A semi-arid acacia savanna belt roughly 5,900 kilometers long, running across North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea through parts of 15 nations including Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, between the more humid Sudanian savannas to the south and the Sahara Desert to the north. Drought-tolerant acacia trees and annual grasses support camels, horses, gazelles, oryx and migratory birds, though large grazing mammal populations here were greatly reduced by over-hunting and competition with livestock. Recurring drought, desertification and rapid population growth strain the Sahel's water and food supply; the Great Green Wall reforestation initiative and protected areas such as Waza National Park are among the responses. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Classification
Biogeographic Realm Area (sq km) Connections
Demonstrates
The Sahel is the textbook case of desertification, where drought and land use pressure pushed the boundary between savanna and desert southward across the twentieth century.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Hosts
Source Adansonia digitata (Wikipedia)
Source Banded mongoose (Wikipedia)
Source Adansonia digitata (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Common Ostrich
Source Desert Locust (Wikipedia)
Source Eurasian Hoopoe (Wikipedia)
Source Nile Monitor (Wikipedia)
Source Pied avocet (Wikipedia)
Source FishBase: Protopterus annectens (FishBase)
Source Wikipedia: Striped hyena
Source FishBase: Protopterus annectens (FishBase)
Source Western marsh harrier (Wikipedia)
In Biome
Source World Wildlife Fund
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Sahel (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFlora and Fauna section
The Sahel was formerly home to large populations of grazing mammals, before the larger species were greatly reduced due to over-hunting and competition with livestock.
Lead section, area figure
It covers an area of 3,053,200 square kilometers (1,178,850 sq mi).
- Biogeographic realm: afrotropic (derived from location stated in entity description)
View the Source World Wildlife Fund
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationDemonstrates: DroughtView the Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Banded mongoose (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Banded mongoose, Wikipedia intro: "The banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. It lives in savannas, open forests and grasslands and feeds p..."View the Source Adansonia digitata (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Baobab, Distribution and habitat
The northern limit of its distribution in Africa is associated with rainfall patterns; only on the Atlantic coast and in the Sudanian savanna does its occurrence venture naturally into the Sahel.
Hosts: African Baobab, Distribution and habitat
The northern limit of its distribution in Africa is associated with rainfall patterns; only on the Atlantic coast and in the Sudanian savanna does its occurrence venture naturally into the Sahel.
View the Source Eurasian Hoopoe (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Eurasian Hoopoe, Distribution and habitatQuote, Hosts: Eurasian Hoopoe, Distribution and habitat
Those breeding in Europe usually migrate to the Sahel belt of sub-Saharan Africa.
Wikipedia: Common Ostrich
WikipediaHosts: Common Ostrich, Distribution and habitatQuote, Hosts: Common Ostrich, Distribution and habitat
Today common ostriches prefer open land and are native to the savannas and Sahel of Africa, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone.
Nile Monitor (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Nile Monitor, Species complexQuote, Hosts: Nile Monitor, Species complex
The other clade includes the monitors of the Sahel (Mali to Ethiopia) and Nile regions.
Desert Locust (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Desert Locust, 2019-2021 desert locust upsurgeQuote, Hosts: Desert Locust, 2019-2021 desert locust upsurge
As of 1 April 2022 there are no locust crises anywhere in the world but swarms are expected in October in the Sahel, Yemen and on the India-Pakistan border.
Wikipedia: Striped hyena
WikipediaHosts: Striped Hyena, Distribution and habitatQuote, Hosts: Striped Hyena, Distribution and habitat
The striped hyena's historical range encompassed Africa north of and including the Sahel zone, eastern Africa south into Tanzania, the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East up to the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey, Iraq, the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia), Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan (excluding the higher areas of Hindukush), and the Indian subco
Western marsh harrier (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Western marsh harrier, Distribution and habitatQuote, Hosts: Western marsh harrier, Distribution and habitat
Some birds winter in milder regions of southern and western Europe, while others migrate to the Sahel, Nile basin and Great Lakes region in Africa, or to Arabia, the Indian subcontinent, and Myanmar.
Pied avocet (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Pied avocet, DistributionQuote, Hosts: Pied avocet, Distribution
In Africa, it occurs along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the Red Sea, and Atlantic coast to Senegal and northern Guinea, covering parts of the Sahel, East Africa, and southern Africa.
FishBase: Protopterus annectens (FishBase)
FishBaseHosts: West African Lungfish, Distribution
Africa: large Sahelian basins, Comoé River, Bandama River and some basins of Sierra Leone and Guinea
Hosts: Protopterus Annectens, Distribution
Africa: large Sahelian basins, Comoé River, Bandama River and some basins of Sierra Leone and Guinea
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