West Sudanian savanna

West Sudanian savanna

West Sudanian savanna
The West Sudanian savanna stretches in a broad east-west band across West Africa, reaching from the Atlantic coast of Senegal and The Gambia eastward to the Mandara Mountains on Nigeria's eastern border and spanning around a dozen countries. It is a tropical savanna and open-woodland ecoregion where Combretum and Terminalia are the characteristic trees and tall Hyparrhenia, or elephant grass, dominates a ground layer of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, with the Combretaceae and Fabaceae among the leading plant families. The climate is tropical and strongly seasonal, with a hot rainy season and a cooler dry season and rainfall that declines from the wetter south toward the drier north. Its flagship animal is the giant eland (Taurotragus derbianus), and the transboundary W-Arly-Penjari complex shelters the only savanna elephant population in western or central Africa, numbering over 2,000. Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is among the useful trees native to its drier woodlands.
RESOLVE 62
Afrotropic
633,108 sq mi
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Tipo de paisagem
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Região vegetal
Afrotropic
Pegada da região
633,108 sq mi
Pressão sobre o habitat
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
Use isto como o padrão geral de plantio para a região: Warm grasslands and savannas where grasses dominate and trees are scattered, maintained by seasonal rainfall, grazing, and fire. They support large herbivore communities and respond sharply to wet–dry cycles. Para decisões de jardim, combine esse contexto com a lista de plantas abaixo e depois refine pelas restrições de luz, água, solo e tamanho adulto do seu local.

Range & origins

West Sudanian savanna location on world map
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 11.9°N, 0.9°W.
A região ao longo do tempo
Pegada moderna
RESOLVE 2017 mapeia 633,108 sq mi
Este limite é uma pegada ecológica moderna de West Sudanian savanna, não uma linha permanente no planeta. É útil para o contexto atual de plantas e fauna porque segue padrões recorrentes de vegetação, clima, relevo e perturbações.
Por que aqui
Condições de tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas & shrublands
A região fica no reino Afrotropic e é classificada como tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas & shrublands. Altitude, umidade, fogo, solos, costas e o uso humano da terra podem tornar a paisagem real mais variada do que uma única cor no mapa sugere.
Pressão de mudança
Nature Imperiled
O Plotwright mostra isto como a pegada RESOLVE atual. Ao longo de décadas a séculos, o aquecimento, as perturbações, as espécies invasoras, o uso da terra e a restauração podem mover a borda viva de uma região mesmo quando o mapa de referência permanece fixo.

Regiões de plantio semelhantes

Explore outras regiões com um ritmo semelhante de verões quentes e secos. Suas listas de plantas podem sugerir espécies e combinações que valem a pena comparar.
RESOLVE 34 - Afrotropic
Angolan mopane woodlands
The Angolan mopane woodlands stretch across southwestern Angola and northern Namibia, running along the Owambo Basin and surrounding the salt flats of the Etosha Pan. As the name suggests, the ecoregion is dominated by the mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane), which grows as a single-stemmed tree up to about 10 meters tall or, where conditions are harsher, as a dense shrub, alongside associated Acacia, Combretum, and Commiphora species. The climate is dry, with rainfall concentrated in the summer and peaking in late summer. The woodlands shelter elephants, black and white rhinoceros, lion, and cheetah, as well as the near-endemic black-faced impala, and the wider region is anchored by protected areas including Namibia's Etosha National Park. Mopane here also has a direct human use, as the caterpillars of the mopane emperor moth are gathered locally as food.
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Zones 11a-12b
+4.2°F by 2070
74,248 sq mi
NNH tier 2
RESOLVE 35 - Afrotropic
Angolan scarp savanna and woodlands
The Angolan scarp savanna and woodlands form a long, narrow strip along the coast of Angola, running from the Atlantic shore up the steep west-facing escarpment that climbs roughly 1,000 meters to the country's central plateau. Vegetation shifts dramatically with elevation, grading from dry woodland and wooded grassland—where baobab, Strychnos, and Acacia welwitschii grow—up to humid mist and cloud forests whose canopy includes Khaya anthotheca, Bombax buonopozense, and Spathodea campanulata. The climate is tropical with summer rains; the coastal belt, cooled by the Benguela Current, stays humid but receives relatively little rain, while the escarpment is far wetter. Despite being poorly studied and only partly protected within reserves such as Quiçãma National Park, the region is rich in endemics, including the red-crested turaco and the grey-striped francolin, and is classified as Vulnerable. For gardeners, the showy African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata), grown as an ornamental in warm climates worldwide, is native to these escarpment forests.
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Zones 12a-13b
+3.7°F by 2070
52,811 sq mi
NNH tier 4
RESOLVE 36 - Afrotropic
Angolan wet miombo woodlands
The Angolan wet miombo woodlands blanket most of the central Angolan plateau and extend north into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sitting largely at elevations between about 1,000 and 1,500 meters. The defining habitat is miombo woodland, a moist deciduous broadleaf savanna dominated by legume trees of the family Fabaceae (subfamily Caesalpinioideae), especially the genera Brachystegia, Julbernardia, and Isoberlinia, with grassland and sandy-soil openings between the stands. The climate is tropical and notably wetter than the surrounding savanna, with rainfall strongly concentrated in the hot summer months from roughly November to March. The ecoregion is the stronghold of the giant sable antelope (Hippotragus niger variani), a critically endangered Angolan endemic protected at Cangandala National Park, and it also harbors a strict-endemic rodent, Vernay's climbing mouse. For gardeners, the signature native flora here are the canopy-forming Brachystegia and Isoberlinia legume trees that give the miombo its character.
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Zones 12a-13b
+4.0°F by 2070
173,318 sq mi
NNH tier 4
RESOLVE 37 - Afrotropic
Ascension scrub and grasslands
This ecoregion covers Ascension Island, a small volcanic British Overseas Territory in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, roughly 1,200 km northwest of St. Helena and about 1,700 km from the African mainland. Its natural cover is dry grassland and scrubland with few if any trees, with much of the north and west marked by barren, desert-like ground broken by patches of grass and the endemic Ascension spurge (Euphorbia origanoides), the island's only endemic lowland plant. The climate is subtropical and semi-arid, with temperatures ranging from about 10 to 32 degrees Celsius and low mean annual rainfall around 709 mm, divided into a hotter season and a cooler one. Before human settlement the island supported only 25 to 30 plant species, ten of them endemic, including the shrub Oldenlandia adscensionis, the grass genus Sporobolus, and several endemic ferns such as Asplenium ascensionis and Pteris adscensionis. Today the island is one of the most important seabird breeding sites in the tropical Atlantic, home to the endemic Ascension frigatebird (Fregata aquila) and a globally significant green turtle nesting population, though introduced prickly pear and Mexican thorn now press on its sparse native flora.
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Zones 13b
+2.7°F by 2070
36 sq mi
NNH tier 4
RESOLVE 38 - Afrotropic
Central bushveld
The Central Bushveld is a tropical savanna ecoregion that sweeps across northern South Africa (most of Limpopo and part of North West province), the southeast corner of Botswana, and into Zimbabwe. Its vegetation is a mosaic of grassland studded with trees and tall shrubs: vast, often monospecific stands of the winter-deciduous mopane (Colophospermum mopane), northern woodland savanna with Burkea africana and silver clusterleaf, and acacia-dominated savanna on the southern flats featuring Acacia tortilis, A. nilotica, and A. nigrescens, while the Waterberg Mountains add Terminalia sericea and Peltophorum africanum. The climate is seasonal with hot, wet summers and cool, dry winters, modest annual rainfall, and a wide temperature swing, so grasses brown off through the May-to-August dry season. The region supports rich large-mammal life, including elephant, giraffe, and the threatened black rhinoceros and cheetah, alongside Waterberg-area endemics such as Juliana's golden mole and several girdled lizards. For gardeners, several of its hardy, drought-adapted natives, including Peltophorum africanum (weeping wattle) and Terminalia sericea, are grown ornamentally for their form and resilience in dry, summer-rainfall settings.
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Zones 10b-11b
+4.4°F by 2070
60,236 sq mi
NNH tier 3
RESOLVE 39 - Afrotropic
Central Zambezian wet miombo woodlands
The Central Zambezian wet miombo woodlands sprawl across south-central Africa, covering roughly 70 percent of central and northern Zambia along with adjacent parts of Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique. This is classic miombo country, an open woodland dominated by legume trees of the genera Brachystegia, Julbernardia, and Isoberlinia, with Pterocarpus angolensis, Albizia, and Afzelia quanzensis among the associated species and a ground layer of herbaceous Crotalaria and Indigofera. The climate is tropical and seasonal, set on a flat plateau between about 1,000 and 1,600 meters, with most rain falling in a single November-to-March wet season followed by a long dry season that can last up to seven months. It holds the highest floral richness of the African miombo ecoregions, peaking in Zambia, and supports large mammals such as African elephant, buffalo, and black rhino across major reserves like Kafue National Park. For gardeners, several of its native canopy genera, including Brachystegia and the bloodwood Pterocarpus angolensis, are valued as ornamental and shade trees in warm, frost-light climates.
Tropical & Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Zones 12a-13b
+4.1°F by 2070
395,004 sq mi
NNH tier 3

Sources & citations

Cite this page
Para planos de aula, artigos ou notas de plantio regionais que usem esta página do Plotwright. Para citar a estrutura de ecorregiões subjacente ou um perfil editorial específico, use os cartões de fontes abaixo.
Plotwright. (n.d.). West Sudanian savanna (West Sudanian savanna). Retrieved 2026, June 15, from https://plotwright.garden/regions/resolve-62
Fontes para esta região
Esta página cita primeiro o Plotwright pela visão compilada e depois lista as páginas de fontes da estrutura, do clima e editoriais a montante para que os leitores possam citar o material original diretamente.
RESOLVE 2017 Terrestrial Ecoregions (Dinerstein et al.)
Estrutura principal de ecorregiões
Backs 4 fields
ID do RESOLVE
Bioma + reino
Área
Nível NNH
One Earth
One Earth
Backs 1 field
Resumo editorial
Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
Backs 1 field
Verificação cruzada do resumo