This classification and map of the ecosystems of the entire African continent represents the most current and finest spatial and thematic resolution characterization of African vegetation in its biophysical context available today. Each of these ecosystem types is distributed on the landscape in multiple occurrences, and this patch-level mapping of repeating ecosystem units distinguishes the effort from coarser resolution ecoregion maps with essentially single, large polygon occurrences. The environmental datalayers created to model ecosystem distributions were derived from data, and used standardized algorithms from a larger global ecosystem mapping initiative under the GEOSS intergovernmental protocol.
The new ecosystem map for the continent has considerable potential utility for conservation priority setting. A gap analysis of the types and amounts of ecosystems currently represented in the protected area network of Africa is straightforward.