Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands
RESOLVE 844
The Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands form an island of mountain habitat rising out of the eastern Sahara, spanning the volcanic Tibesti highlands of northern Chad and southern Libya and the smaller Jebel Uweinat massif at the meeting point of Libya, Egypt, and Sudan. These basalt uplands, crowned by Emi Koussi at 3,415 meters, intercept more rainfall and stay cooler than the surrounding desert, supporting scattered woodlands and shrublands of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), acacias, tamarix, and Saharan myrtle (Myrtus nivellei). The climate is arid and subtropical, with irregular rain that gathers in the wadis and winter temperatures that can fall to around 0 degrees Celsius at the highest elevations. The mountains shelter relict Mediterranean flora and wildlife including the aoudad (the ecoregion's flagship species), Dorcas gazelle, and Egyptian vultures, though very little of the area is formally protected. For gardeners, the region is the wild home of two familiar drought-hardy ornamentals, oleander (Nerium oleander) and tamarix, which here cling to moister rock pockets and seasonal watercourses.
About the deserts & xeric shrublands biome
Arid and semi-arid lands where low, erratic rainfall and high evaporation limit vegetation to drought-adapted shrubs, succulents, and sparse grasses. Day-to-night temperature swings are large, and life is finely tuned to water scarcity.
Collections for this ecoregion
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.