The atlas of the natural vegetation of Ethiopia
A standard work on the natural vegetation and trees of Ethiopia
A short description
The atlas of the natural vegetation of Ethiopia, published in 2010, has become a widely used standard work on the vegetation and tree species of Ethiopia. Based on decades of fieldwork of the two senior authors Ib Friis and Sebsebe Demissew and with the application of GIS analyses by Paulo van Breugel 15 major vegetation types in Ethiopia were described and mapped in the Atlas of the Potential Vegetation of Ethiopia (reference: Ib Friis, Sebsebe Demissew and Paulo van Breugel, 2010. Atlas of the Potential Vegetation of Ethiopia. Biologiske Skrifter (Biol.Skr.Dan.Vid.Selsk., 58, pp 307). Download a flyer (pdf file) with information about the atlas.
The book describes in detail the structure and floristic composition of the vegetation types recognized, and the descriptions are illustrated with selected photographs from many parts of Ethiopia. The atlas benefits from the complete taxonomic revision for the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea made during the years 1980-2009.
The book also contains 29 map plates and a legend to signatures, showing potential distribution of the 15 natural vegetation types. It furthermore describes the relation between the new classification of vegetation types and two previous classifications by respectively R.E.G. Pichi Sermolli (1957) and Frank White (1983). See also this review of the atlas. If you are interested in ordering one (price 400 DKK or approx. USD 53, excl. VAT, plus postage), please send an email to the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters or check out your favorite (online) bookstore.
Online view and download
If you want a copy of the data as raster or shapefile layer or as pdf in A4 or A0 format, leave a message (click the message button) with your email and a short description of the intended use (no information will be shared with others, the email is just to send you a download link). Note that the map is also available as a Google Earth layer, as shapefile and as geotif raster layer from https://vegetationmap4africa.org, as part of the potential natural vegetation map of eastern Africa.