The Zambezian Baikiaea Woodlands stretch in a broad belt along the Angolan-Namibian border across to Zimbabwe, also reaching into Botswana and Zambia, on an extensive plain of deep Kalahari sands at roughly 800 to 1,000 m and drained by the Okavango, Cuando, and Upper Zambezi Rivers. The habitat is a mosaic of dry deciduous forest, woodland, thicket, and secondary grassland dominated by African teak or Zambesi redwood (Baikiaea plurijuga), alongside endemic and near-endemic species in genera such as Baphia, Dialium, and Guibourtia. The climate is hot and semi-arid, with rainfall ranging from under 400 mm in the drier southwest to about 800 mm in the north and strongly concentrated from November to April. Positioned as a transition between the more humid miombo woodlands to the north and the drier Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands to the south, the region remains largely intact because nutrient-poor soils and variable rainfall have discouraged farming, and it still supports large threatened mammals including black rhino, lion, and elephant along with herds of Burchell's zebra and blue wildebeest.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 17.3°S, 19.1°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11b-12b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12a-13a
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +4.6°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.
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
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.
These plants fit the ecoregion as it is today, but the mid-century projection moves them outside their stated zone range — plan for them to struggle by 2070.
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: