The Lake Chad flooded savanna is an Afrotropic flooded-grassland ecoregion centered on the basin of Lake Chad, straddling the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. It is a mosaic of open water, papyrus and reed beds, seasonally flooded grasslands, and Acacia woodland: the southern lake supports Cyperus papyrus, Phragmites mauritianus, and Vossia cuspidata, the saltier north favors Phragmites australis and Typha, and Acacia seyal is the predominant tree of the drier margins. The climate is tropical and dry, with around 320 mm of rainfall a year concentrated in a June-to-October wet season, so the lake depends heavily on the Chari and Logone Rivers rather than on local rain. It is a critical refuge for waterbirds, hosting many wetland species and large numbers of Palearctic migrants such as ruff, with the secretary bird serving as its flagship species, though the lake has shrunk dramatically in recent decades under pressure from drought, water diversion, and agriculture. For gardeners, the region's native flora includes ornamental wetland and dryland genera grown elsewhere, notably papyrus (Cyperus) and Acacia.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 13.3°N, 14.1°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12b-13a
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12b-13a
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.6°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.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Flooded Grasslands & Savannas
Realm
Afrotropic
Approximate area
12,396 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Recover (Dinerstein NNH 3)
About the flooded grasslands & savannas biome
Grasslands and savannas subject to seasonal or year-round flooding, including large wetland complexes. Exceptionally productive, they concentrate waterbirds and aquatic life.
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 flooded grasslands & savannas ecoregions to explore: