Week 9: Vegetation (Savanna, mangrove)

WALT: we are learning to:

(i) Define vegetation
(ii) Mention the types of vegetation
(iii) Give at least two features of each type of vegetation

Vegetation is the patchwork of plant species arrayed across the landscape. It

includes a variety of life forms such as trees, shrubs, grasses, forbs, and non-
vascular plants.
Types of Vegetation
1. Salt Water Swamp Forest. This is also known as mangrove forest.
The ground is usually waterlogged and the water is ‘brackish’
meaning ‘partially fresh and partially salty’. The tree has arched
root system meaning the root is spread out from the main trunk
and the tree is supported by this radial root system. The most
common is the Red Mangrove. Mangrove wood makes excellent
fuel which burns even when the wood is fresh.
2. Fresh Water Swamp Forest: This zone is almost of the same width
as the salt water swamp forest, but it is more extensive in length.
The most common specie is the raffia palm. The fresh water forest
is open at the top; it does not form a canopy like rain forest.
Sunlight penetrates easily and this has given rise to a dense
undergrowth of shrubs and lianas.
3. Tropical Rain Forest or Equatorial Forest. Here, the rainfall is
heavy and rain falls almost every year. The rainy season lasts
about 10 months. The ground is well-drained, no water-logging.
The temperature is high throughout the year. There is no winter
to check plant growth.
4. Savannah Vegetation: There is guinea savannah, Sudan savannah
and Sahel savannah. In Savannah environments, most of the
 plants survive the regular bush fires and the pronounced dry
season.

Products from vegetation

1. food,
2. wood,
3. Fuel and other materials

EVALUATION
1. What do you understand by the term vegetation?
2. Mention any three types of vegetation you know.
3. State any two features of the vegetation mention above.

Home work
Vegetation Belt Research: Draw a line or write the correct letter to
match the type of biome to its description.

1 Aquatic (A)The coldest biome with very few animals or plants.

2 Desert (B)Covers nearly 75% of the earth. Usually divided into two categories:
fresh water and marine.
3 Forest: (c ) Made up of grasses with very few trees or tall plants.

4 Grassland (D )Made up of trees and other plants. Covers about 30% of the earth’s
surface.

5 Rainforest ( E) Warm all year round. Home to tropical plants. Produces about
40% of our oxygen.
6 Tundra ( F) A dry area that receives less than 25cm of rain a year. It could be
hot or cold.