The East Sudanian savanna forms the eastern half of Africa's Sudanian savanna belt, a hot, seasonally dry tropical band that reaches its western limit at the Nigeria/Cameroon border and stretches across roughly ten countries eastward through Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic to Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Eritrea; the Sudd flooded grasslands split it into a western and an eastern block. It is wooded savanna dominated by deciduous Terminalia and Combretum trees alongside Anogeissus leiocarpus and Vachellia seyal, with an understory of tall elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and grasses such as Hyparrhenia and Cymbopogon. The climate is strongly seasonal, with almost all rain falling in a single wet season from roughly April to October and totals declining northward toward the Sahel. The region supports large mammals including elephant, lion, cheetah, and wild dog, with the giant eland as its flagship species and the black rhinoceros slated for reintroduction in Chad after earlier extirpation; Wikipedia notes more than 1,000 endemic plant species. Gardeners may recognize native ornamentals here such as the sausage tree (Kigelia) and the pink jacaranda (Stereospermum kunthianum).
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 8.6°N, 20.9°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12b-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +4.1°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
About the tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas & shrublands biome
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.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas & shrublands ecoregions to explore: