fauna of Africa along the equator is also very diverse, as is the flora. Animals in these forests live mainly in trees. Therefore, mainly birds, rodents and insects are common here. There are African monkeys in the jungle, such as chimpanzees, monkeys,baboons. Gorillas are very secretive animals, they prefer the wilder and more inaccessible areas of the equatorial forests. These great apes are endemic representatives of the fauna of the equatorial forests of Africa.
As already mentioned, grasses almost do not grow in these forests, so ungulates live here, choosing leaves as their food. These are forest antelopes (bongos), small giraffes (okapi), wild boars, pigs kititsevuhi. Predators live and hunt in trees. These are viverras, leopards, wild cats. Among the birds there is a wide variety of parrots. There are also snakes.
Savanna vegetation
These natural areas occupied 40%, almost half of the African continent. Translated from Portuguese, savannah means "steppe with trees." Areas of land are covered with fast-growing grass and stand-alone trees.
The vegetation of the savannas depends on the rains. Closer to the equator, where precipitation falls for 8 months a year, herbaceous plants reach three meters. The farther from the zero parallel, the grass is lower and more and more trees are found. These are baobabs and acacias (having an umbrella-shaped crown). Tree acacia is common throughout Africa, but does not grow in equatorial and mountain forests. Many palm trees grow along the banks of the rivers in the savannah; in some ways, these small forests resemble humid tropical ones. In drier regions, closer to semi-deserts, thorny shrubs and grasses, trees and spurges grow. There is a drought here for half a year, and the rest of the year is a season.rain.
Savanna fauna
The fauna of Africa in the savannah is very diverse and unique. Here is the largest concentration of animals with a large body mass. Rhinos, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippos, buffaloes, wildebeests live. Due to the large number of herbivores, predators are also numerous.
They, like "orderlies of the forest", keep the world of animals in Africa in balance. The lion is the king of animals, crocodiles, cheetahs, leopards, jackals, hyenas. All of them regulate the number of herbivores. The most numerous animals include giraffe, impala, hartebeest, blue wildebeest, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles. Birds, like other representatives of the animal world of Africa in the savannah, are also very numerous and diverse. Marabou, flamingos, cranes and the largest bird on the planet, the African ostrich, live here.
Vegetation of the Sahara Desert
The largest desert in the world is located in Africa. The highest temperature on Earth was recorded here in the area of the city of Tripoli (+59 degrees in the shade). The sun's rays heat the sands very strongly, so the vegetation in the desert is sparse, in some places there are thorny bushes, but extremely rarely.
The Sahara is inhabited mainly by oases. In the oases of the Sahara, the endemic Erg Chebbi date palm is found. Halophytes grow, which can grow on s alty soil. Plants have adapted to the harsh conditions of the desert, this is reflected in their appearance and reproduction method.
Sahara fauna
The fauna of Africa in the Sahara is very poor, all animals,that live there, also adapted to the hot and dry climate, like plants. These are Loder's gazelles and Dorcas's gazelles, adax antelopes and oryx antelopes. These animals are able to travel great distances in search of water and food. Rodents from the squirrel, mouse, hamster, jerboa families also live in the desert.
Mammals dominant in the Sahara: fox, common jackal, cheetah, spotted hyena, maned sheep, dorcas gazelle, Cape hare, saber-horned antelope, Ethiopian hedgehog, Anubis baboon, mouflon, Nubian donkey.
Among the birds there are both permanently living in the Sahara and migratory. The secretary bird is predatory, feeds on snakes, small amphibians, insects and other birds, moves very quickly on long legs. The African Eagle Owl lives in the desert, camouflages itself very well under the environment, it is difficult to notice them against the background of sand and dry grass. Another representative of the bird fauna - the guinea fowl - has a gray-black plumage with white spots, was domesticated, but wild birds also remained in the Sahara.
The birds of the desert have all adapted to the hot climate, hunting at night when it is colder and the wildlife of Africa emerges. They travel long distances in search of food, go without water for a long time.
The snakes of the Sahara have also adapted well. The horned viper with sharp growths above the eyes inhabits the entire desert, looking for prey at night. Efa (one of the most aggressive snakes) lives in the Northern Sahara, its poison causes profuse bleeding, not only at the bite site, but also in the nose and mucouseye. The yellow scorpion, another desert dweller, hunts with its stinger.
Flora and fauna of the southern deserts
If the Sahara is located in the north of the continent, then the Kalahari and Namib deserts are in the south.
Namib - cool and harsh. Plants are represented by many species. A lot of euphorbia and crassula grows. There are also many endemics. Velvichia grows here, which lives for 1000 years, has a thick stem with creeping leaves (the length of which reaches 3 meters). Large broad leaves are attached to stems up to 120 centimeters in diameter.
Another amazing plant is nara, a wild melon that bears fruit every 10 years. Its fruits have repeatedly saved travelers dying of thirst. Desert animals feed on it.
Flora and fauna of African highlands
Aleppo pines, Atlas cedars, Spanish firs, holm and cork oaks grow in the mountains. The forest of the Mediterranean African coast is similar to the European one.
Treelike juniper and heather grow on the Ethiopian highlands. In the mountains of southern and eastern Africa, there is an “iron tree” (it has very dense wood and can sink in water), tree ferns, yew. The "iron tree" or temir-agach forms impenetrable thickets, the branches are very intricately intertwined with each other.
In the Atlas Mountains lives a small monkey - tailless macaque, the same species lives in southern Spain. Birds are also found the same as in Southern Europe: lamb, griffon vulture, vulture, black vulture, stone partridge.
OnThe Ethiopian highlands are found many species of animals as in other parts of Africa. These are elephants, hippos, lions, leopards and smaller animals.
Flora and fauna of hardwood forests
This zone is located in the extreme north and south of the continent. The flora and fauna of the hard-leaved forests of Africa is also unique in its own way. The plants here have stiff and small leaves, so they can retain moisture for a long time. These are conifers: Lebanese cedar, cypress, pine. Animals have also adapted to dry conditions, they begin to show the greatest activity in spring and autumn, when it becomes cooler and more humid. Mammals of this zone: mouflons (mountain sheep), wivevers, wild cats.
