Liberia is within the Tropical Rain Forest Vegetation Belt of West Africa. Most of the country comprises of the forest except a narrow strip along the coast where mangrove vegetation alternate with coastal Savannah. The climate conditions in the entire country allow the vegetation to develop into a tropical rainforest.
Liberia is within the Tropical Rain Forest Vegetation Belt of West Africa. Most of the country comprises of the forest except a narrow strip along the coast where mangrove vegetation alternate with coastal Savannah. The climate conditions in the entire country allow the vegetation to develop into a tropical rainforest. Based on the nature of the climate and soil types, three vegetation belts can be identified in Liberia. They are the Coastal Savannah, the High Rainforest Belt, and the Northern Savannah. The Coastal Savannah consists of low grasses with scattered low trees. It also contains palm and coconut trees along with mangrove trees and raphia palms. The High Rainforest Belt can be divided into an evergreen rainforest zone and the moist semi-deciduous forest zone. The evergreen rain forest receives 4475 mm of rainfall annually and consists of plant species that do not have a well-developed marked period of the leaf- 3 sharing. The tallest trees in this zone reach about 50 meters. The semi-deciduous forest is a transition to the deciduous forest type found in La Cote d’Ivoire. The long dry season (5 to 6 months) forces many plant species to drop their leaves during the course of this period to minimize their evaporation of moisture. The Northern Savannah comprises the tall grass woodlands in the far northwestern parts of the country and a small portion in the northeast (Nimba County). It is man-made vegetation due to continuous burning and clearing for agricultural purposes. This prevents the original vegetation from regenerating.
