Vegetation - Class 6 Social Studies Revision Notes

• Types of Vegetation in Eastern Africa
  • Tropical rainforest vegetation
  • Savannah woodland
  • Savannah grassland
  • Swamp vegetation
  • Mangrove vegetation
  • Mountain vegetation
  • Semi-desert vegetation
  • Desert vegetation
• Factors that influences vegetation distribution

What is Vegetation?

• Vegetation refers to all plant cover on the surface of the earth It cosists of grasses,trees,bushes,thickets and shrubs
• Vegetation can either be natural or planted

Types of Vegetation in Eastern Africa

1. Tropical rainforest vegetation
2. Savannah woodland
3. Savannah grassland
4. Mountain vegetation
5. Swamp vegetatio
6. Desert and semi-desert
7. Mangrove vegetation

1. Tropical rainforest vegetation

   • Also called equatorial vegetation
   • Found in equatorial climatic region
     
     Characteristics
     1. Tall trees that form canopies
     2. Vegetation is evergreen
     3. Trees have straight trunks
     4. Trees have broad leaves
     5. Trees have buttress roots
     6. Forests are thick and dense
     7. Trees are mainly hardwood e.g.oak, teak, mvule, mahogany, ebony, camphor,obeche, iroko, heartwood, ironwood, rosewood, sapele, limba, okoune
        
        

2. Savannah woodland

   • Comes immediately after tropical rainforests
   • Mainly consist of trees
     
     Characteristics
     1. Trees are of medium height
     2. Trees are widely spaced compared to equatorial
     3. Trees are decidiuos
     4. Tall grass between the trees
     5. Tree tops are umbrella shaped
     6. Common trees are acacia and baobao
     7. Trees are deep rooted and have thick barks
   • Examples of woodland savannah
     1. Miombo woodland in central tanzania
     2. Shimba hills forests in kwale county
     3. Southern sudan
     4. Karamoja district of uganda
        
        

3. Savannah grassland

   • Mainly consist of grass and few scattered trees
     Characteristics
     1. Drought resistant vegetation
     2. Grass may grow upto 2m
     3. Tall elephant grass
     4. Few scattered trees
     5. Trees have thick barks
     6. Trees have thorny leaves
     7. Main trees are baobab,acacia, cacti, euphobia

4. Swamp vegetation

   • Common in swampy regions
   • Mainly grows in poorly drained areas
   • Main vegetation are;a. Papyrus reeds
   • Water lilies
   • Found in
     1. South sudan Bahr-El-Ghazal-Sudd swamp
     2. L. kyoga in Uganda
     3. Malagarasi swamp in Tanzania
     4. L.amboseli swamp in Kenya
        
        

5. Mangrove vegetation

   • grows in the mudd salty waters along shores of Indian Ocean
   • They have breathing roots(aerial roots)
   • Trees are mainly hardwood
   • Is found along the shores of idian ocean and mouths of R.ruvuma, R.juba
     
     

6. Mountain vegetation

   • grows on the slopes of mountains
   • is widespread on the winward sides of the mountains
   • vegetation changes as altitude increases
   • vegetation is mainly influenced by the altitude
   • is also called alphine or montane vegetation
     
     

7. Semi-desert vegetation

   • Found in ares with rainfall between 250mm-500mm
     
     Characteristics
     1. Short scanty thorny bushes
     2. Short tough and scattered patches of grass
     3. Vegetation is drought resistant with modified for thorns
     4. Common plants cactus, baobab and euphorbia
        
        

8. Desert vegetation

   • Found in areas with rainfall less than 250mm
     
     Characteristics
     1. Stunted plant
     2. Plants have thorny or needle-like leaves
     3. Ground is bare
     4. Plants have thick fleshy stems
     5. Plants are deep rooted
     6. Spinky scanty grass
     7. Found in true deserts e.g.
        1. Kaisut and chalbi and taru deserts
        2. Nubain desert
        3. Ogaden desert

Factors that influences vegetation distribution

1. Climate
2. Soils
3. Relief
4. Drainage
5. Human activities
6. Government policies