The North Saharan steppe and woodlands is a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

ecoregion, in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, that forms the northern edge of the Sahara. It extends east and west across Northern Africa, south of the

Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe The Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion of North Africa. It occupies interior plateaus and mountain ranges of the Maghreb region, lying generally between the coastal Mediterranean wo ...

ecoregion of the Maghreb and Cyrenaica, which is part of the

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

biome. Winter rains sustain shrublands and dry woodlands that form an ecotone between the Mediterranean climate regions to the north and the hyper-arid Sahara Desert ecoregion to the south.

Geography

The North Saharan steppe and woodlands covers in Algeria, Egypt, Libya,

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

, Morocco, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.

Climate

The climate in this ecoregion is hot and dry in the summer but cooler with some rain in the winter. Atlantic depressions sometimes penetrate inland between October and April. Rainfall is erratic, but averages in the north and in the south. During the summer, temperatures regularly rise to and evaporation far exceeds precipitation.

Ecology

There are varying habitats in the ecoregion including sandy systems, rocky plateaus, wadis, depressions and mountains. Each has its own characteristic species and there is considerable endemism of both plants and animals in the area.

Flora

Plant communities include steppes of grasses, herbs and low shrubs, tall shrublands, and dry woodlands. Shrublands and woodlands typically grow in depressions, in the valleys of intermittent streams (wadis), and on consolidated dunes. Common trees include '' Vachellia tortilis,

Pistacia atlantica ''Pistacia atlantica'' is a species of pistachio tree known by the English common name Mt. Atlas mastic tree, Atlas pistachio, Atlantic pistacio, Atlantic terebinth, Cyprus turpentine tree, and Persian turpentine tree. ''P. atlantica'' has thre ...

'', and '' Tamarix aphylla''. Tall shrubs of the woodlands and tall shrublands include ''

Retama raetam ''Retama raetam'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to northern Africa from the Western Sahara to Sudan, Sicily, Israel, Sinai Peninsula, the Palestine region and Saudi Arabia, and widely naturalized elsewhere. File ...

, Ziziphus lotus,

Calobota saharae ''Calobota'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. Species ''Calobota'' comprises the following species: * '' Calobota acanthoclada'' (Dinter) Boatwr. and B-E.Van Wyk * '' Calobota ...

'', and ''

Calligonum comosum ''Calligonum comosum'', the fire bush, arta or abal, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae. The plant grows to around tall, with green branches that split off from the main stem like the wisps of a broom. The plant is high ...

''. Plants have evolved various strategies to adapt to the dry climate and intermittent rainfall. Many herbaceous ephemeral plants, particularly in the north, germinate in January during the wet season and quickly mature and flower before they dry out in the spring.

Fauna

Small mammals endemic to the Sahara area include the

four-toed jerboa The four-toed jerboa (''Allactaga tetradactyla'') is a rodent of the family Dipodidae and genus ''Allactaga'' that has four digits. It is the sole species in the subgenus ''Scarturus''. Four-toed jerboas are native to Egypt and Libya. They live ...

(''Allactaga tetradactyla''),

North African gerbil The North African gerbil (''Dipodillus campestris'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in North Africa where its natural habitats are arable land and rocky areas of the Maghreb, and hot Saharan deserts. Description The N ...

(''Gerbillus campestris''),

James's gerbil James's gerbil (''Dipodillus jamesi'') is a species of rodent endemic to the eastern coast of Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Afri ...

(''G. jamesi''),

pale gerbil The pale gerbil ''(Gerbillus perpallidus)'' is endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to ...

(''G. perpallidus''),

lesser short-tailed gerbil The lesser short-tailed gerbil (''Dipodillus simoni'') is distributed mainly from eastern Morocco to Egypt. It is also known as Simon's dipodil. After morphological and molecular studies in 2010 ''Dipodillus'' was ranged as a subgenus of ''Gerbil ...

(''G. simoni''),

sand gerbil The sand gerbil (''Gerbillus syrticus'') is distributed mainly in northeastern Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in Nort ...

(''G. syrticus''), fat-tailed gerbil (''Pachyuromys duprasi'') and

Shaw's jird Shaw's jird (''Meriones shawi'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Its natural habitats are arable land, pastureland, and rural gardens. They typically live 1–2 ye ...

(''Meriones shawi''). Larger mammals include the dorcas gazelle (''Gazella dorcas''), mountain gazelle (''Gazella cuvieri'') and

slender-horned gazelle The rhim gazelle or rhim (''Gazella leptoceros''), also known as the slender-horned gazelle, African sand gazelle or Loder's gazelle, is a pale-coated gazelle with long slender horns and well adapted to desert life. It is considered an endangered ...

(''Gazella leptoceros''). There are a variety of snakes and lizards, including two endemic species,

desert agama ''Trapelus mutabilis'', the desert agama, is a species of agama found in Morocco, Mauritania, Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. Abo ...

(''Trapelus mutabilis'') and

Natterer's gecko Natterer's gecko (''Tropiocolotes nattereri'') is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to northeastern Africa and Western Asia. Geographic range ''T. nattereri'' is found in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Sa ...

(''Tropiocolotes nattereri''). There are few amphibians,

Brongersma's toad ''Barbarophryne'' is a genus of toads in the family Bufonidae. It is monotypic, containing only the species Brongersma's toad (''Barbarophryne brongersmai''), also known as Tiznit toad. It is found in Algeria and Morocco. It is a small toad, up ...

(''Bufo brongersmai'') being endemic to the coastal region of North Africa. Among the bird species, the

Houbara bustard The houbara bustard (''Chlamydotis undulata''), also known as African houbara, is a relatively small bustard native to North Africa, where it lives in arid habitats. The global population is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2014. ...

(''Chlamydotis undulata'') and

Nubian bustard The Nubian bustard (''Neotis nuba'') is a species of bird in the Otididae, bustard family. This is a medium-large bustard found in the sparsely vegetated interface between the southern margins of the Sahara desert and the northern part of the Sah ...

(''Neotis nuba'') have decreased in numbers because of hunting pressure.

Protected areas

Only 0.69% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. These include: * Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia * El Omayed Nature Conservation Reserve, Egypt *

Iriqui National Park Iriqui National Park was set up in 1994 as a national park in Morocco with 123,000 hectares. Location Iriqui National Park occupies the space between the Draa River and the South foothills of the Anti-Atlas, in the provinces of Zagora and ...

, Morocco * Khnifiss National Park, Morocco *

Jbil National Park Jebil is a national park in Tunisia situated within the Sahara desert. Covering an area of 150,000 hectares, it is the country's second-largest national park, after Senghar-Jebbes National Park. Though large, it is relatively new having been de ...

, Tunisia * Oued Dkouk Nature Reserve, Tunisia * Sanghr Jabbess National Park, Tunisia *

Sidi Toui National Park Sidi Toui National Park is a Tunisian national park consisting of grassland established in 1993. It is located in the southern part of Tunisia, near the Libyan border. South of the park at 54 kilometers is the town of Ben Gardane. Scimitar oryx ...

, Tunisia

References

{{reflist Deserts and xeric shrublands Palearctic ecoregions Ecoregions of Algeria Ecoregions of Egypt Ecoregions of Libya Ecoregions of Mauritania Ecoregions of Morocco Ecoregions of Tunisia Ecoregions of Western Sahara Flora of Algeria Flora of Egypt Flora of Libya Flora of Mauritania Flora of Tunisia Flora of Western Sahara