Vegetation of the Namibia as used in the SAFARI 2000 project assessing
the contribution of burning woody African vegetation south of the
Equator to atmospheric aerosols.
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The data sources are both published and unpublished species lists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.