Distribution and ecology of trees in Eastern Africa drylands

In this chapter, we first provide a description of the natural vegetation of the drylands of Eastern Africa. The reason for doing this is that there is little information on the distribution of individual tree species, a lacune which can be overcome however when using information on the distribution of vegetation types as an approximation of the distribution for individual tree species. Second, we provide an analysis of the principle natural factors that influence regional variation the structure or physiognomy of the vegetation, with particular attention for variation in tree cover and height. In the final section, we provide some reflection on the impacts of tree utilization on the distribution of trees.