Africa Terrestrial Ecosystems and Base Layers

This map presents information about the terrestrial ecosystems in Africa, and was developed as part of the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) effort to model the distribution of terrestrial ecosystems using the geospatial mapping methodology that was developed from a deductive, biophysical stratification approach to delineate ecosystems by their major structural elements (Sayre and others, 2009). Each major structural component of ecosystems (land surface forms, surficial lithology, bioclimates, topographic moisture potential, and so forth) was modeled and then spatially combined to produce a new map of biophysical settings, termed ecosystem structural footprints. These ecosystem structure units characterize the abiotic (physical) potential of the environment. Additional information and access to this data is available at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/ecosystems/.