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What materials fuel wildfires in savannas?

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Flat savanna plain with scattered acacia trees under a partly cloudy sky in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. — Savanna A savanna marked with acacia trees in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Africa's Serengeti Plain is commonly used as an example of the savanna biome—a hot, seasonally dry ecological region characterized by an open tree canopy (i.e., scattered trees) above an understory of continuous grasses.

Wildfires in savanna ecosystems are primarily fueled by grasses, leaf litter, and other dead plant material that dries out rapidly following the conclusion of the rainy season.12

This accumulation of dry organic matter serves as the primary combustible material for wildfires, which play a fundamental role in maintaining the savanna's structure by preventing the encroachment of woody plants and influencing vegetation dynamics. While these fires are essential for nutrient cycling—releasing minerals back into the soil for future plant growth—they also exert a controlling influence on the landscape, as the severity and frequency of these burns determine the balance between grasses, shrubs, and trees.3124