Project
abstract: The objective of the National Botanical Institute's
(NBI) vegetation mapping project was to map woody plant species to
provide estimates of the fraction of individual species
contributing to the peak leaf area index for designated vegetation
types in southern Africa. The target was to account for 80% of the
woody vegetation leaf area in terms of named species, for 80% of
the surface area of Africa south of the equator.
The
data sources are both published and unpublished species lists for
vegetation types and individual sample plots, with the species
contribution estimated by local experts in terms of dominants and
subdominants. Source maps include: Low and Rebelo (1998) covering
South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland; Giess (1971) covering
Namibia; Wild and Barbosa (1968) covering Botswana, Zimbabwe,
Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique; Barbosa (1970) covering Angola;
White (1983) covering Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Somalia; and
White (1983) covering Ruanda, Burundi, Congo, and Gabon. Each
source map delineates of a wide variety of land cover categories
that differ from region to region.
Because
vegetation discontinuities exist along some of the regional
borders and a perfectly continuous regional map could not be
achieved within the timeframe and budget of the project, the final
regional map is made up of six independent sub-regional maps. The
data set also includes a cross-referenced database of woody plant
species, in order of species dominance, associated with all
mapped units.
The following areas and vegetation types were
excluded according to the sub-project objectives, appearing as
transparent in the map : areas north of the Equator, evergreen
moist forests, pure grasslands, desert and arid regions, Fynbos.
These areas are indicated as such on the final product map. Main
water bodies are also mapped specifically.
Note:
the database (in CSV format) of woody plant species is attached to
this dataset under the "attachments" tab.