SAVANNA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does savanna mean? 

• SAVANNA (noun)
  The noun SAVANNA has 1 sense:

1. a flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions

  Familiarity information: SAVANNA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SAVANNA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

savanna; savannah

Hypernyms ("savanna" is a kind of...):

grassland (land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life)

 Context examples 

A new study tracks differences in the savanna there across 30 years, and provides information that will allow governments and non-profit organizations to improve dryland management strategies in the region.

(Land cover change in Botswana savannas: Don't blame the elephants, National Science Foundation)

The Sahara expands as the Sahel retreats, disrupting the region's fragile savanna ecosystems and human societies.

(New study finds world’s largest desert, the Sahara, has grown by 10 percent since 1920, National Science Foundation)

The transition to fungiculture helped termites disperse to less hospitable dry savannas, and eventually to migrate out of Africa and into Asia.

(Researchers discover oldest evidence of 'farming' by insects, NSF)

An international study spearheaded by Brazilian scientists forecasts the continuation of the deforestation in the Brazilian savanna, known as cerrado.

(Species native to Brazil savanna likely to face extinction, Agência Brasil)

Excessive fire suppression might be devastating to the species that depend on natural savanna habitats, both in Brazil and in other regions of the world such as parts of Africa.

(Fire control harms biodiversity in Brazilian savannah, SciDev.Net)

Researchers examined 37 years of data tied to plant biodiversity (number of different species) and plant productivity (amount of plants) in 21 grassland and savanna areas in Minnesota.

(Plant biodiversity struggles to return in wake of agricultural abandonment, National Science Foundation)

In the parched grasslands and savannas, or drylands, of Africa, South America and Asia, termite mounds store nutrients and moisture and via internal tunnels, allow water to better penetrate the soil.

(Dirt mounds made by termites in Africa, South America, Asia could prevent spread of deserts, NSF)

Illegal occupation of land, deforestation, and monitoring efforts were some of the problems detected during the three years of research by the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation (FUNDAJ) in 14 of the country's Federal Conservation Units of Total Protection, located in the caatinga—a biome often referred to as the Brazilian savanna.

(Brazilian savanna unprotected, study finds, Agência Brasil)

"Not much is known about what happens in transitional savanna ecosystems that are located between more arid and wetter climate zones."

(Land cover change in Botswana savannas: Don't blame the elephants, National Science Foundation)

The southern border of the Sahara adjoins the Sahel, the semi-arid transition zone that lies between the Sahara and fertile savannas farther south.

(New study finds world’s largest desert, the Sahara, has grown by 10 percent since 1920, National Science Foundation)