Campos in Brazil and Llanos in Venezuela are examples of

Concept

Tropical grasslands (savanna) are a vegetation zone found within tropical latitudes near the equator. The climate stays warm all year but has a sharply marked wet season and dry season, which supports tall grass cover with scattered trees rather than closed forest. This is distinct from temperate grasslands, which occur at mid-latitudes with cold winters; from tundra vegetation, confined to polar or high-altitude zones with permafrost; and from Mediterranean vegetation, found in coastal zones with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.

Application

Campos in Brazil and Llanos in Venezuela both lie within the tropical latitudes of South America and follow this warm, wet-dry seasonal rhythm, supporting extensive grass cover with scattered trees. That places both regions in the tropical grasslands category.

Contrast

• Temperate grasslands, such as the Prairies of North America or the Steppes of Eurasia, form at mid-latitudes with cold winters -- a climate absent from equatorial Brazil and Venezuela.

• Tundra vegetation needs a polar or high-altitude, permafrost-bound climate, which does not occur in the tropical lowlands of Campos or Llanos.

• Mediterranean vegetation develops in coastal zones with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters -- a rainfall rhythm different from the tropical wet-dry seasonality of these South American plains.