Mapping Zonal Biomes of Southern Africa: Data Sources and Methods

The biomes of the southern portion of Africa, defined as the area south of an axis joining the Kunene and Zambezi Rivers, are mapped for the first time. The area covers nearly 3.4 million km2 and incorporates South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and southern Mozambique (south of the Zambezi River). This chapter sets out this mapping project’s aims, basics of the conceptual biome-classification framework, and detailed sources of the climatic, vegetation, and related spatial proxy data—all forming the basis of the biome mapping. The biome mapping procedures combine the existing vegetation maps (detailed for South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini and southern Mozambique) and bioclimatic information summarised in the form of ecologically relevant bioclimatic indices that relate to vegetation units as mapped (and modified) by previous sources.