Useful Tree Species for Eastern Africa

a species selection tool based on the VECEA Map


Edaphic wooded grassland (edaphic vegetation type, wd)

Description

Within the VECEA map, we loosely defined “edaphic wooded grassland” as “edaphic grassland with scattered woody species” and “edaphic grassland” as “edaphic grassland without scattered woody species”. This means that some vegetation types that would have been classified as “edaphic grasslands” in a strict physiognomic classification system (i.e. woody cover < 10% as defined by White 1983) may have been allocated to “edaphic wooded grasslands” in the VECEA map. (The definition of "grasslands" of Pratt et al. 1966 of "land dominated by grasses and occasionally other herbs; sometimes with widely scattered or grouped trees and shrubs, the canopy cover of which does not exceed 2%" may therefore provide a more accurate physiognomic definition of vegetation types that were classified as "edaphic grassland" by the VECEA project).

For the regional map, all areas classified as edaphic wooded grasslands on the national maps were classified as such on the regional map as well. For the areas mapped as grasslands or areas which classification was ambiguous on the national maps, we used the average woody vegetation cover estimates by the MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields collection (version 5) [1] for the 2000-2010 period to distinguish between grasslands and woody grasslands. All areas with a estimated tree cover > 10% were classified as edaphic woody grasslands (wd) and the remainder as edaphic grasslands ( g ).

Although White (1983) described edaphic wooded grasslands separately for the various floristic regions, we did not apply a floristic classification system to edaphic wooded grasslands.


  1. Gachathi 2009; Figure 13.2 in VECEA Volume 5

Plant species

The main species recorded to occur within this vegetation type are listed below. Clicking the name of any of these species will open the page for that species on the Agroforestry Species Switchboard. Between brackets the English vernacular name of the species and the documented country distribution of the species (B=Burundi, E=Ethiopia, K=Kenya, M=Malawi, R=Rwanda, T=Tanzania, U=Uganda, Z=Zambia) is provided.

Based on information on species presence in national manifestations of vegetation types, each species was classified as a regionally dominant, characteristic, present or marginal species for a vegetation type (Read more ...)

Products and environmental services of tree species

Documented products and environmental services for the tree species occurring in this vegetation type (wd) are listed below. Clicking the name of any of these species will open the page for that species on the Agroforestry Species Switchboard. Between brackets information is given on the status of each species ('dom' indicates dominant species, 'cha' characteristic species, 'pre' other species and 'mar' species of marginal occurrence), the English vernacular name of the species and the documented country distribution of the species (B=Burundi, E=Ethiopia, K=Kenya, M=Malawi, R=Rwanda, T=Tanzania, U=Uganda, Z=Zambia).

Wood

Human consumption

Animal consumption

Environmental services

Other products

For more detailed information about the species occurrences see this excel workbook. It provides country specific information on species composition for this vegetation type. It also allows you to select a subset of useful tree species to provide desired products and services. For each species links to a number of websites / databases with information about this species are provided as well.

Conservation status

The table shows the area (km2) of the vegetation type and the percentage of this area explicitly designated for biodiversity, species or landscape protection (A) and areas designated for both protection and sustainable use objectives (B). Only the nationally designated protected areas were included.

PNV Area (km2) A (%) B (%)
Fb/Be/wd 194,316 0.60 10.80
Wcd/wd 614 31.80 0.00
wd 69,491 21.00 11.20
wd/P 629 12.60 7.80
wd/R 305 15.40 10.20

A) Include the IUCN categories I - IV; B) Include the IUCN categories V - VI and the protected areas without IUCN classification. Read more

Links

Species selection tool
Other vegetation types
//vegetationmap4africa.org
Documentation

Citation and terms of use

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