Serengeti volcanic grasslands
The Serengeti Volcanic Grasslands is a vast ecosystem spanning approximately 9,650 square miles across Tanzania and Kenya, recognized for its rich biodiversity and iconic wildlife. The name "Serengeti" is derived from the Maasai word "Siringit," meaning "endless plains." This unique landscape is primarily characterized by the migration patterns of ungulates, such as wildebeests and zebras, which move in search of food and water driven by seasonal rainfall. The grasslands are enriched by volcanic soils from ancient eruptions, supporting a variety of flora, including short grasses and scattered acacia trees.
The area is home to numerous animal species, including large herds of migratory ungulates and their predators, such as lions and cheetahs. It also supports endangered species like the eastern black rhino and African wild dog, highlighting its ecological significance. The Serengeti is not only vital to wildlife but also to local human communities, particularly the Maasai and other ethnic groups, who rely on it for their livelihoods.
Despite its ecological importance, the Serengeti faces numerous threats from human activities, including agriculture, poaching, and climate change, which impact the delicate balance of this unique ecosystem. As the human population grows, the pressures on wildlife and natural resources intensify, raising concerns about the future of this remarkable region and its inhabitants.
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Serengeti Volcanic Grasslands
Category: Grassland, Tundra, and Human Biomes.
Geographic Location: Africa.
Summary: The Serengeti Volcanic Grasslands is an exceptional ecosystem comprised of vast plains of short grasses that are home to migratory herds of ungulates and many bird species; it is also a magnet for ecotourists.
The Serengeti volcanic grasslands is a 9,650-square-mile (25,000-square-kilometer) area straddling the borders of Tanzania and Kenya that gets its name from the Maasai word Siringit, meaning endless plains. The ecosystem is defined by the movement patterns of the migratory ungulates, which roam the plains in search of food and water, stimulated by local rainfall. The grasslands of the Serengeti Plains are bordered in the southeast by the Ngorongoro Mountains and the active Oldonyo le-ngai volcanic mountain, as well as the Great Rift Valley. To the south are the Sukuma plains. To the west is Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest inland water body; in the north are the Mau highlands, Siria escarpment, and Mara River in Kenya and Tanzania.
The Serengeti volcanic plains are mostly contained within protected areas. The Tanzania portion of the region is located in the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where the pastoral human community resides and mixes with friendly wildlife.
The Ikorongo, Grumeti, Maswa, and Kijereshi game reserves are used for sustainable tourist hunting to support ecosystem conservation and the subsistence communities. The Loliondo game controlled area and the Ikona and Makao wildlife management districts are owned by the communities for wildlife conservation and socioeconomic development. In Kenya, the Serengeti volcanic plains fall within the Maasai Mara National Reserve and surrounding group ranches.
The Serengeti volcanic grasslands are a result of Pliocene- and Pleistocene-age volcanic eruption of the Ngorongoro Mountains. Aerial ash and debris from these volcanic highlands was blown westward to form the Serengeti Plains, producing a core area of basic, mineral-rich deposits supporting this very fertile ecosystem. In other areas, the soils are dominated by black clay soils, or by highly saline, alkaline, and shallow sandy loam soils. These latter tend to be less fertile.
Biodiversity
Supported by the rich volcanic soils, the Serengeti grasslands proliferated and expanded, with vast spreads of short grasses; oat grass (Thermedatriandra), Cynodon spp., and Chloris dominate many areas. There also are Sporobolus and sedges such as Kyllinga. In places, the plains are interrupted by open woodlands, with Acacia and Combretum quite typical.
These grass-based lands attract millions of animals; among the leading fauna here are more than 1.5 million migratory wildebeest, 600,000 plain zebras, and in excess of 300,000 Thompson and Grant’s gazelles. These huge herds of ungulates, or hooved animals, support diverse carnivore populations of lion, hyena, cheetah, wild dog, and jackal. The population of these ungulates is so large that by the grazing, breeding, calving, and migration patterns, it in great measure determines the structure and function of the environments around it. Researchers have examined a variety of factors that might affect animal migration including the chemical composition of the soil.
The plains are home to such endangered and threatened species as eastern black rhino (Diceros bicornis michaeli), pangolin or scaly anteater (Manis spp.), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), African wild dog, and cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).
The Serengeti Volcanic Grasslands biome is also home to diverse invertebrate communities, among the most notable of which is the harvester termite, which plays a vital role in nutrient cycling across the plains. Others include the dung beetles (Scarabidae spp.), well known for cleaning the mess, that is, breaking down carrion and waste, left by other animals—and thereby dispersing and recycling nutrients throughout the biota here.
Serengeti is home to a diverse community of raptors, notably vultures, kites, and eagles; each these groups is sustained by the presence of enough prey species. Other iconic fauna here include crocodile, giraffe, topi, hartebeest, eland, and various snakes.
Birds of the Serengeti include many vibrantly-colored species, such as black-headed heron (Ardea melanocephala), purple-grenadier (Uraeginthus ianthinogaster), rufous-railed scrub-robin (Cercotrichas galactotes), yellow-throated sandgrouse (Pterocles gutturalis), Fisher’s lovebird (Agapornis fischeri), yellow-collared lovebird (Agapornis personatus), Kori bustard (Ardeotis kor), Madagascar bee-eater (Merops superciliosus), African hawk-eagle (Hieraaetus spilogaster), violet-backed starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster), ostrich (Struthio camelus), and flamingo.
Human Activity and Threats
The grasslands are vital to the economies in East Africa, as for instance, more than half of all tourists visiting Tanzania are drawn to the Serengeti. The plains are inhabited by diverse ethnic groups, most notable of whom are the Maasai, who inhabit the eastern swaths of the region in both Tanzania and Kenya. The Maasai are culturally nomadic pastoralists whose lives depend on moving their livestock—mostly cattle, goats, and sheep—following available pasture.
Other ethnic groups include the Bushmen group the Hadzabe in the southeastern portion of the region, who are mainly hunters and gatherers. Other peoples include the Kurya, Ikoma, Ikizu, Isenye, Nata, and Sukuma, who mostly inhabit the northern, western, and southwestern reaches of the ecosystem. They are mainly agro-pastoralists, practicing both livestock herding and small-scale crop farming.
Despite their apparently endless bounty, the Serengeti volcanic grasslands are an ecological island in a rising sea of humanity. Located within Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, parts of the northern reaches have been converted to mechanized agriculture, while a great deal of the southwestern portion around the Maswa Game Reserve in Tanzania has been turned into cotton fields. Rising threats and damage are coming from increased poaching, human-livestock disease transmission, heavier road traffic, and political interference in protected areas. Conflicts also have escalated over rights to and control over the rising population of elephants that move in and out of the reserves, causing havoc in some settlement areas.
Climate change has made rainfall unpredictable, impacting the migrating patterns of local wildlife. As a result, drought periods have increased and many animals have died, especially among the grazers. Altering migration pattern and drier conditions have triggered disease outbreaks, and the increase of pests such as ticks are leading to an imbalance across habitats here. If the changes intensify as expected, there is expanding potential for species extinctions.
Bibliography
Gottschalk, Thomas. “Birds of a Grumeti River Forest in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.” African Bird Club. http://www.africanbirdclub.org/feature/grumeti.html.
Kornei, Katherine. "Geology and Chemistry Drive Animal Migration in the Serengeti." American Geophysical Union, 27 May 2020, eos.org/articles/geology-and-chemistry-drive-animal-migration-in-the-serengeti. Accessed 31 Aug. 2022.
Mburia, Robert. “Climate Change and Species Loss.” Climate Emergency Institute. http://www.climate-emergency-institute.org/species‗loss‗robert‗m.html.
Sinclair, A. R. E., Craig Packer, Simon A. R. Mduma, and John M. Fryxell, eds. Serengeti III: Human Impacts on Ecosystem Dynamics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2008.