South Saharan steppe and woodlands


The South Saharan steppe and woodlands, also known as the South Sahara desert, is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of northern Africa.
The ecoregion covers in Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Sudan. It extends east and west across the continent in a band, forming a transition between the hyper-arid Sahara Desert to the north and the Sahel grasslands and savannas to the south.
Movements of the equatorial Intertropical Convergence Zone bring summer rains during July and August which average 100 to 200 mm, but vary greatly from year to year. These rains sustain summer pastures of grasses and herbs, with dry woodlands and shrublands along seasonal watercourses.
Niger's Aïr and Ténéré Addax Sanctuary Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve include a portion of the ecoregion.

Ecoregion delineation

In 2001, WWF devised Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World "a biogeographic regionalization of the Earth's terrestrial biodiversity". The 2001 regionalization divided the deserts of the Sahara into several ecoregions. The South Saharan steppe and woodlands ecoregion included the transitional region between the Sahelian Acacia savanna and the Sahara's hyper-arid center, designated the Sahara desert ecoregion.
In 2017, the authors of the 2001 system proposed a revised ecoregion system for the Sahara. The South Saharan steppe and woodlands ecoregion was extended into the central Sahara, and renamed South Sahara desert. Two new ecoregions, the West Sahara desert and East Sahara desert, were designated in the hyper-arid center.