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data sources are both published and unpublished species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.