Biomes is a documentary series created by GeoDivide, which explores our planet with beautiful high-quality documentaries including the latest in timelapse and drone technology.
The Savannah is the vast open country of the tropics. It consists of a patchwork of trees and shrubs on a bed of grass. It is a place of deluge and drought. It dominates the continent at the center of our world. Of all the world’s habitats, it supports the earth’s most famous wildlife, the safari.
The tropics of our planet have two habitats that are instantly recognizable. The first of these is the tropical rainforest. The other, much drier one is that of the tropical savannah. Spreading out over vast plains across three continents, the Savannahs of the tropics make up for any lack of biodiversity compared to their richer rainforest cousin in the sheer quantity of large mammalian wildlife, feeding on the endless grass, and on the animals that eat that grass.
So where in the world do we find Savannah? Well if we apply the strict definition of a natural mix of trees, shrubs, and grass, then they can occur in temperate and subtropical latitudes as well as the tropics. But these areas are relatively small compared to the tropical savannah that dominates the tropics, in South America, Australia, and above all, Africa.
Biomes is a documentary series created by GeoDivide, which explores our planet with beautiful high-quality documentaries including the latest in timelapse and drone technology.
Tropical forests offer the greatest biodiversity of any area of Earth with over half of all plant and animal species. They are the “lungs of the world – absorbing more CO2 and producing more oxygen than any other”. A product of constant heat and abundant rain, it’s no wonder that plants grow here more vigorously than in any other biome. But it is also the biome that is under the greatest threat. Known as jungle, selva, or rainforest, these regions are in fact two distinct biomes – the evergreen and seasonal forests of the tropics.
Tropical forests are basically found in two types – the classic rainforest that has hardwood evergreen trees, and the “dry” forest or seasonal forest that sheds its leaves in the dry season.
A typical tropical forest in cross section has these layers:
Forest floor
Understory
Canopy
Emergent
The amount of biomass in these layers varies depending on the amount and patterns of rainfall, with the canopy being thickest in the rainforest. The forest floor becomes thicker as the canopy thins.
Tropical forests are found all around the equatorial regions, including:
Central America and the Caribbean
The Amazon Basin of South America
West Africa and the Congo Basin
The Indian Subcontinent
Southeast Asia and the southern coast of China
The archipelagos of The Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia
The north-west coasts of Australia, and most Pacific islands including Fiji and Hawai’i
The tropical forests are under greater threat than at any time, as they are cut down to make way for agriculture.
WASHINGTON— Conservation groups released a sweeping action plan today for the United States to dramatically crack down on wildlife trade, which is the most probable cause of the global coronavirus pandemic. Among other proposals, the action plan recommends that the United States end live wildlife imports, curtail all other wildlife trade until stricter regulations are adopted, and take a global leadership role in controlling wildlife trade to stop future pandemics.
END WILDLIFE TRADE An Action Plan To Prevent Future Pandemics
Over the past 40 years, most global pandemics — including HIV, SARS, Ebola and Zika — have been zoonotic, meaning that they jumped from wildlife to people. The coronavirus likely originated from a live wildlife market in China — potentially passed from a bat, to another animal, to a human. Wildlife markets typically sell many different types of live wildlife, including both legally and illegally sourced animals.
“If we’re going to avoid future pandemics, the United States and every other nation needs to do its part to stop the exploitation of wildlife.
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“The loss of life and other devastating impacts of the coronavirus make it clear that the meager economic benefits of commodifying wildlife are simply not worth the risks.”
—Brett Hartl, Government Affairs Director at the Center for Biological Diversity
Irresponsible wildlife trade is a global problem. Importing more than 224 million live animals and 883 million other wildlife species every year, the United States is one of the world’s top wildlife importers. It also remains a common destination for illegally traded species. The United States and other nations have made only half-hearted efforts to address the impacts of wildlife trade and lack capacity to address trade effectively.
Strengthen U.S. conservation laws to fight wildlife trade;
Invest $10 billion in U.S. and global capacity to stop wildlife trade, while helping communities transition to alternative livelihoods; and
Resume the U.S. position as a global leader in international wildlife conservation.
“This pandemic has made clear: wildlife trade is not only a threat to biodiversity—it’s also a threat to global public health.
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“China’s response to the COVID-19 crisis took quick action to restrict wildlife trade. In contrast, the U.S. has failed to take a single step towards minimizing this threat. That should change now.”
—Elly Pepper, deputy director for International Wildlife Conservation at the NRDC
Long-tailed pangolin (M. tetradactyla) by Brett Hartl / Center for Biological Diversity. Image is available for media use.
Biodiversity loss, high rates of deforestation, and vast increases in agricultural development are leading to an increase in human encroachment into previously undisturbed habitat and contact with wildlife. As people move deeper into these last natural areas of the planet, scientists believe that infectious diseases will continue to emerge. Experts predict that new diseases will emerge from wildlife to infect humans somewhere between every four months and every three years.
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The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing.
