A savanna grassland ecosystem spanning northern Tanzania and southwestern Kenya, famous for hosting the largest overland animal migration on Earth: more than a million wildebeest, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle, follow an annual clockwise circuit driven by seasonal rainfall and fresh grazing, crossing crocodile-filled rivers along the way. This concentration of grazing herds in turn supports one of the densest large-predator populations in Africa, including lion, cheetah, leopard and hyena, and the African elephant ranges across the ecosystem's woodlands and grasslands alongside them. Most of the ecosystem lies within Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the adjoining Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, together forming one continuous protected landscape across the international border.
Facts
Classification
Biogeographic Realm Protected Status Area (sq km) Connections
Demonstrated By
Source Animal Migration (Wikipedia)
Demonstrates
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Serengeti grassland is a fire-adapted ecosystem: regular natural and human-set fires clear dead grass, recycle nutrients into the soil and maintain the open savanna structure the ecosystem grazing herds depend on.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Hosts
The Serengeti's own entity record names lion among the dense large-predator population its migration herds support.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source World Wildlife Fund
In Biome
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.britannica.com/place/Serengeti-National-Park, opening definition sentence
Serengeti National Park, national park and wildlife refuge on the Serengeti Plain in north-central Tanzania.
- Biogeographic realm: afrotropic (derived from location stated in entity description)
Protected status (stated plainly in the entity own recorded description)
Most of the ecosystem lies within Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the adjoining Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, together forming one continuous protected landscape across the international border.
- Demonstrates: Nitrogen Cycle
- Demonstrates: Decomposition
- Demonstrates: Wildfire
- In Biome: Savanna
- Hosts: African Lion
View the Source World Wildlife Fund
Animal Migration (Wikipedia)
Demonstrated By: Migration, Mammals passage, Serengeti great migration sentenceQuote, Demonstrated By: Migration, Mammals passage, Serengeti great migration sentence
Mass migration occurs in mammals such as the Serengeti 'great migration', an annual circular pattern of movement with some 1.7 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of other large game animals, including gazelles and zebra.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.