The natural areas of Africa and their diversity

The natural areas of Africa are characterized by great diversity, because the continent itself is located on the equator and stretches from it thousands of kilometers. Among their main species are a zone of equatorial forests, savannahs and light forests, as well as deserts and semi-desert territories, evergreen forests and shrubs.

As the amount of heat and humidity level in Africa gradually increases or decreases, and the relief is very diverse, this causes the natural zones of Africa within the equatorial forests to be subdivided into wet-equatorial, alternately moist forests. As for savannas and woodlands, here one can distinguish a moist and dry area.

As for the animal world in the zone of equatorial forests, it is characterized by great diversity. A huge part of these animals is adapted to life on trees. These include monkeys, various species of birds, as well as rodents and insects. Among the terrestrial fauna in Africa, there are many elephants, rhinoceroses, as well as hippos, small ungulates, etc. You can see lizards and snakes. As for insects, the most dangerous of them is the tsetse fly, whose bite causes a sleeping sickness in a person.

The climate and natural areas of Africa are directly dependent on each other. Thus, in the upper layers of rocks, where it is moist and hot, favorable conditions are created for the formation of compounds with a high content of aluminum and iron. The soil becomes a reddish shade, and therefore has the name red-yellow ferrallitnoy. It does not have a high fertility, because organic substances do not have time to accumulate due to their rapid decomposition.

Such natural areas of Africa as savannas and light forests are characterized by an abundance of vegetation, the height of which can reach more than five meters. During the dry season, the grass burns out, and leaves fall from the trees. These territories are characterized by the diversity of the animal world, among which are the herbivorous representatives of the fauna - antelopes, zebras, buffaloes. The world of reptiles is very widely represented; You can often find lizards, snakes and chameleons.

The natural zones of Africa, which are deserts and semi-deserts, extend to the north and south of the continent and occupy large areas (30% of the total). As for vegetation, in these areas it is practically nonexistent. On the rocks grow lichens, and also there are here and there a bunch of grasses and thorny bushes. All this is the result of scanty precipitation. Sometimes there is a situation in which raindrops evaporate before they reach the ground.

Animals are used to the natural conditions that characterize Africa. If you describe the temperature regime, it should be noted that in the daytime there is very hot and dry air, and at night it becomes much colder. Sand and dust storms are also common in these areas .

Soil deserts and semi-deserts do not form a continuous cover. They have a very low content of organic substances, but many mineral salts. If there are places where groundwater is near the surface of the earth, there vegetation is characterized by diversity. Such places are called oases.

Natural areas are characterized by a variety of climatic conditions, therefore they have their own peculiarities. The fact is that some of the animals can go without water for a long time, while others can overcome long distances in its search.

In the zone of subtropical hardwood forests, the amount of precipitation falls according to a certain season. Summer is very hot, and the winter is damp and mild. Soils here have acquired a natural brown shade.

Africa, the natural zones of which are characterized by the diversity of both climatic conditions and the animal and plant world, is a continent with pronounced latitudinal zonation.