North Saharan steppe and woodlands

Ecoregion in North Africa

North Saharan steppe and woodlands
Souss-Massa National Park in Morocco
Map of North Africa with ecoregion territory in purple
Ecology
Realm	Palearctic
Biome	Deserts and xeric shrublands
Borders	List Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands Atlantic coastal desert Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe Nile Delta flooded savanna Sahara desert Saharan halophytics Sahelian Acacia savanna South Saharan steppe and woodlands West Saharan montane xeric woodlands
Geography
Area	1,675,300 km (646,800 sq mi)
Countries	List Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Tunisia Western Sahara
Conservation
Conservation status	relatively intact
Protected	0.69%

The North Saharan steppe and woodlands is a desert ecoregion, in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, that forms the northern edge of the Sahara. It extends east and west across Northern Africa, south of the Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe ecoregion of the Maghreb and Cyrenaica, which is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Winter rains sustain shrublands and dry woodlands that form an ecotone between the Mediterranean climate regions to the north and the hyper-arid Sahara Desert ecoregion to the south.

Geography

The North Saharan steppe and woodlands covers 1,675,300 square kilometers (646,800 sq mi) in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.

Climate

The climate in this ecoregion is hot and dry in the summer but cooler with some rain in the winter. Atlantic depressions sometimes penetrate inland between October and April. Rainfall is erratic, but averages 100 mm (4 in) in the north and 50 mm (2 in) in the south. During the summer, temperatures regularly rise to 40 to 45 °C (104 to 113 °F) and evaporation far exceeds precipitation.

Ecology

There are varying habitats in the ecoregion including sandy systems, rocky plateaus, wadis, depressions and mountains. Each has its own characteristic species and there is considerable endemism of both plants and animals in the area.

Flora

Plant communities include steppes of grasses, herbs and low shrubs, tall shrublands, and dry woodlands. Shrublands and woodlands typically grow in depressions, in the valleys of intermittent streams (wadis), and on consolidated dunes. Common trees include Vachellia tortilis, Pistacia atlantica, and Tamarix aphylla. Tall shrubs of the woodlands and tall shrublands include Retama raetam, Ziziphus lotus, Calobota saharae, and Calligonum comosum.

Plants have evolved various strategies to adapt to the dry climate and intermittent rainfall. Many herbaceous ephemeral plants, particularly in the north, germinate in January during the wet season and quickly mature and flower before they dry out in the spring.

Fauna

Small mammals endemic to the Sahara area include the four-toed jerboa (Allactaga tetradactyla), North African gerbil (Gerbillus campestris), James's gerbil (G. jamesi), pale gerbil (G. perpallidus), lesser short-tailed gerbil (G. simoni), sand gerbil (G. syrticus), fat-tailed gerbil (Pachyuromys duprasi) and Shaw's jird (Meriones shawi). Larger mammals include the dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), mountain gazelle (Gazella cuvieri) and slender-horned gazelle (Gazella leptoceros). There are a variety of snakes and lizards, including two endemic species, desert agama (Trapelus mutabilis) and Natterer's gecko (Tropiocolotes nattereri). There are few amphibians, Brongersma's toad (Bufo brongersmai) being endemic to the coastal region of North Africa. Among the bird species, the Houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata) and Nubian bustard (Neotis nuba) have decreased in numbers because of hunting pressure.

Protected areas

Only 0.69% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. These include:

Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia
El Omayed Nature Conservation Reserve, Egypt
Iriqui National Park, Morocco
Khnifiss National Park, Morocco
Jbil National Park, Tunisia
Oued Dkouk Nature Reserve, Tunisia
Sanghr Jabbess National Park, Tunisia
Sidi Toui National Park, Tunisia

References

^ North Saharan steppe and woodlands. Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) Explorer. Accessed 9 October 2022.
^ "North Saharan steppe and woodlands". WWF. Retrieved 25 November 2016.

v t e Palearctic deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregions
Africa	Atlantic coastal desert North Saharan steppe and woodlands Red Sea coastal desert Sahara desert South Saharan steppe and woodlands Tibesti–Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands West Saharan montane xeric woodlands
Western Asia	Arabian Desert Azerbaijan shrub desert and steppe Central Persian desert basins Mesopotamian shrub desert Persian Gulf desert and semi-desert Red Sea Nubo–Sindian tropical desert and semi-desert South Iran Nubo–Sindian desert and semi-desert
Central Asia	Afghan Mountains semi-desert Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert Baluchistan xeric woodlands Caspian lowland desert Central Afghan Mountains xeric woodlands Central Asian northern desert Central Asian riparian woodlands Central Asian southern desert Kazakh semi-desert Kopet Dag semi-desert Paropamisus xeric woodlands Registan–North Pakistan sandy desert
Eastern Asia	Alashan Plateau semi-desert Dzungaria Eastern Gobi desert steppe Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe Great Lakes Basin desert steppe Qaidam Basin Taklamakan Desert

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