ABSTRACT
Forest–woodland–savanna (FWS) mosaics are complex, highly varied and dynamic landscapes that cover extensive areas of the tropical world. The largest FWS formations in South America occur in Brazil and cover an area equivalent to Western Europe (Furley, 1999). Another big mosaic area stretches from Guyana into Brazil (Jansen-Jacobs and ter Steege, 2000). In Africa, FWS mosaics are prevalent in areas surrounding the Congo basin forests, including Uganda. These areas have been defined as transitional zones between the moist tropical forest and the drier savanna landscape typical of much of Africa. On the northern side, the transition occurs at about 8°N, with the exception of Togo and Benin and part of Côte d’Ivoire (Gautier and Spichiger, 2004). Many FWS mosaics occur in Uganda because of its location in a zone of overlap between the ecological communities characteristic of the dry east African savannas and the west and central African rainforests (Howard, 1991).
