Population and community development and structure
Savanna plants annually experience a long period in which moisture is inadequate for continued growth. Although the aboveground parts of the shallow-rooted grasses quickly dry out and die, the more deeply rooted trees can tap moisture lying further beneath the surface longer into the dry season. Grasses grow rapidly when moisture is available but die back when it is not, surviving long, dry periods as dormant buds close to the soil surface. Sandy soils, which supply abundant moisture during rainy periods but which dry out almost completely in the absence of rain, favour the grassy component of savannas. Trees, on the other hand, require water in at least small amounts at all seasons even if they drop their leaves; deep soil layers supply this need. Trees in savannas are favoured by stony soils, which allow deep penetration by roots but which are less favourable to grasses. Nevertheless, especially toward the end of the dry season, many trees may lose their leaves to reduce transpirational loss of water, even though the leafless branches of some species carry open flowers. Soil, therefore, exerts some control over the nature of savanna vegetation, particularly in the drier parts of its distribution where sandy soils support grass-rich savanna with few trees and coarser, deeper soils support more tree-rich savanna with a smaller grass component.
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