South Saharan steppe and woodlands

South Saharan steppe and woodlands
Dar al-Manasir, Sudan
map of the South Saharan steppe and woodlands
Ecology
Realm	Palearctic
Biome	Deserts and xeric shrublands
Geography
Area	1,101,700 km2 (425,400 sq mi)
Countries	List Algeria Chad Mali Mauritania Niger Sudan
Conservation
Conservation status	relatively intact

The South Saharan steppe and woodlands, also known as the South Sahara desert, is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of northern Africa. This band is a transitional region between the Sahara's very arid center (the Sahara desert ecoregion) to the north, and the wetter Sahelian Acacia savanna ecoregion to the south.^[1] In pre-modern times, the grasslands were grazed by migratory gazelles and other ungulates after the rainfalls. More recently, over-grazing by domestic livestock have degraded the territory.^[1] Despite the name of the ecoregion, there are few 'woodlands' in the area; those that exist are generally acacia and shrubs along rivers and in wadis.^[2]