Why are young savanna trees especially vulnerable to dry-season fires?

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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.

Young savanna trees are especially vulnerable to dry-season fires because they have not yet developed the thick, corky bark that serves as a protective layer for mature trees.1

In savanna ecosystems, trees that reach a certain size can often withstand fire injury due to this specialized bark, which provides thermal insulation for their vital tissues. Because young saplings lack this developed defense, they are more susceptible to being killed by the intense heat of fires fueled by dried grass during the dry season. This vulnerability is a significant factor in determining the overall structure and distribution of vegetation within the savanna.123