Nama Karoo is a xeric shrubland

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

located on the central plateau of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It occupies most of the interior of the western half of South Africa and extends into the southern interior of Namibia.

Climate

The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

tends to be volatile and very harsh. Droughts are frequent with rain primarily falling in the summer. Rainfall can also be varied with it fluctuating between per year. Rainfall is known to be highly seasonal, peaking between December and March. It tends to decrease from the east to west and from north to south. The variability in the inter-annual rainfall also tends to increase with increasing

aridity A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most a ...

. Temperature variations as large as between day and night are common. Mean maximum temperatures in the mid-summer (January) exceeds , while mean minimum mid-winter (July) temperatures are below freezing.Werger, M.J.A., ''Biogeographical Divisions of Southern Africa'': quoted in ''Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa''. M.J.A. Werger and W. Junk, editors: The Hague, (1978): 231-299

References

External links

World Wildlife Fund Page on Nama Karoo

{{Regions of Africa Afrotropical ecoregions Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of Namibia Ecoregions of South Africa Geography of South Africa Karoo

Climate

See also

References

External links